“Rising in the House of Commons, Jody Wilson-Raybould — who in a few short years had gone from Liberal minister of justice and attorney general to backbench Independent MP — promised that she would one day speak her truth. With “Indian” in the Cabinet, Wilson-Raybould delivers on that promise with a searing account of what happens when a political outsider attempts to find their way in the highly partisan Canadian parliamentary system, where power is increasingly concentrated and decisions are made from the centre of the Prime Minister’s Office. In an illuminating, page-turning read, Wilson-Raybould spotlights the ongoing struggle to reconcile two systems and styles of governance, one of which existed long before the idea of Canada as we know it.”

— 2022 Shaughnessy Cohen Prize Jury (Charelle Evelyn, Jacques Poitras, and Lisa Raitt)

"A thoughtful and respectful memoir, “Indian” in the Cabinet provides an overview of Jody Wilson-Raybould's time as a member of parliament and a senior federal cabinet minister. Wilson-Raybould describes how public policy plays out within an established institutional context, and shares her own powerful personal encounters with three long-standing features of the policy landscape in Canada: executive power, party discipline, and cabinet solidarity. This book is Wilson-Raybould’s plea that Canadians not take our institutions for granted, nor allow complacency to lead us into a collective malaise as we face the challenges of the future. It is our job to do the hard work and due diligence required to maintain good governance."

—2021 Balsillie Prize for Public Policy Jury (Samantha Nutt, Taki Sarantakis, and Scott Young)