right. because living a life of privilege and then being appointed a cushy job is just like being thrown in jail for leading an armed revolt against slavery.

flat out stupid comparisons aside, i don't really buy this line. i mean, it's clear enough that she didn't want the job, but her daddy has a big mouth, and i recall him referring to it as a dead-end job back in 2015. it was something like "i'm glad she didn't end up in indigenous affairs, it's the armpit of the cabinet".

my guess is that she was primarily concerned about her career ambitions, even if it came out as not wanting to be the jimmy carl black of the party. token indian is not a path to the pmo.

i took a third year course in indigenous law back in 2013 and wrote an essay on the indian act, which doesn't make me an expert, but does make me more knowledgeable than the average bear. majority opinion in the indigenous community has long been to rework this legislation, rather than abolish it. one manifestation of this was the elder trudeau's famous 1969 white paper (actually written by jean chretien, whose career wasn't hindered by his time in this office), which called for abolition and assimilation - and was promptly met with massive discontent. the paper was pulled.

but, the reality is that trudeau-chretien (they're like an egyptian god, very much fused together into a singular whole) was really just dropping the bullshit; the assimilation policy had been being carried out in stealth since day one. the british never had any other outcome in mind, nor has canada. so, when you talk about abolition, you get this predictable kneejerk fear of assimilation, which is in truth well-grounded in historical fact.

the general consensus is actually that the act needs to be reworked, and used as the framework of a new governing relationship, in order to avoid the collapse of identity that will follow from abolition. and, surely, this framework should not be rethought by a bunch of white people...

if jwr felt so strongly about the indian act, it's curious that she didn't take the opportunity to help rewrite it. the younger trudeau has broadcast an interest in doing so.

perhaps she doesn't actually care so much about it at all.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/indigenous-services-cabinet-shuffle-wilson-raybould-1.5045932