W5’s Sandie Rinaldo gives us a glimpse into the private life of Jody Wilson-Raybould, a trailblazer as Canada’s first Indigenous Justice Minister. She lost her position at the height of the SNC Lavalin corruption scandal when she refused to bow to political pressure; she could not stay silent and was ejected from the Liberal party. Her identity is rooted deep in the culture of the Quadra Island Cape Mudge We Wai Kai First Nation. At a traditional potlatch ceremony in 1976 her grandmother gave her the name Puglaas, meaning “woman born to noble people”.

In the early 1980s her father, Bill Wilson, worked on constitutional reform for aboriginal and treaty rights under Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau. Bill influenced his two daughters’ career paths, identities and values. Jody's husband Tim has dedicated his career to the rebuilding of indigenous self-governance. In 2021 she wrote a book, ‘Indian in the Cabinet’, describing her experiences of marginalization and discrimination in Ottawa. She senses a current shift in attitudes as indigenous nations rebuild and she sees hope for substantive reconciliation. She’s out of the political spotlight for now but she was raised to be a leader and will take the next opportunity she finds where she can make a difference in the community and the country.

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