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Chrystia Freeland

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The Honourable
Chrystia Freeland
MP
Chrystia Freeland in Ukraine in December 2017
Freeland in 2017
13th Minister of Foreign Affairs
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 10, 2017
Prime MinisterJustin Trudeau
Preceded byStéphane Dion
Minister of International Trade
In office
November 4, 2015 – January 10, 2017
Prime MinisterJustin Trudeau
Preceded byEd Fast
Succeeded byFrançois-Philippe Champagne
Member of the Canadian Parliament
for University—Rosedale
Incumbent
Assumed office
October 19, 2015
Preceded byConstituency established
Member of the Canadian Parliament
for Toronto Centre
In office
November 24, 2013 – October 19, 2015
Preceded byBob Rae
Succeeded byBill Morneau
Personal details
Born
Christina Alexandra Freeland

(1968-08-02) August 2, 1968 (age 56)
Peace River, Alberta, Canada
Political partyLiberal
SpouseGraham Bowley
Children3
Residence(s)Toronto, Ontario, Canada
EducationHarvard University (BA)
St Antony's College, Oxford (MSt)
AwardsRhodes Scholarship (1993)

Christina Alexandra "Chrystia" Freeland[1] MP (born August 2, 1968) is a Canadian writer, journalist, and politician. She was appointed Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs in January 2017, succeeding Stéphane Dion. She worked in a variety of editorial positions at the Financial Times, The Globe and Mail and Thomson Reuters (where she was the managing director and editor for consumer news), before announcing her intention to run for the Liberal Party nomination in the by-election to replace Bob Rae as the Member of Parliament for Toronto Centre. After winning the Liberal nomination on September 15, 2013, she was elected to parliament in the November 25, 2013 by-election. Appointed to the Cabinet of Canada as Minister of International Trade on November 4, 2015, Freeland was named that month as one of Toronto's 50 most influential by Toronto Life magazine.[2] On January 10, 2017, Freeland was appointed the Minister of Foreign Affairs.[3]

Freeland is the author of Sale of the Century, a 2000 book about Russia's journey from communism to capitalism[4] and Plutocrats: The Rise of the New Global Super-Rich and the Fall of Everyone Else in 2012.[5][6] Plutocrats was a New York Times bestseller, and the winner of the 2013 Lionel Gelber Prize for non-fiction reporting on foreign affairs.[7] It also won the 2013 National Business Book Award for the most outstanding Canadian business-related book.

Early life

Freeland was born in Peace River, Alberta.[8][9] Her father, Donald Freeland, was a farmer and lawyer and a member of the Liberal Party of Canada,[10] and her mother, Halyna (Chomiak) Freeland (1946–2007), was also a lawyer who ran for election in Edmonton Strathcona in the 1988 federal election, representing the New Democratic Party.[11][12]

Freeland's paternal grandfather, Wilbur Freeland, was a farmer and lawyer who rode in the Calgary Stampede, and whose sister, Beulah, was the wife of federal MP Ged Baldwin.[13] Her paternal grandmother, Helen (Caulfield) Freeland, was a WWII war bride from Glasgow.[14]

Freeland's mother, Halyna Chomiak, was born in a displaced persons camp in Bad Wörishofen, Germany, to Ukrainian Catholic parents, Mykhailo Khomiak (Anglicized as Michael Chomiak) and Alexandra (Loban) Chomiak.[11][15] As Ukraine experienced democratic backsliding from the 1990s, Freeland, who grew up in Alberta, saw "firsthand" the consequences, through her mother's activism as a "prominent member of the Ukrainian Canadian community."[16] Freeland's maternal grandfather, Mykhailo Khomiak in Ukrainian, was the editor-in-chief of a Ukrainian-language pro-Nazi newspaper called Krakivs'ki visti launched in Kraków in occupied Poland during World War II, with exposure orchestrated by Joseph Goebbels himself.[17] Michael Chomiak has been characterized by the Canadian press as a "Nazi collaborator"[18][19][20]. Freeland and others have claimed that the circulation of news in 2017 regarding her grandfather's connection to Nazism was the result of a Russian disinformation campaign;[21][20][22] nevertheless, these facts have been confirmed by the University of Alberta historian and Chomiak's son-in-law, Professor John-Paul Himka.[20]

Freeland attended the United World College of the Adriatic in Italy.[23] She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Russian history and literature from Harvard University and a Master of Studies degree in Slavonic Studies from St Antony's College, Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar in 1993.[4][24]

Journalism career

Freeland started her journalism career as a stringer for the Financial Times, The Washington Post and The Economist while working in Ukraine.[25] Freeland later worked for the Financial Times in London as a deputy editor, and then as an editor for its weekend edition, FT.com, and UK news.[25] Freeland also served as Moscow bureau chief and Eastern Europe correspondent for the Financial Times.[25]

From 1999 to 2001 Freeland served as the deputy editor of The Globe and Mail.[25] Next she worked as the managing director and editor of consumer news at Thomson Reuters.[26] She was also a weekly columnist for the Globe and Mail.[27] Previously she was editor of Thomson Reuters Digital, a position she held since April 2011.[28] Prior to that she was the global editor-at-large of Reuters news since March 1, 2010,[29] having formerly been the United States managing editor at the Financial Times, based in New York City.

Published works

Freeland is the author of Sale of the Century, a 2000 book about Russia's journey from communism to capitalism[4] and Plutocrats: The Rise of the New Global Super-Rich and the Fall of Everyone Else in 2012.[5][6]

Plutocrats was a New York Times bestseller, and the winner of the 2013 Lionel Gelber Prize for non-fiction reporting on foreign affairs.[7] It also won the 2013 National Business Book Award for the most outstanding Canadian business-related book.

Political career

Freeland with Børge Brende in Brussels in April 2017.
Freeland with Enrique Peña Nieto in Mexico in February 2018.
Freeland in Copenhagen with Volodymyr Groysman and Roman Waschuk in June 2018.
Freeland with Retno Marsudi, Federica Mogherini, Kang Kyung-wha, and Julie Bishop at the ASEAN Regional Forum Retreat in Singapore on August 4, 2018.

On July 26, 2013 Freeland left journalism to enter Canadian politics as a candidate for the nomination of the Liberal Party in the riding of Toronto Centre. On September 15, 2013 she won the nomination,[30] with an opportunity to replace outgoing MP Bob Rae in the November 25, 2013 by-election.[31] During the campaign she received criticism for purchasing a 1.3 million dollar home, although the price was consistent with Toronto's home prices.[32][33] Freeland won 49% of the vote and was elected.[34]

As the Liberal Party of Canada's trade critic,[35] Freeland interviewed noted economist Larry Summers in a formal event at the 2014 Liberal Party convention;[36] the interview is available on YouTube and the party website. Freeland wrote an op-ed in The New York Times, in which she contraposed the rise of the plutocrats with the popularity of the television series Downton Abbey.[37]

On January 27, 2014, during the demonstrations leading up to the 2014 Ukrainian revolution, Freeland wrote an op-ed for The Globe and Mail, in which she excoriated the government of Viktor Yanukovich.[38] She is a proponent of personal asset seizures and travel bans as part of programmes of economic sanctions.[36] Later, at the beginning of March, Freeland visited Ukraine on behalf of the Liberal Party, and tweeted her progress in meeting community leaders and members of the government in Kyiv. She lunched with the chief rabbi of Kyiv, met with Mustafa Dzhemilev, leader of the Crimean Tatars and an MP, and with Vitaly Klitchko, who is leader of the Ukrainian Democratic Alliance for Reform party, and with Ukrainian MP Petro Poroshenko, who was subsequently elected President of Ukraine in May 2014,[39] Ukrainian presidential elections.

Freeland was one of thirteen Canadians banned from travelling to Russia under retaliatory sanctions imposed by Russian President Vladimir Putin in March 2014.[40] She replied through her official Twitter feed, "Love Russ lang/culture, loved my yrs in Moscow; but it's an honour to be on Putin's sanction list, esp in company of friends Cotler & Grod."[40]

In the riding redistribution of 2012 and 2013, much of Freeland's base was shifted from Toronto Centre to the new riding of University-Rosedale, while seemingly making Toronto Centre less safe for her. Then, in the 2015 federal election, Freeland opted to run in University-Rosedale, and defeated NDP challenger Jennifer Hollett.[41]

Minister of International Trade

On November 4, 2015, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau chose Freeland as Minister of International Trade.[42]

Freeland was involved in negotiations leading up to the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), between Canada and the European Union, former PM Stephen Harper's "legacy project". CETA is Canada's "biggest trade deal since NAFTA".[16][43] After it was signed October 30, 2016, Freeland made comments about "building bridges and not building walls".[44]

Minister of Foreign Affairs

In a Cabinet reshuffle on January 10, 2017, Freeland was appointed to the position of Foreign Affairs Minister of Canada, replacing Stéphane Dion.[45] On March 6, 2017, together with Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan, Freeland announced Canada's military training mission in Ukraine would be extended until March 2019,[46] maintaining the 200 soldiers previously mandated by the Harper government.[46]

In August 2017, Freeland has instructed her department and officials to 'energetically' review reports of Canadian-made military vehicles being used against civilians in Shia-populated city of Al-Awamiyah by Saudi Arabian security forces.[47]

Freeland condemned the persecution of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar. She said the violence against the Rohingya "looks a lot like ethnic cleansing and that is not acceptable."[48]

Freeland issued a statement via Twitter on 2 August 2018 expressing Canada's concern over the recent arrest of Samar Badawi, a human rights activist and sister of imprisoned Saudi blogger Raif Badawi. She advocated their release.[49] In response to Canada's criticism, Saudi Arabia expelled Canada’s ambassador, and froze trade with Canada.[50] Freeland asked for help allies including Germany, Sweden, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kindom.[51][52]

Media appearances

Freeland appeared several times between 2010 and 2015 as a panelist on Real Time with Bill Maher.[53] She has also made appearances on The McLaughlin Group, The Dylan Ratigan Show, Imus in the Morning, Fareed Zakaria GPS, and The Colbert Report. She is a frequent guest on public radio's political debate program Left, Right & Center, produced by KCRW. In addition, Freeland was featured on a panel discussion on Tom Ashbrook's On Point regarding inequality and democracy in the United States.[54] In June 2013 she gave a speech at the TED Talks, speaking on the subjects of economic inequality, plutocracy, globalization,[55] and "the growing gap between the working poor and the increasingly disconnected mega-rich."[56]

Electoral history

2015 Canadian federal election
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
Liberal Chrystia Freeland 27,849 49.80 +19.23 $185,406.36
New Democratic Jennifer Hollett 15,988 28.59 -15.24 $142,562.73
Conservative Karim Jivraj 9,790 17.51 -2.62 $83,600.78
Green Nick Wright 1,641 2.93 -1.73 $19,152.70
Libertarian Jesse Waslowski 233 0.42 – $393.64
Animal Alliance Simon Luisi 126 0.22 – $153.10
Communist Drew Garvie 125 0.22 – –
Bridge David Berlin 122 0.21 – –
Marxist–Leninist Steve Rutchinski 51 0.10 – –
Total valid votes/Expense limit 55,925 100.0   $206,261.82
Total rejected ballots – – –
Turnout – – –
Eligible voters 71,945
Liberal notional gain from New Democratic Swing +17.24
Source: Elections Canada[57][58]


Canadian federal by-election, November 25, 2013: Toronto Centre
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
Liberal Chrystia Freeland 17,194 49.38 +8.37 $ 97,609.64
New Democratic Linda McQuaig 12,640 36.30 +6.09 99,230.30
Conservative Geoff Pollock 3,004 8.63 −14.01 75,557.39
Green John Deverell 1,034 2.97 −2.05 21,521.10
Progressive Canadian Dorian Baxter 453 1.30   –    
Libertarian Judi Falardeau 236 0.68 +0.18 –    
Independent Kevin Clarke 84 0.24   560.00
Independent John "The Engineer" Turmel 56 0.16   –    
Independent Leslie Bory 51 0.15   633.30
Online Michael Nicula 43 0.12   200.00
Independent Bahman Yazdanfar 26 0.07 −0.12 1,134.60
Total valid votes/expense limit 34,821 99.49 –   $ 101,793.06
Total rejected ballots 177 0.51 +0.12
Turnout 34,998 37.72 −25.21
Eligible voters 92,780    
Liberal hold Swing +1.14
By-election due to the resignation of Bob Rae.
Source(s)
"November 25, 2013 By-elections Poll-by-poll results". Elections Canada. Retrieved August 20, 2020.
"November 25, 2013 By-election – Financial Reports". Retrieved May 9, 2014.


Personal life

Freeland is married to Graham Bowley, a British writer and New York Times reporter.[59] They have three children,[60] Natalka, Halyna, and Ivan. She has lived in Toronto since the summer of 2013 when she returned from abroad to run for election.[25][61][31] She speaks Ukrainian at home with her children.[62] Apart from that and English, she speaks Italian and Russian, and is conversant in French.[63] She is the co-owner, with her sister, of an apartment which overlooks the Maidan square in Kyiv.[36]

See also

References

  1. ^ Diebel, Linda (November 29, 2015). "How Chrystia Freeland became Justin Trudeau's first star". Toronto Star. Retrieved January 17, 2016.
  2. ^ "Toronto's 50 Most Influential People: Chrystia Freeland | Toronto Life". Toronto Life. Retrieved December 2, 2015.
  3. ^ "Freeland promoted to foreign affairs, McCallum off to China in today's cabinet shuffle". CBC News. Retrieved 2017-01-10.
  4. ^ a b c "Chrystia Freeland." The Financial Times biography. 3 Feb 2004; 26 May 2007.
  5. ^ a b Plutocrats: the rise of the new global super-rich and the fall of everyone else. New York: Penguin. 2012. ISBN 9781594204098. OCLC 780480424.
  6. ^ a b Ezra Klein (November 28, 2012). "Romney is Wall Street's worst bet since the bet on subprime". The Washington Post. Interview with Chrystia Freeland.
  7. ^ a b "Plutocrats author Chrystia Freeland wins $15,000 book prize for international affairs". The Globe and Mail. Toronto. March 25, 2013.
  8. ^ "Home - Little PINK Book".
  9. ^ Marco Levytsky. "Shevchenko Lecture focuses on Ukrainians and the media".
  10. ^ "Halyna Freeland's quest to 'change the world' influenced feminism in Alberta and Ukraine, and left a mark on her family and friends". Canada.com. July 14, 2007. Retrieved September 26, 2013.
  11. ^ a b "Obituary: Halyna Chomiak Freeland". Edmonton Journal. Retrieved September 26, 2013.
  12. ^ LeBlanc, Daniel (July 27, 2013). "Journalist Chrystia Freeland to seek Liberal nod for Toronto Centre". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved September 6, 2013.
  13. ^ "Peace River Woman Set to Join Trudeau Liberal Government as a Toronto MP". AM 610 Newsroom. October 23, 2015. Retrieved November 29, 2015.
  14. ^ "An audit of affluence". Financial Times. Retrieved November 16, 2014.
  15. ^ Rebecca Wetherbee (May 20, 2013). "Chrystia Freeland – U.S. Managing Editor, Financial Times". Little Pink Book.
  16. ^ a b Lewsen, Simon (February 14, 2018). "Chrystia Freeland Wants to Fix the Twenty-first Century". The Walrus. Retrieved June 10, 2018.
  17. ^ John-Paul Himka. "Ethnicity and the Reporting of Mass Murder: Krakivs'ki visti, the NKVD Murders of 1941, and the Vinnytsia Exhumation". Time and Space. Lviv: University of Alberta. Krakivs'ki visti published materials from German papers, especially the Nazi party organ Völkischer Beobachter, which appeared frequently. Articles were also translated from Berliner Illustrierte Nachtausgabe and all most important Berlin papers.
  18. ^ Fife, Robert (March 7, 2017). "Freeland knew her grandfather was editor of Nazi newspaper". The Globe and Mail. Toronto. Retrieved May 10, 2018.
  19. ^ Pugliese, David (March 8, 2017). "Chrystia Freeland's granddad was indeed a Nazi collaborator – so much for Russian disinformation". Ottawa Citizen. Ottawa,. Retrieved June 10, 2018.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link)
  20. ^ a b c Cosh, Colby (March 8, 2018). "Colby Cosh: Of course it's 'news' that Freeland's grampa was a Nazi collaborator, even if the Russians are spreading it". National Post. Retrieved June 10, 2018.
  21. ^ Glavin, Terry (March 8, 2017). "Terry Glavin: Enter the Freeland-Nazi conspiracy — and the amping-up of Russia's mischief in Canada". The National Post. Retrieved June 10, 2018.
  22. ^ Simons, Paula (March 8, 2017). "Paula Simons: 'School of hate': Was Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland's grandfather a Nazi collaborator?". Edmonton Journal. Retrieved June 10, 2018.
  23. ^ "Chrystia Freeland". United World College of the Adriatic. Retrieved October 21, 2012.
  24. ^ "My Oxford". Oxford Today.
  25. ^ a b c d e "Chrystia Freeland". Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Development Canada (DFAIT). April 25, 2013. Retrieved July 29, 2013.
  26. ^ "'Journalistic excellence paramount' in the new Reuters". The Baron. December 19, 2012. Archived from the original on September 19, 2013. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  27. ^ "Chrystia Freeland's Plutocrats wins National Business Book Award". The Globe and Mail. Toronto. May 28, 2013.
  28. ^ Saba, Jennifer (April 7, 2011). "Chrystia Freeland named Thomson Reuters Digital editor". Thomson Reuters. Retrieved December 6, 2012.
  29. ^ "Chrystia Freeland Joins Reuters as Global Editor-at-large" (Press release). 1 March 2010. Archived from the original on 4 March 2010. Retrieved October 21, 2012. {{cite press release}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  30. ^ Mok, Tanya (September 15, 2013). "Liberals choose Chrystia Freeland to face NDP candidate Linda McQuaig in upcoming byelection in Toronto Centre". National Post. Retrieved September 15, 2013.
  31. ^ a b Gustin, Sam (July 29, 2013). "Prominent Journalist Chrystia Freeland in Surprise Canadian Political Bid". Time. Retrieved July 29, 2013.
  32. ^ Glen McGregor (11 October 2013). "Slumming in Summerhill: LPC candidate Freeland now a Toronto homeowner". Ottawa Citizen. Retrieved 15 October 2013. The Liberal Party's star Toronto candidate, who has promised to advocate for the interests of Canada's middle class, had to get her parents to co-sign a mortgage on a $1.3-million home in an affluent Toronto neighbourhood. Chrystia Freeland on Friday closed on the purchase of a three-storey townhouse in Summerhill, in the Toronto Centre riding {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help); External link in |author= (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link).
  33. ^ Siekierski, BJ (15 October 2013). "Chrystia Freeland defends $1.3-million home purchase". With the Ottawa Citizen's Glenn McGregor reporting on Friday that Chrystia Freeland and her husband recently bought a $1.3-million townhouse in Toronto's distinctly upper-class Summerhill neighborhood, it was only a matter of time before the Toronto-Centre Liberal candidate was asked how she reconciled that with her and the party's 'struggling middle-class' mantra.
  34. ^ "Complete results from Toronto Centre and three other federal by-elections". The Globe and Mail. Toronto. February 24, 2014. Retrieved November 26, 2013.
  35. ^ "Conservative report calls middle-class dreams a 'myth'". The Star. February 23, 2014. Retrieved April 14, 2014.
  36. ^ a b c "Liberal MP Chrystia Freeland on Ukraine". macleans.ca. February 20, 2014. Retrieved April 14, 2014.
  37. ^ (Freeland), "Sympathy for the Toffs". The New York Times. January 24, 2014. Retrieved April 14, 2014.
  38. ^ "Why Canada should support Ukraine's democratic protesters". Globe and Mail. January 27, 2014. Retrieved April 14, 2014.
  39. ^ "Government to send military observers to Ukraine". CBC news. CBC. March 5, 2014. Retrieved April 14, 2014.
  40. ^ a b Susana Mas (March 24, 2013). "Russian sanctions against Canadians a 'badge of honour'". CBC News. CBC. Retrieved March 24, 2014.
  41. ^ Otis, Daniel (October 20, 2015). "Liberal Chrystia Freeland wins in University-Rosedale". The Star. Retrieved October 25, 2015.
  42. ^ "Full list of Justin Trudeau's cabinet". CBC. November 4, 2015. Retrieved November 4, 2015.
  43. ^ Bonokoski, Mark (27 October 2016). "Chrystia Freeland deserves a daytime Emmy". Toronto Sun. It was a rather uncomfortable little soap opera that was played out in Brussels, complete with very public tears of disappointment coming from Canada's International Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland
  44. ^ Isfield, Gordon (October 31, 2016). "Chrystia Freeland urges 'building bridges, not walls' to trade following Canada-EU agreement". Financial Post.
  45. ^ Fife, Robert (January 9, 2017). "Trudeau prepares for the Trump era with cabinet shuffle". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved January 10, 2017.
  46. ^ a b Brewster, Murray (6 March 2017). "Canada extending military mission in Ukraine to 2019". CBC. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
  47. ^ "Freeland says officials urgently reviewing reports Canadian arms used in Saudi crackdown". CBC News. August 8, 2017.
  48. ^ "Violence against Rohingya 'looks a lot like ethnic cleansing,' Freeland says". September 14, 2017. CBC. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation).
  49. ^ Jon Gambrell (5 August 2018). "Saudi Arabia expels Canadian ambassador, freezes trade in human rights dispute". Toronto Star. The Associated Press.
  50. ^ "'We don't have a single friend': Canada's Saudi spat reveals country is alone". The Guardian. August 11, 2018.
  51. ^ "Canada Asks for Help in Saudi Dispute". VOA News. August 9, 2018.
  52. ^ "Al Jubeir: No room for mediation with Canada". The Nation. August 8, 2018.
  53. ^ "Real Time with Bill Maher". HBO. Retrieved September 6, 2013.
  54. ^ "Inequality And American Democracy". October 4, 2013. Retrieved October 6, 2013.
  55. ^ "Chrystia Freeland: The rise of the new global super-rich". TED Talks. June 2013. Retrieved September 6, 2013.
  56. ^ "Speakers, Chrystia Freeland: Plutocracy chronicler". TED Talks. June 2013. Retrieved September 6, 2013.
  57. ^ Elections Canada – Confirmed candidates for University—Rosedale, 30 September 2015
  58. ^ Elections Canada – Preliminary Election Expenses Limits for Candidates Archived 2015-08-15 at the Wayback Machine
  59. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-08-16. Retrieved 2013-08-16. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  60. ^ Weisblott, Marc (July 29, 2013). "Chrystia Freeland to make U.S. Media Party care about Canadian politics". Canada.com. Retrieved September 6, 2013.
  61. ^ Semeniuk, Ivan (September 15, 2013). "NDP's McQuaig, Liberals' Freeland to face off in battle for Toronto Centre". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved November 13, 2013.
  62. ^ "Parliament: Speaking a language all its own". The Star. February 7, 2014. Retrieved April 14, 2014.
  63. ^ "The Honourable Chrystia Freeland". Office of the Prime Minister, Government of Canada. Retrieved June 6, 2018.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Chrystia Freeland.
29th Ministry – Cabinet of Justin Trudeau
Cabinet posts (2)
Predecessor Office Successor
Ed Fast Minister of International Trade
2015–2017 		François-Philippe Champagne
Stéphane Dion Minister of Foreign Affairs
2017–present 		Incumbent
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