Former Liberal cabinet minister and MP Jane Philpott chastised voters for electing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to another term in office.
Philpott made the comments over Twitter on Monday night as the election results continued to roll in.
“We have so much work to do. Good for you (Jody Wilson-Raybould) for calling out the racism and misogyny that continue to dominate our political landscape. I struggle to understand how Canadians keep rewarding symbolism over substantive change,” wrote Philpott.
Recently, Wilson-Raybould published a book relating her experiences as the former attorney general during the 2019 SNC-Lavalin scandal in which she was ejected from the Liberal cabinet by Trudeau for refusing to succumb to political interference.
The book was published earlier this month shortly before election day and is titled “Indian” in the Cabinet: Speaking Truth to Power.
“While I certainly had some successes, there were an increasing number of red flags around what was not happening. Vitally important issues – my priorities – would be interfered with and delayed more and more,” wrote Philpott in the book.
“On issues in which I had first-hand and lifelong experience, the (Prime Minister’s Office) seemed to insist they knew better. In addressing racism and the legacy of colonization, and in tackling overrepresentation of Black, Indigenous and other marginalized people in the justice system, I was told time and again to slow down. The PMO knew what was right.”
Following an investigation into the PMO and Trudeau himself by the Office of the Ethics Commissioner, it was found that Trudeau had broken ethics laws in his attempt to interfere in the judicial system by pressuring Wilson-Raybould to give SNC-Lavalin a break during criminal proceedings.
“I found that Mr. Trudeau used his position of authority over Ms. Wilson‑Raybould to seek to influence, both directly and indirectly, her decision on whether she should overrule the Director of Public Prosecutions’ decision not to invite SNC-Lavalin to enter into negotiations towards a remediation agreement,” wrote Commissioner Mario Dion in his report.
