Jody Wilson-Raybould

More than 100 days after Canada’s election and the honeymoon period for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau still seems to be continuing.

That is probably because expectations are so high in First Nation communities as well as the rest of the country. The remarkable cabinet that was announced in early November has a lot to do with it, especially with regards to key appointments such as Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould, who is also the attorney general.

A former regional chief of the BC Assembly of First Nations, her traditional name is Puglass, which means ‘a woman born to noble people’. She is from We Wai Kai Nation at Campbell River and Cape Mudge on Quadra Island.

The new minister has an incredible amount of work ahead of her. She has been tasked to, among many things, help set up an inquiry into murdered and missing Indigenous women and girls; address the high rate of Indigenous populations in jails; and help to repeal some or all of Bill C-51, the national security legislation.

Equally big jobs face Hunter Tootoo of Nunavut, who is the new minister of fisheries, oceans, and the Coast Guard; and Dr. Carolyn Bennett, the new minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs, and other members of cabinet.

Grand Chief Ed John of the First Nations Summit executive put it well when he said: “It’s time to now concentrate on true reconciliation and set aside Canada’s historic approach of fighting, and in some cases denying the existence of, Indigenous peoples and nations in the courts.”

We agree. There is far more important work to do. Our hands are raised in welcome to this apparent sea change in our lives.