OTTAWA — Former federal Liberal cabinet ministers Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott will run as Independents in the Oct. 21 federal election, they declared Monday.
The pair made their plans known through separate but co-ordinated announcements in their ridings — Wilson-Raybould in Vancouver and Philpott outside Toronto. Both dressed in white, pointedly eschewing any party’s colours.
“I know you’re all wondering what colour I was going to wear today,” said Philpott, standing on a riser at a farm store, a wide grin on her face.
“I am going to run in the federal election as an Independent candidate for the people of Markham-Stouffville. We are going to do it together. Yes. All of us, all of us together.”
At a small community centre in her riding of Vancouver Granville, Wilson Raybould told her supporters she’s heard an “overwhelming” message about the need to do politics differently, adding she believes running as Independent — the political version of a free agent — is the best way to achieve that goal.
“I know that it will not be easy to run a campaign as an Independent,” she said. “There will be challenges, but with your support, I am confident that running as an Independent is the best way to … go about it at this time and the best way to transform our political culture.”
Philpott acknowledged some will be surprised by her decision but she said running on her own is the most honest thing for her to do.
“There’s probably a few of you who were wishing for something different,” she said. “That’s OK. I heard a whole range of advice.”
Monday’s announcements put to rest political speculation about next steps for the two former Liberal cabinet ministers, who were removed from their party caucus in the House of Commons following the SNC-Lavalin controversy.
Wilson-Raybould served as Canada’s first Indigenous justice minister before Prime Minister Justin Trudeau shuffled her to the portfolio of veterans affairs in January.
She later revealed she thought the decision to move her out of Justice was motivated by her refusal to intervene in the criminal prosecution of the Quebec engineering giant SNC-Lavalin. She ultimately resigned from cabinet.
Trudeau denied any wrongdoing but conceded there was an “erosion of trust” between his office and Wilson-Raybould.
Philpott, who served as health minister, Indigenous-services minister and then president of the Treasury Board, also resigned over Trudeau’s handling of the controversy.
Both were subsequently removed from the Liberal caucus in early April and sit as Independent MPs in the House of Commons. Trudeau barred them from running again as Liberals.
The House of Commons has five other Independents, plus two Greens and solo representatives of the People’s Party of Canada and the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation.
Green Leader Elizabeth May, the MP for Saanich-Gulf Islands, was joined in the House of Commons Monday by newly sworn-in Nanaimo-Ladysmith MP Paul Manly, who won the May 6 byelection.
Both Philpott and Wilson-Raybould spoke highly of the Green Party and May acknowledged having conversations about them running for her party. But Philpott and Wilson-Raybould said they decided that Canadian politics needs more people beholden to no central authority.
May said she spoke to Wilson-Raybould and Philpott ahead of Monday’s announcements, adding she was willing to step aside if either had leadership aspirations. “It’s hard for people to quite understand the extent to which this wasn’t a negotiation,” May said. “Neither of them were interested in taking on leadership roles.”
