National Post (National Edition)
Experience matters
Re: Snc-lavalin a sideshow to the real JWR issue, Conrad Black, March 16
In his takedown of Jody Wilson-raybould Conrad Black claims she was seriously underqualified to be minister of justice as compared to her predecessors such as Pierre Trudeau. Trudeau had been an intellectual gadfly in Quebec and for a few brief years a law professor before being courted by the Liberals and entering parliament in 1965. Two years later, he was made minister of justice. Wilson-raybould, by contrast, had worked the tough corridors of downtown east side Vancouver as a crown prosecutor and subsequently served for seven years as a commissioner on the B.C. Treaty Commission. She was also elected Regional Chief of the B.C. Assembly of First Nations. Almost exactly the same age as Trudeau when he entered the federal cabinet, Wilson-raybould was arguably far more qualified than he was to take on the justice portfolio.
Black criticizes Wilson-raybould for what he apparently considers her inappropriate efforts as justice minister, on behalf of her Indigenous community. Really? Her efforts to make a larger space for First Nations people in Canada look similar to Pierre Trudeau’s special pleading on behalf of Canada’s francophones, which met some fierce resistance at the time but now looks good. Black has often said that Canada’s native peoples have legitimate grievances that must be addressed, but that the countr y, if I may paraphrase, shouldn’t have to open up its veins and bleed to death to satisfy all native claims. That’s reasonable, but as no sane Canadian government is going to inflict on itself that degree of selfharm, maybe we should be grateful that we had, albeit too briefly, an able member of the federal cabinet who could speak to Indigenous issues with such a wealth of personal and professional experience. George Galt, Victoria About the only truth to power demonstration I’ve seen recently on SNCLavalin is this convincing column by Conrad Black which points to the folly of placing a person whose loyalties clearly lie with Indigenous political groups, as Black documents, into the critical post of Justice Minister-attorney General of Canada. Too bad sunny ways don’t mean prudent ways. Brad Bird, Parksville, B.C. Conrad Black’s column was spot on. His suggestion of correcting the current situation by talking with non-radicals is wise. Radicals will never be happy and are not leaders. Conrad Black for PM. Paul Larocque, Markham Ont.