Homeless in Vancouver: Early morning spray-bombing at Jody Wilson-Raybould’s constituency office leads to arrest

    1 of 4 2 of 4

      At 7 a.m. Monday morning (April 8th), large spray graffiti messages covered the sidewalk and roadway outside the 1100 block West Broadway Avenue constituency office of Jody Wilson-Raybould.

      She's the independent nember of Parliament for the British Columbia riding of Vancouver Granville.

      Amid the oversized, pro-Wilson-Raybould, anti-Trudeau graffiti, Vancouver police could be seen taking a man into custody, who could be heard talking loudly about the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

      A populist hero to project our hopes onto

      Part of the mess, I mean the message, all over the north sidewalk of the 1100 block of West Broadway.
      Stanley Q. Woodvine

      The Vancouver-born lawyer and Indigenous leader turned federal politician, Wilson-Raybould has become an overnight populist hero to millions of Canadians who—less than a year ago—hardly knew who she was.

      The former justice minister and attorney general’s April 2nd ouster from the governing federal Liberal party—following her February 27th testimony before a House Justice committee that she felt inappropriately pressured by her Prime MInister's Office officials to keep the large Quebec-based engineering firm SNC-Lavalin from facing a criminal corruption trial—has turned her into an unlikely champion for Canadians across a wide political spectrum, who are fed up with politics as usual. 

      The looming trial is seen as jeopardizing Quebec votes needed to re-elect the Liberal government in October.

      She is seen as a comparative political outsider who refused to compromise her principles and bend to political exigencies. And instead, she stood her moral ground and spoke truth to power.

      Arguably, most Canadians still do not know who Wilson-Raybould is. Like most populist figures (like Donald Trump, south of the border), this is part of her sudden, strong appeal: she is a blank-enough slate that Canadians can project the virtues and qualities they want her to have.

      So far, the single virtue most Canadians ascribe to her is honesty.

      A March 5 Global News/Ipsos poll shows that a strong majority, 67 percent of Canadians, believe Wilson-Raybould’s side of the SNC-Lavalin obstruction scandal over that of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

      A simple “thank you Jody” would have sufficed

      The paint-penned paean scrawled on the door of Wilson-Raybould’s office, with the Indigenous offering on the walkway and (off to the side) some spray paint cans.
      Stanley Q. Woodvine

      The spray-painted graffiti which, this morning, covered many metres of the roadway and north sidewalk of the 1200 block, included both pro-Wilson-Raybould and anti-Trudeau slogans, such “Let Jody Speak” and “Trudeau for Treason”.

      The sidewalk directly in front of Raybould-Wilson’s office was spray-painted in giant white letters with “Make B.C. the Best Coast Again” and, in smaller red letters: “Flush the Turd 20-19”.

      The roadway–in addition to the aforementioned “Let Jody speak” and “Trudeau for Treason” was emblazoned with another paraphrased Trump slogan: “Make Canada great again”.

      Some of the paint-pen scrawl on the office windows, ending with a name and date.
      Stanley Q. Woodvine

      The windows of Raybould-Wilson’s office were covered in white paint-pen scrawl, ending with a date and name–possibly the author’s: “Glenn Domant, April 8th 2019”.

      The door of Wilson-Raybould’s consitituncy office was lettered with the following statement:

      Jody RayBold [sp]. Canadian Patriots from Coast to Coast Stand Behind Jody Because Jody Stands on Guard for All Peoples and Laws of Canada Home and native land In all the Sons Command.

      In addition to the Christian symbolism of a St. John’s cross through the “o” in “sons”, the statement was followed by a biblical citation: “John 3:11”, which, in the New International Version (NIV) reads:

      Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony.

      Placed carefully in front of the door and flanked by tea candles were two small, ribbon-tied cloth bundles. These appeared to be ceremonial Indigenous tobacco ties, which may be offered as part of a traditional Indigenous smudging ceremony when making a request to a knowledge keeper, an elder, or Indigenous person.

      Off to one side of the apparent offering, tucked behind a column, were two spray paint cans—one of them a professional-grade marking paint, the same red colour as used for the anti-Trudeau slogans.

      It will only be a matter of minutes to scrape the paint-pen lettering off Wilson-Raybould’s constituency office windows but the graffiti on the sidewalk and roadway (barring aggressive power washing) will likely be visible underfoot for weeks, at least—if not until October 21, the date of the Canadian federal election.

      Comments