Wilson-Raybould affirms commitment to Liberals, says there’s ‘path forward’ to higher standard of government

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Jody Wilson-Raybould says the past few weeks have been “incredibly hard” for her and her family, but she says she remains committed to the federal Liberal Party and a higher standard of government.

The former attorney-general spoke Thursday to a crowded party event in her Vancouver-Granville riding, declaring that she had enjoyed being in cabinet and never expected to be in the SNC-Lavalin spotlight.

“It’s been incredibly hard − this is me getting a little bit personal here − for me and for my family, and I know for many of you,” she said, her voice occasionally catching.

“I never asked for this,” she said. “I was just doing my job and doing that job resulted in this. I honestly can say I don’t know how we got here. I know that there is a path forward beyond the place that we’re at."

Ms. Wilson-Raybould, who declined an interview request on Thursday night, plunged the Liberal government into a crisis over her allegations that pressure was exerted on her by the Prime Minister and top officials to abandon the fraud and bribery prosecution of engineering and construction giant SNC-Lavalin Group Inc in favour of an out-of-court settlement known as a deferred prosecution agreement.

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But Ms. Wilson-Raybould said she will remain the Liberal MP for Vancouver Granville, the riding she won in 2015, as long as voters want her, and that there’s a national need to address such issues as climate change, criminal justice and Indigenous policy.

Ms. Wilson-Raybould was more pointed in a letter handed out as supporters left in which she denounced the “old cynical view,” declaring that Canadians should never resign themselves to the excuse that “this is just the way things are done.”

“Our country is one built on a belief that we can and must continually do better.”

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