The Moral Jane Philpott

Photo: Nathan Denette, the Canadian Press.

I'll confess that I was perplexed by the political fiasco which resulted in the departure from the Liberal Party of Jane Philpott and Jody Wilson Raybould. Both women seemed to be bright lights in the federal cabinet and it was obvious that they were deeply offended by what they claimed was meddling by Prime Minster Trudeau in a judicial process involving charges against industrial giant SNC Lavalin.

Philpott, a physician, began in the Liberal cabinet as Health Minister and in the first few months addressed care for Syrian refugees, navigated Bill C-14 on Physician Assisted Dying, removed  cuts to refugee health plans made by the previous government, and addressed Safe Injection Sites for drug users. She went on to the important portfolio of Minister of Indigenous Service before being appointed President of the Treasury Board. There was a sense that she was a highly dependable person wherever she was assigned by the PM.

Could her choice to depart from cabinet really because of principle and a moral compass which wouldn't allow her to continue because of suspect political decisions regarding SNC Lavalin?

An article in The Tyee called  The Forging of Jane Philpott’s Moral Will helps us understand what makes her tick, and a big part of it is her faith. She is a PK, a preacher's kid, and grew up in the church. Her Christian faith continued into adulthood and she met her husband who attended the same church when she was a student at Western University.



Jane Philpott with residents of Zinder, Niger, and the medical humanitarian organization Medicines Sans Frontieres, 2005. Photo courtesy of the Philpott family

Philpott and family lived and served in the African nation of Niger with a faith-based organization for nearly a decade and tragically lost a child, Emily, to a rapidly fatal infection. They somehow carried on in faith and as The Tyee article describes it:

Oddly enough, being in Niger helped Philpott deal with her grief. Death there was the final playmate for so many children. As a Christian, her religion acted as a balance in the hurly-burly of life. It gave her the conviction that things happened for a reason. Both of these factors helped her find a way to carry on without Emily.

Philpott is involved with her Mennonite congregation in Stouffville, and plans to run as an independent in the next federal election having been removed from the Liberal caucus. In the end she felt she would have been dishonest if she had stayed.  I have a much deeper appreciation for what might have motivated her decisions earlier this year, and if she isn't reelected it will be a loss to Canadian politics.

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https://thetyee.ca/News/2019/07/05/Forging-Jane-Philpott-Moral-Will/