Jody Wilson-Raybould won't run in next election, denounces 'toxic' environment in Parliament

Independent MP and former Liberal cabinet minister Jody Wilson-Raybouldsays she won't run in the next federal election.

Wilson-Raybouldannounced Thursday that she decided not to put her name forward for re-election, in part, because she is dismayed by the state of Canadian politics. She said that Parliament isfocused on partisanship rather than achieving positive change forCanadians.

"From my seat over the last six years, I have noticed a change in Parliament, a regression," Wilson-Raybould said in a letter posted online.

"It has become more and more toxic and ineffective while simultaneously marginalizing individuals from certain backgrounds. Federal politics is, in my view, increasingly a disgraceful triumph of harmful partisanship over substantive action."

In her letter, Wilson-Raybould saidshe cancontribute moreto progress on the issues important to her reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples, social justice and the fight againstclimate changeoutside of the House of Commons.

"With others, I fought for change from outside of federal politics for 25-plus years, and I fought for change within federal politics for the past six years. Both inside and outside of government, I know the fight continues," she wrote.

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A former B.C. Crown prosecutor and regional chief in B.C., Wilson-Raybouldwas first elected as a Liberal to represent the Vancouver Granville riding in 2015. Shebecame Canada's first Indigenous justice ministerbut resigned from cabinet and wassubsequently ousted from the Liberal Party during the SNC-Lavalin affair.

Atthe centre of the controversy were claims thatPrime Minister Justin Trudeau and his office attempted to bully Wilson-Raybould intooffering adeferred prosecution agreement to the Quebec engineering firm that would have shielded it from prosecution on corruption charges. Wilson-Raybouldrefusedto grant the agreementand was demoted to the VeteransAffairs ministrybefore she resigned.

The allegationsof political interferenceprompted a parliamentary inquirythat eventually led to the departure of Wilson-Raybould and her close friend Jane Philpott from cabinet, the resignation of one of the prime minister's key aidesand opposition calls for Trudeauto step down.

The ethics commissioner subsequently ruled thatTrudeau violated the Conflict of Interest Actby trying to influence Wilson-Raybouldin the matter.

LISTEN: Jody Wilson-Raybould interview on CBC Radio's The Early Edition

Following the scandal, Wilson-Raybouldwas re-elected as an Independent MP in the 2019 federal election. Since then, she has been outspoken about her experiences as a minister and as an MP.

She has said sheplans to publisha political memoir thatwill shed new light on her controversial final days in the Trudeau government. That bookcould come out in the middle of an election campaign widely expected to take place in September of this year.

Wilson-Raybould says Parliament needs reform

Wilson-Raybould's letter includesa blistering critique of howParliament functions. She argues that partisanship needs to be reduced and structural changes must be made to the electoralsystem to allowthe countryto tackle major challenges, such as therecovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The privileges we give political parties. The out-of-date norms of our first-past-the-post electoral system. The lack of inclusiveness. The power of the prime minister and the centralization of power in the hands of those who are unelected. The erosion of governing principles and conventions to the point where there are limited or no consequences for wrongful acts undertaken for political benefit," she wrote.

"Canadians need to lead our leaders."

While Wilson-Raybould hasn't said what she plans to do after leaving politics, she toldCBC Radio'sThe Early Editionthat she will continue to push for democratic reform.

"We need to be constantly vigilant and look at how we are functioning as a democracy in Canada in order to ... address the major issues that are facing us,"Wilson-Raybould told host Stephen Quinn.

"That's what I'm going to continue to do and find ways to build consensus and continue to bring people together."

MPs react with sadness

News of Wilson-Raybould's decision was met by expressions of regretfrom other members of Parliament.

NDP MPMumilaaq Qaqqaq who herself has decided not to run againsaid Canadians should reflect on what Wilson-Raybouldwent through before making this decision.

Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner shared a 10-minute video on Facebookin which she held up Wilson-Raybould's criticism of Parliament as proof of the dysfunction afflicting federal politics in Canada.

"I'm a little emotional because it's rare to come across someone like that in Parliament. And I really appreciate her friendship and her kinship.I really think that our Parliament will be a less vibrant place," Rempel Garner said.

Kamloops Conservative MP Cathy McLeod said she has never experienced the kind of toxicity in Parliament that Wilson-Raybould claimed.

"Parliament has always been a rough and tumble place,"McLeod told Shelley Joyce, the host of CBC's Daybreak Kamloops, on Friday.

"If you look in terms of what has happened to a number of the female Liberal MPs, you do have to question that [whether the parliament is toxic] but I think the Conservative Party and the leadership that I've been under has been very respectful of myself."

Tap the link below to hear Cathy McLeod's interview on Daybreak Kamloops:

Recently,Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Carolyn Bennett apologized publicly toWilson-Raybould after suggesting that her expressions ofconcern over what she called Trudeau's "selfish jockeying for an election"was a ploy to secure a generous MP pension.

MPs become eligible for pensions after being in office for six years, a date which lands on Oct. 19 for those MPsfirst elected in 2015.

An early election call, which many expect could come in mid-August, would mean Wilson-Raybould wouldnot qualify for the pension.