National

Wilson-Raybould Could Have Effected Change In Indigenous Services: Leaders

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 07 Mar, 2019 09:31 PM

OTTAWA — The vice-chief of the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations says she would have welcomed the presence of Jody Wilson-Raybould as minister of Indigenous Services.

Heather Bear says she wonders if it would have been wise for the former minister to occupy this role in cabinet to help find solutions to problems Indigenous people face.

Wilson-Raybould was Canada's first Indigenous minister of justice.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's former principal secretary Gerald Butts told the House of Commons justice committee that Wilson-Raybould was offered the Indigenous-services portfolio in January and rejected it because as a lifelong critic of the Indian Act, she didn't want to be the person administering it.

Butts said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau couldn't have a minister vetoing her own reassignment so Wilson-Raybould ended up as veterans-affairs minister instead, before resigning a month later amid the SNC-Lavalin affair.

Manitoba Metis Federation President David Chartrand says it was "amazing" for Wilson-Raybould to be offered the opportunity as an Indigenous person, adding she would have brought valuable experience to the table including from her time as the B.C. regional chief for the Assembly of First Nations.

Prev Next

MORE National ARTICLES

IHIT Now Claims Surrey Bhangra Promoter Raj Sangha Was ‘Associated To Drug Activity’

Homicide Team⁩'s Cpl Frank Jang says the victim of Surrey's latest shooting Rajeev Sangha aka Raj Sangha was associated with drug activity. The information was provided from policing partners from outside B.C.

IHIT Now Claims Surrey Bhangra Promoter Raj Sangha Was ‘Associated To Drug Activity’

Man Charged With Second-Degree Murder In Death Of Burnaby Woman Nicole Hasselmann On Barnet Highway

A murder charge has been laid against a man following the death of a 34-year-old woman in hospital shortly after the Mounties began investigating a crash on a highway in Burnaby, B.C.

Man Charged With Second-Degree Murder In Death Of Burnaby Woman Nicole Hasselmann On Barnet Highway

Some Holiday Light Displays Can Hike Yuletide Costs, BC Hydro Warns

VANCOUVER — BC Hydro is warning homeowners who string up elaborate holiday lighting displays that those decorations can significantly boost power costs.

Some Holiday Light Displays Can Hike Yuletide Costs, BC Hydro Warns

Vancouver Expects To Collect $38 Million From Vacancy Tax In First Year

VANCOUVER — The City of Vancouver says it has collected $21 million in the first full year of its empty homes tax and another $17 million could still flow into its coffers.

Vancouver Expects To Collect $38 Million From Vacancy Tax In First Year

Raj Grewal Told Liberals He Had More Than $1-Million In Debt

Former liberal MP Raj Grewal's transactions worth millions of dollars and his movements have been under the Royal Canadian Mounted Police's lens for a couple of months.

Raj Grewal Told Liberals He Had More Than $1-Million In Debt

Global Affairs Says Another Canadian Diplomat In Cuba Has Fallen Ill

That includes diplomats posted to the Canadian embassy in Havana, as well as their dependants, who have come down with a mysterious illness that causes dizziness, headaches and trouble concentrating.