Crown-Indigenous Minister Carolyn Bennett apologizes for message that MP Jody Wilson-Raybould calls ‘racist’ and misogynistic

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Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Carolyn Bennett has apologized to Jody Wilson-Raybould after sending her a text message suggesting that Wilson-Raybould doesn’t want a federal election because it would imperil her pension — a charge the Indigenous MP described as “racist” and “misogynistic.”

Wilson-Raybould, who served as Canada’s first Indigenous attorney general before being expelled from the Liberal caucus in the aftermath of the SNC-Lavalin affair, told CTV’s Power Play she hoped Bennett and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau were considering whether the minister still has a future in the federal cabinet.

On Thursday morning, Wilson-Raybould tweeted a screenshot of a text conversation with the minister in which Bennett referred to one of Wilson-Raybould’s tweets regarding the discovery of hundreds of unmarked graves at the site of a former residential school in Saskatchewan.

“With the horrific news out of Saskatchewan, our collective call, again, is for concrete transformative action. @JustinTrudeau, if you care enough to make things right, stop your selfish jockeying for an election — which no one really wants — and do what you promised in 2018,” Wilson-Raybould’s tweet read.

Bennett had texted Wilson-Raybould the tweet, along with a single-word message: “Pension?”

If a federal election is called after Oct. 19, Wilson-Raybould and other MPs first elected in 2015 will be eligible at age 65 for an annual pension starting at $32,000. MPs must contribute to the plan for at least six years before the pension can be claimed. If an election is called before that date, parliamentarians need to be re-elected to receive it.

Less than two hours after Wilson-Raybould posted the screenshot, Chief Cadmus Delorme of the Cowessess First Nation confirmed that 751 graves had been found on the grounds of the former Marieval Indian Residential School.

Bennett apologized after Wilson-Raybould shared the text, which the Independent MP called “racist & misogynist” and said “reflects (the) notion that Indigenous peoples are lazy & only want $.”

The tweet by the federal minister for Crown-Indigenous relations shows “disregard, disdain, & disrespect for Indigenous peoples” and conveys a message that strong Indigenous women are “bad,” Wilson-Raybould wrote on Twitter.

She told CTV the pair had not exchanged texts since 2018 and said she “teared up” when she first saw the message.

“To think that one would get involved in politics to make money is ridiculous. I hope Carolyn Bennett is being self-reflective right now and thinking about her words,” Wilson-Raybould said, adding the text was indicative of a “pattern of behaviour” she has experienced within the Trudeau government.

The president of the Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC) said the organization was “disappointed” by Bennett’s comments.

“Our relationship with the Ministry of Crown-Indigenous Relations has devolved into one of dysfunction and distrust and we have recently asked for a full reset. We hope that statements like the one made by the Minister do not signal a further decline in that relationship,” Lorraine Whitman said in a written statement, citing a lack of consultation on implementing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People.

Earlier this month, NWAC took a step back from Ottawa’s efforts to draft a national action plan in response to an inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.

The organization announced an action plan of its own, saying it had informed Bennett of its intent to “respectfully withdraw” from the process due to the government’s “fundamentally flawed” approach to fulfilling the inquiry’s calls to justice.

In response to the Thursday text, Bennett said she had apologized directly to the Vancouver-Granville MP.

“I let interpersonal dynamics get the better of me and sent an insensitive and inappropriate comment, which I deeply regret and shouldn’t have done,” Bennett wrote on Twitter.

As minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, Bennett is tasked with advancing reconciliation and overseeing the relationship between Canada and First Nations, Inuit and Métis. Along with other members of the Trudeau government, she has previously said that no relationship is more important to the federal government than the one with Indigenous peoples.

Bennett and Wilson-Raybould have not seen eye to eye in the past.

In testimony provided during the SNC-Lavalin controversy, then-clerk of the Privy Council Michael Wernick alluded to discord between the two ministers over implementing an Indigenous rights framework.

In his statement to the House of Commons justice committee in February 2019, Wernick referenced a key 2018 meeting called to discuss the framework and “a very serious policy difference” between Bennett, Wilson-Raybould and other colleagues.

Wernick testified that Trudeau was aware of “something of a policy standoff among his ministers” and was attempting to resolve the issue.

“Essentially, I’d call it a form of conciliation or mediation to bring people together,” Wernick said.

Trudeau made no mention of Bennett’s text message on Thursday in a statement expressing sadness over the discovery of the graves.

He said the news from Saskatchewan, along with last month’s discovery of the remains of 215 children at the site of a former residential school in Kamloops, is “part of a larger tragedy” of systemic racism and discrimination.

“The hurt and the trauma that you feel is Canada’s responsibility to bear, and the government will continue to provide Indigenous communities across the country with the funding and resources they need to bring these terrible wrongs to light,” his statement read.

When asked to respond specifically to the text, the Prime Minister’s Office declined to comment further, pointing instead to the minister’s Twitter apology earlier in the day. Bennett’s office also said she would not comment beyond her apology, while Wilson-Raybould declined to speak on the matter.

Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole did not refer to Bennett’s message in his Thursday statement about the Saskatchewan discovery, though several Tory MPs criticized her comments.

The NDP’s Jagmeet Singh tweeted that the incident is an example of how the Trudeau government behaves when “the cameras are off and they’re behind closed doors.” The party’s ethics critic, Charlie Angus, also said on Twitter that Bennett should be “sent packing” for her remarks.

Raisa Patel is an Ottawa-based reporter covering federal politics for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: @R_SPatel