Jody Wilson-Raybould seemed to have it all back in 2015.

She was a successful lawyer, a Crown prosecutor in B.C., a treaty commissioner and regional chief of the B.C. Assembly of First Nations.

When Justin Trudeau asked her to run for the Liberals in the 2015 election she eagerly accepted, saying she entered politics because of her frustration over the failure of the Conservative government to make major progress on economic and social needs of Indigenous peoples.

Once elected, Wilson-Raybould quickly became a rising star.

She was seen as a tough, powerful voice for First Nations communities and women, as well as a fresh face on the federal scene with serious clout in cabinet in the key roles as justice minister and attorney general.

Today, just four years later, her political career is in tatters, her reputation and motives under attack and — worst of all — her personal goal of improving the long-term fortunes of Indigenous peoples across Canada, the very reason she entered politics, is at serious risk due to her own actions that could well result in the Conservatives return to power.

Opposition politicians and many commentators are blaming Trudeau for the SNC-Lavalin affair that led ultimately to his move late Tuesday to turf Wilson-Raybould and former cabinet minister Jane Philpott from the Liberal caucus.

In reality, though, Wilson-Raybould’s own ego and her act of deception is as much — or more — to blame for the state she finds herself today.

The best example of how her ego hurt her came when she took the extraordinary step of making four huge demands of Trudeau for her to remain in cabinet after the Globe and Mail published its report about how she felt pressured by Trudeau’s office to overrule federal prosecutors by offering a remediation agreement in the criminal case against SNC-Lavalin.

According to a key Liberal insider, Wilson-Raybould’s four demands, all of which Trudeau had to accept, were:

First, that Gerald Butts, principal secretary to Trudeau, be fired. Butts resigned of his own will on Feb. 18, apparently feeling he had no choice despite his strong conviction that he had never pressured her.

Second, that Privy Council Clerk Michael Wernick, who she had secretly recorded in a phone call, be fired. Wernick announced on March 18 that he will step down on April 19.

Third, that David Lametti, who succeeded her as justice minister and attorney general, be required to uphold her view on how to proceed against SNC-Lavalin.

Fourth, that Trudeau make a full apology to her and the entire Liberal caucus for what she claims was undue political interference and pressure on her in the SNC-Lavalin case by the prime minister, Butts and Wernick.

Her ego also seemed in play when she defiantly told Trudeau and her fellow Liberal MPs, many of who fear the affair she had ignited will result in them losing their own seats in the October election, that she still intended to run again as a Liberal. She seemed oblivious, or didn’t care, about all the political damage she had inflicted on Trudeau and her Liberal colleagues.

The final straw for many who were prepared to give her leeway in the affair came when she revealed she had secretly recorded a phone call with Wernick, and then made it public. “Unseemly,” “sleazy” and “dishonest” were common responses.

The deception was her ultimate downfall. How could anyone, including Trudeau, who had handled the entire affair badly, go along with a justice minister secretly recording the top bureaucrat?

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For Trudeau, who Wilson-Raybould and Philpott were clearly out to dethrone as Liberal leader, his decision to kick them out of caucus, belated though it was, may have given him some backbone and may in some way be a springboard to decisive leadership in the future.

For Philpott, the fall from power has been swift. But the rise and fall has been even faster for Wilson-Raybould.

Until the past few weeks, she was a dynamic force in Ottawa. She had the power to make a real difference for the causes and people she holds most dearly. Now, four years after she entered with so much hope and promise, all that’s gone.

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