A review by jermangirl
"Indian" in the Cabinet: Speaking Truth to Power by Jody Wilson-Raybould

hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.25

I’m really not sure why I picked up this book at all. I am pretty much never one to read political memoir or non-fiction. And yet I found this to be a really interesting and powerful read. I loosely followed the SNC Lavelin scandal in the news like many Canadians, but didn’t delve deep into any of the details. I was somewhat curious to hear the author’s side of that particular story and even more curious to learn about the experiences of an Indigenous woman in Canadian parliament. The book did not disappoint. 

Wilson—Raybould narrates the book herself and does an excellent job. It was really easy to listen to. I really valued her perspective on the range of threats to our democracy. How she feels that western democratic systems could benefit from the consensus seeking models of Indigenous governance traditions and the important roles that she envisions women playing in our future. While I fully understand there are multiple perspectives to any story, especially where many pieces remain protected by cabinet confidences, I think the more important pieces of this book are the questions she asks Canadians to consider about how what we value in our democratic and legal institutions. 

I found her descriptions of day-to-day life as a Minister fascinating. I appreciated her vulnerability in sharing some of the personal sacrifices she made in her service to Canada. I could relate to the ways in which she and her female colleagues were sometimes characterized as simultaneously weak and  problematically assertive. The book made me think and I respected how she stuck by her convictions while explaining her reasoning and thought processes.