Reading a future in politics for finance minister and deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland is challenging. She is a strong individual but I think her career in politics is about over. She is not a leader. It is not her style. She is an activist.
Freeland’s focus seems to be above the political. Two of her major accomplishments for Canada have been the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) with the European Union and the revised North American Free Trade Agreement, now known as the Canada—United States—Mexico Agreement (CUMA). CETA is still in the approval stages in Europe but is already about 98 per cent effective in practice thanks to her work on the proposal launched by the conservative government of Stephen Harper. One of her more interesting tactics when dealing with the Europeans was to walk out of the discussions. It seemed to pay off.
It would never have worked when dealing with President Donald Trump in the United States over CUMA. Trump was so irrational that nobody seemed to know how to deal with him. It was like agreeing to a pact with a disturbed child. And we had no sooner signed off on the deal than Trump dumped it with Canada over aluminum and soft-wood lumber. That took a long time to be straightened out.
Judging by her career before politics, you would expect Ms. Freeland to have been happy to age in the role of journalist, editor and observer of things political both domestic and foreign. Her ability with languages is impressive. She speaks English, French, Italian, Russian and Ukrainian. As an author, she is acclaimed for her insights into the financial world. You could almost say that her support for Ukraine in the conflict with Russia is a conflict of interest but the truth is that most Canadians seem to agree with her.
As an activist, Chrystia Freeland still has much to contribute to the dealings with the outcome of the current conflict between Russia and Ukraine. I have no idea where we would find an honestly neutral third party to try to launch an armistice and a conclusion to this evil conflict. I do know that Ukraine will still need our support and encouragement. It is not just the Ukrainian diaspora across Canada for I am sure all of us in Canada can see the need.
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Copyright 2023 © Peter Lowry
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