Chrystia Freeland | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
.jpg) Freeland in 2023 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Minister of Transportand Internal Trade | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Assumed office March 14, 2025 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | Mark Carney | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Anita Anand | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 10th Deputy Prime Minister of Canada | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office November 20, 2019 – December 16, 2024 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | Justin Trudeau | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Anne McLellan[a] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Vacant | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Minister of Finance | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office August 18, 2020 – December 16, 2024 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | Justin Trudeau | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Bill Morneau | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Dominic LeBlanc | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Member of Parliament forUniversity—Rosedale | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Assumed office October 19, 2015 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Riding established | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Member of Parliament forToronto Centre | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office November 24, 2013 – October 19, 2015 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Bob Rae | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Bill Morneau | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | Christina Alexandra Freeland[1] (1968-08-02)August 2, 1968 (age 56) Peace River, Alberta, Canada | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Political party | Liberal | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spouse | Graham Bowley | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Children | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Relatives |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Residence(s) | Summerhill, Toronto, Ontario | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alma mater | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Awards | Rhodes Scholarship (1993) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Website | chrystiafreeland | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Christina Alexandra FreelandPC MP (born August 2, 1968) is a Canadian politician and journalist who has served as themember of Parliament (MP) forUniversity—Rosedale since 2015. She has been theminister of transport andminister of internal trade since 2025. She also served as the 10thdeputy prime minister of Canada from 2019 to 2024. A member of theLiberal Party, she was first elected to theHouse of Commons in theToronto Centre by-election in 2013. First appointed to theCabinet following the2015 federal election, she has served in various posts including as theminister of finance from 2020 untilher resignation from the29th Canadian Ministry in 2024.
Freeland worked as a journalist inUkraine and eventually held editorial positions at theFinancial Times,The Globe and Mail andReuters. She also authoredSale of the Century: Russia's Wild Ride from Communism to Capitalism (2000) andPlutocrats: The Rise of the New Global Super Rich and the Fall of Everyone Else (2012). Freeland became an MP following a2013 by-election forToronto Centre. After the2015 federal election,Justin Trudeau formed his first government and she was namedminister of international trade. Under her tenure, Canada negotiated theCanada–United States–Mexico Agreement and theComprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) with theEuropean Union,[2] earning her a promotion tominister of foreign affairs in 2017.
She became deputy prime minister following the2019 election, where she also becameminister of intergovernmental affairs. In 2020, she was appointed as finance minister, becoming the first woman to hold the post. She presented her first federal budget in 2021, which introduced anational child care program, in the midst of theCOVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, she was part of the federal response to theCanada convoy protest, which led to the first ever invocation of theEmergencies Act. She played a critical role in the Canadian response to theRusso-Ukrainian War, including the implementation of sanctions on Russia and sending aid to Ukraine after theinvasion in 2022. On December 16, 2024, the day she was scheduled to deliver her Fall Economic Statement before the44th Canadian Parliament, sheresigned from Trudeau's cabinet following policy clashes between her and Trudeau. Her resignation led to acabinet shuffle, calls for avote of no confidence from opposition parties, and Trudeau's eventualresignation as prime minister and party leader the following month. On January 17, 2025, Freeland confirmed she would run for theLiberal leadership.[3] She placed second, behindMark Carney, receiving 8% of the popular vote.
Political commentators have given Freeland the informal title of "Minister of Everything",[4][5][6][7][8] an honorific previously used for powerful 20th-century Liberal cabinet ministerC. D. Howe. Freeland was described in 2019 as one of the most influential Cabinet ministers ofTrudeau's premiership.[9]
Freeland was re-elected in the 2025 Canadian Federal election.[10]
Freeland was born inPeace River, Alberta, on August 2, 1968.[11][12][13][14] Her father, Donald Freeland, was a farmer and lawyer and a member of the Liberal Party,[15] and herUkrainian mother, Halyna Chomiak (1946–2007), was also a lawyer, and ran for theNew Democratic Party (NDP) inEdmonton Strathcona in the1988 federal election.[16][17] Her paternal grandmother was a Scottishwar bride.[1][18] Freeland's parents divorced when she was nine years old, though she continued to live with both of them.[1]
Freeland was anactivist from a young age, organizing a strike in grade five to protest her school's exclusive enrichment classes.[19] She attendedOld Scona Academic High School in Edmonton, Alberta[12] for two years before attending theUnited World College of the Adriatic, in Italy, on a merit scholarship from the Alberta government for a project that sought to promote international peace and understanding.[20]
Freeland studied Russian history and literature atHarvard University.[19] During 1988–89, she was an exchange student at theTaras Shevchenko State University of Kyiv inSoviet Ukraine, where she studiedUkrainian, in which she is fluent.[21] While there, she worked with journalistBill Keller ofThe New York Times to document theBykivnia graves, an unmarked mass grave site where theNKVD (the Soviet secret police) disposed of tens of thousands of dissidents.[1] The official Soviet story held that the graves were the result of Nazi atrocities. She translated the stories of locals who had witnessed covered trucks and "puddles of blood in the road" that predated the Nazi invasion, adding evidence that the site was actually the result of Stalinist repression.[1]
While there she attracted the attention of theKGB, which tagged her with the code name "Frida", and Soviet newspapers, who attacked her as a foreigner meddling in their internal affairs over her contacts with Ukrainian activists. The KGB surveilled Freeland and tapped her phone calls, and documented the young Canadian activist delivering money, video and audio recording equipment, and a personal computer to contacts in Ukraine. She used a diplomat at theEmbassy of Canada in Moscow to send material abroad in a secret diplomatic pouch, worked with foreign journalists on stories about life in theSoviet Union, and organized marches and rallies to attract attention and support from Western countries. On her return from a trip to London in March 1989, Freeland was denied re-entry to the Soviet Union.[22] By the time her activism within Ukraine came to an end, Freeland had become the subject of a high-level case study from the KGB on how much damage a single determined individual could inflict on the Soviet Union; a 2021Globe and Mail article quoted the report by a former officer of the KGB, which had described Freeland as "a remarkable individual", "erudite, sociable, persistent, and inventive in achieving her goals".[22]
Freeland worked as an intern forUnited Press International in London in the summer of 1990.[19] Afterwards, she completed aMaster of Studies degree inSlavonic studies from theUniversity of Oxford in 1993 having studied atSt Antony's College as aRhodes Scholar.[23][24]
Freeland began her career in journalism as astringer for theFinancial Times,The Washington Post, andThe Economist while working in Ukraine.[25] Freeland later worked for theFinancial 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 theFinancial Times.[25]
From 1999 to 2001, Freeland served as the deputy editor ofThe Globe and Mail.[25] She next worked as the managing director and editor of consumer news atThomson Reuters.[26] She was also a weekly columnist forThe Globe and Mail.[27] Previously, she was editor ofThomson Reuters Digital, a position she held since April 2011.[28] Prior to that she was the global editor-at-large ofReuters news since March 1, 2010,[29] having formerly been the United States managing editor at theFinancial Times, based in New York City.
Freeland is the author ofSale of the Century: Russia's Wild Ride from Communism to Capitalism (2000),[23] as well asPlutocrats: The Rise of the New Global Super-Rich and the Fall of Everyone Else (2012).[30][31]Sale of the Century is an account ofprivatization in Russia. It is based on interviews between Freeland and leading Russian businessmen, conducted from 1994 to 1998 when she lived in Russia as the Moscow bureau chief for theFinancial Times.[32] The book chronicles the challenges that the "young reformers" championing capitalism such asAnatoly Chubais andYegor Gaidar had in wresting control of Russian industry out of the hands of the communist "red barons". The compromises they made, such as theloans for shares scheme, allowed businessmen such asMikhail Fridman,Mikhail Khodorkovsky, andVladimir Potanin to seize control of the economy and install themselves asRussian oligarchs.Plutocrats was aNew York Times bestseller, and the winner of the 2013Lionel Gelber Prize for non-fiction reporting on foreign affairs.[33] It also won the 2013National Business Book Award for the most outstanding Canadian business-related book.
On July 26, 2013, Freeland left journalism to enter politics. She sought the nomination for the Liberal Party inToronto Centre to replaceBob Rae, who was stepping down to become chief negotiator and counsel for theMatawa First Nations in Northern Ontario'sRing of Fire. She won the nomination on September 15, and would face NDP candidateLinda McQuaig in theNovember 25 by-election.[34][35] During the campaign she received criticism for purchasing a $1.3 million home, although the price was consistent with Toronto's home prices.[36][37] Freeland won 49 per cent of the vote and was elected.[38] In 2013, Freeland received campaign contributions fromPaul M. Grod,[39] former president of theUkrainian Canadian Congress (UCC) and current president of theUkrainian World Congress (UWG)[40] and Ukrainian-Canadian businessmanJames C. Temerty.[39]
During the demonstrations leading up to the 2014 UkrainianRevolution of Dignity, Freeland wrote an op-ed forThe Globe and Mail, in which she excoriated the government ofViktor Yanukovych.[41] She supported seizing personal assets and banning travel as part of economic sanction programs against Yanukovych and members of his government.[42] That March, during theannexation of Crimea by Russia, Freeland visited Ukraine on behalf of the Liberal Party. She met community leaders and members of the government in Kyiv, includingMustafa Dzhemilev, leader of theCrimean Tatars;Vitali Klitschko, leader of theUkrainian Democratic Alliance for Reform; and Ukrainian MPPetro Poroshenko, who was later elected president of Ukraine in May 2014.[43] Since 2009, Freeland has been a regular attendee of the Yalta European Strategy annual meetings founded and sponsored by Ukrainian oligarchVictor Pinchuk.[44][45][46][47]
Freeland was one of thirteen Canadiansbanned from travelling to Russia under retaliatory sanctions imposed by Russian presidentVladimir Putin in March 2014.[48] She replied through her officialTwitter 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 friendsCotler &Grod."[48] In theriding redistribution of 2012 and 2013, much of Freeland's base was shifted from Toronto Centre to the new riding ofUniversity—Rosedale, where she ran in the2015 federal election. She defeated NDP challengerJennifer Hollett with 50 per cent of the vote.[49]
.jpg)
On November 4, 2015, newly elected prime ministerJustin Trudeau chose Freeland asminister of international trade in his first Cabinet.[50] She was involved in negotiations leading up to theComprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), between Canada and theEuropean Union, former prime ministerStephen Harper's legacy project. The trade deal was Canada's largest sinceNAFTA,[51] and it was signed October 30, 2016.[52]
In a Cabinet shuffle on January 10, 2017, Freeland was appointedminister of foreign affairs, replacingStéphane Dion as the head ofTrudeau's foreign policy.[53] With National Defence MinisterHarjit Sajjan, Freeland announced Canada's military training mission in Ukraine would be extended until March 2019, maintaining the 200 soldiers previously mandated by the Harper government.[54]
That August, she instructed her department and officials to "energetically" review reports of Canadian-madeTerradyne military vehicles being used against civilians in Shia-populated city ofAl-Awamiyah by Saudi Arabian security forces.[55] The government briefly suspended Terradyne's export permits to Saudi Arabia before reinstating them; a Canadian investigation stated that it "found no conclusive evidence that Canadian-made vehicles were used in human rights violations".[56] This conclusion was challenged by human rights groups such asProject Ploughshares for not considering the risk of human rights abuses.[56] Freeland sponsored Bill C-47, which allowed Canada to join theArms Trade Treaty in 2019.[57]
Freeland condemned thepersecution of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar. She said the violence against the Rohingya "looks a lot like ethnic cleansing and that is not acceptable".[58] Freeland issued a statement via Twitter on August 2, 2018, expressing Canada's concern over the arrest ofSamar Badawi, a human rights activist and sister of imprisoned Saudi bloggerRaif Badawi. She advocated their release.[59] In response to Canada's criticism,Saudi Arabia expelled Canada's ambassador, and froze trade with Canada.[60] Freeland asked for help from allies including Germany, Sweden, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom.[61][62] In September 2018, Freeland raised the issue ofXinjiang internment camps andhuman rights abuses against the Uyghurs in a meeting with Chinese Foreign MinisterWang Yi.[63]
In January 2019, at the request of theOffice of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Canada grantedasylum to 18-year-old Saudi teenagerRahaf Mohammed, who was fleeing her abusive family in Kuwait; Freeland personally greeted Mohammed atToronto Pearson International Airport.[64] Freeland condemned Venezuelan presidentNicolás Maduro, who had "seized power through fraudulent and anti-democratic elections".[65] Freeland joined theWorld Economic Forum's board of trustees in 2019.[66] Later that year she was ranked 37th among the World's 50 Greatest Leaders inFortune magazine's annual list.[67] Freeland voiced support for the2019–2020 Hong Kong protests.[68] In October 2019, Freeland condemned the unilateralTurkish invasion of theKurdish areas in Syria.[69]
After the2019 federal election, she was appointeddeputy prime minister andminister of intergovernmental affairs. As deputy prime minister, Freeland was entrusted with several key planks ofTrudeau's domestic policy such as strengtheningMedicare, implementingCanada's national climate strategy, introducingfirearms regulations, developing a pan-Canadian child care system, facilitating interprovincial free trade, and reconciliation withIndigenous peoples.[70] As minister of intergovernmental affairs, her primary task was to address renewed tensions between thefederal government and the western provinces, most notably with the rise ofAlberta separatism.[71]
.jpg)
She remained in charge ofCanada–United States relations, including the ratification of the renegotiated free trade agreement with the United States and Mexico (CUSMA), roles that have traditionally resided with the minister of foreign affairs.[72] The CUSMA was ratified in March 2020, at the outset of theCOVID-19 pandemic in Canada.[73] That August, Freeland was appointedMinister of Finance.[74]
Freeland took over the intergovernmental affairs portfolio following the 2019 election when she was appointed deputy prime minister.[75] In her new capacity, she was responsible for handling regional issues such aswestern alienation—particularly in Alberta and Saskatchewan where the Liberals had failed to win a single seat—as well as the resurgence of theBloc Québécois.
In March 2020, she was chosen as the chair for the Cabinet committee on thefederal response to COVID-19.[76] During the pandemic, Freeland developed a close working relationship with thepremier of Ontario,Doug Ford—aProgressive Conservative—despite the Liberals having used theFord government's track record to campaign against the federalConservatives during previous fall's election campaign.[77]
Following the resignation ofBill Morneau on August 17, 2020, as a result of theWE Charity scandal, Trudeau announced a cabinet shuffle with Freeland being appointed asminister of finance andDominic LeBlanc,president of the Privy Council, replacing her asminister of intergovernmental affairs.[78][79] It was the first appointment of a woman to the position.[80][81] She presentedher first federal budget to the House of Commons on April 19, 2021. It announced the creation of anational child care program in Canada.[82] The federal government proposed it would cover half the costs of the child care program, with the provinces responsible for the other half.[83]
.jpg)
On February 14, 2022, Trudeauinvoked theEmergencies Act to end blockades and the occupation from theconvoy protest in Ottawa, although the blockade at theAmbassador Bridge had been cleared by police the day before[84] and RCMP Commissioner,Brenda Lucki, would later testify the extraordinary powers granted by theEmergencies Act were not needed at the borders.[85] As Minister of Finance, Freeland worked with RCMP and financial institutions to block financial services to participants. Although banks were granted immunity against civil suits from customers, Freeland insisted, during a press conference, that Charter rights remained in place.[86]In June 2022, Freeland testified before a special parliamentary committee to answer questions about the decision. She described her appearance as "adversarial", and several committee members stated that she was evasive and did not offer new information. Though she did not say which cabinet member put forward the suggestion to invoke the Act, she stated, "I would like to take the personal responsibility for that decision, it was my opinion it was the correct decision".[87]
As Finance Minister, Freeland promoted programs such as the First Home Savings Account and Homebuyers' Plan, intended to make housing more affordable amidst theCanadian property bubble.[88][89]She implemented adigital services tax on Canadian-source revenue ofglobal digital corporations, saying a robust tax base requires "those who do business in Canada paying their fair share of tax."[90][91]
In response to a question about the2021–2023 inflation surge from theParliamentary Press Gallery, Freeland encouraged Canadians to “cut thatDisney+ subscription” to deal with the resulting cost-of-living crisis. She later apologized for the remark.[92][93][94]
_08.jpg)
Freeland was at the forefront of the Canadian government's response to theRussian invasion of Ukraine in late February 2022.[95] At the start of the invasion, she stated in Ukrainian "now is the time to be strong".[96] She was the first to call for sanctions on theCentral Bank of Russia, which were eventually imposed, and she spoke nearly daily with Ukrainian Prime MinisterDenys Shmyhal.[97]
On December 16, 2024, Freeland unexpectedly resigned from the Trudeau cabinet hours before she was to deliver the fall economic statement, citing policy disagreements with Trudeau on tax breaks, disbursements,[98][99] and tariffs proposed by US President-electDonald Trump on Canadian goods.[100] When asked on December 13 about reports that Trudeau wanted to replace her and about his unwillingness to publicly support her, Freeland stated her focus was on serving Canadians and not "Ottawa gossip".[101][102] Following her resignation, opposition party leadersPierre Poilievre andJagmeet Singh announced their support for avote of no confidence, which would trigger a general election.[103] Freeland's resignation "sent shockwaves" through the Canadian political establishment,[104] with Trudeau announcing his resignation as prime minister on January 6.
On January 17, 2025, Freeland announced her candidacy in the2025 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election.[105] In February 2025, a Canadian government task force reported that a coordinated social media campaign linked to thegovernment of the People's Republic of China targeted Freeland.[106] During the campaign, Freeland received 27 endorsements from Liberal caucus members, and proposed asking fellow leadership contestantMark Carney to serve as finance minister in her prospective ministry.[107] Freeland received 11,134 votes (8%) in the election, placing in a distant second behind winnerMark Carney who received 131,674 (86%) of the vote.[108] This was much lower than general expectations.[109] Freeland may be considered to join the Carney cabinet.[110]
Freeland has described her political philosophy as being "simply Canadian",[111] as well asfeminist.[112] She specifically holds economically and fiscally centrist policy positions aligned with the aims ofpublic economics while being a proponent of aliberal internationalist foreign policy.[113][114]
During her Liberal leadership campaign in 2025, Freeland proposed replacing the carbon tax with a system collaboratively developed with the provinces and territories,[115] scrapping the increase to inclusion rate on capital gains tax,[116] capping profit margins on essential goods, and makingshrinkflation illegal.
In January/February 2011 issue ofThe Atlantic, Freeland argues that the public perception that Canada and the United States are becoming increasingly plutocratic since theGreat Recession is not unfounded, explaining that those of first- and second-generation wealth in an increasingly globalized economy live lives fundamentally different from those of the middle and working class. She explains that they are "hard working, highly educated, jet-setting meritocratic who feel they are the deserving winners of a tough worldwide economic competition—and many of them, as a result, have an ambivalent attitude toward those of us who didn't succeed so spectacularly." She further adds that they are "becoming a transglobal community of peers who have more in common with one another than with their countrymen back home…today’s super-rich are increasingly a nation unto themselves."[117]
Freeland argues that the rise of plutocracy is due to advances in information technology and expansion offree trade. She explains that, within a global perspective, free trade has been overwhelmingly positive within the developing countries, citingper capita income growth in China and India between 1973 and 2002, but thatincome inequality has also worsened in developed and developing economies. She attributes this to developments in associated technologies allowing the growth of corporations to increase international competition and disruptive technological innovation even faster, thus allowing increases in shareholder values and executive pay increases for CEOs. She further explains that corporations have benefitted financially from economic upheaval, with expanded access to labour, customers, and capital lowering traditional barriers to market entry, where she goes on to cite the growth and success ofFacebook underMark Zuckerberg in challengingGoogle's share of the market. In her arguments, she cites the work of economistsPeter Lindert,Emmanuel Saez, andThomas Piketty.[117]
Freeland has argued that the financially affluent "have long recognized that philanthropy, in addition to its moral rewards, can also serve as a pathway to social acceptance and even immortality", citing examples such asGeorge Soros's efforts through hisOpen Society Foundations andPeter Peterson's utilization of a US$1 billion windfall fromBlackstone Inc. to fund political efforts to limiting entitlement spending, among others. She argues that a measure of the importance of public engagement for those who are financially affluent is the pace in which they are developing private foundations and think tanks.[117]
Freeland contends that the "new plutocracy" are "forming a global community, and their ties to one another are increasingly closer than their ties to hoi polloi back home". She explains that the American commercial elite engaged in this trend later than their contemporaries internationally, but that they are catching up, with a younger generation of CEOs having significantly more international business experience. Elaborating on the trend, she explains "there is a growing sense that American businesses that don't internationalize aggressively risk being left behind."[117]
In the July/August 2012 issue ofThe Atlantic, Freeland argues that the 2010s growth in family farming within the United States "holds lessons for America's economic future". She cites technological innovation and global integration as factors for the industry's growth in the United States amidst disruptive technological advancement and change. Further elaborating on the technological factors for this growth, she explains: "Continuous technological improvements have resulted in a system of crop farming that someone who left the countryside 20 years ago would be hard-pressed to recognize, and certainly couldn’t operate." She also adds that the "biggest reason rural bank accounts are swelling today isn't technology ... It is, rather, the growing global middle class", with the growth of prices in surging prices for feed grains like corn, soybeans, wheat, and canola due to the changing diets of emerging markets, in which she cites Chris Erickson, who is a partner of HighQuest Partners. Because of these trends, she argues that "the agricultural boom shows that globalization really is a two-way street, and not just for the geniuses at Apple and Goldman Sachs" but also as a means of helping sustain and grow the middle class.[118]
Freeland has praised the efforts of Federal Reserve chairBen Bernanke and European Central Bank presidentMario Draghi for respectively growing the American economy and strengthening theeurozone after the Great Recession. At the same time, she warns that, if "the ability to pump money into the economy is central bankers' superpower, then weaning their economies off this nearly free money is their kryptonite", with the likelihood of recession again growing without the former. On the other hand, she explains: "A lot of major investors harbor a different fear: that easy money is muffling ordinary market signals and thus creating dangerous—and dangerously invisible—bubbles."[119]
In 2012, Freeland wrote forThe Atlantic that due to new discoveries and technological developments, the end of the fossil fuel industry is not imminent. She explains that this trend will lead to new winners in the global economy such as Brazil, while it could complicate domestic policies in other major oil producers and exporters such as Canada. She added that this trend will intensify political debate around environmental issues, such as the controversy over Keystone XL.[120]
In 2025, she proposed Canada spend 2% of its GDP on defence (theNATO target) by 2027 by enlarging military and increasing troop wages.[121]
In another article for the July/August 2012 issue ofThe Atlantic, Freeland argued that platforms likeTwitter are able to quickly mobilize revolutions, especially inauthoritarian states, but that such movements end up losing out to more radical elements, citing the growing popularity of theIslamist movements during theArab Spring. She instead argues that traditional revolutionary movements, such as theBolsheviks,Solidarity, and theAfrican National Congress, were centralized with a core of devoted members with the ability to act as a government-in-waiting.[122]
Freeland is married to Graham Bowley, a British writer and reporter forThe New York Times.[123][124] The couple has three children.[125] She has lived in Toronto since the summer of 2013 when she returned from abroad to run for election.[25][126][35] She speaksUkrainian at home with her children.[127] She also speaks English, Russian, Italian, and French.[128] In 2014, John Geddes reported that Freeland and her sister co-owned an apartment overlooking the central square of Kyiv,Maidan Nezalezhnosti.[42] Freeland also owns properties in London in the United Kingdom.[129]
Thegodfather of her son isMark Carney, who ran against her in the2025 Liberal Party leadership election.[130]
Freeland's paternal grandfather, Wilbur Freeland, was a farmer and lawyer who rode in the annualCalgary Stampede; his sister, Beulah, was the wife of a federal member of Parliament,Ged Baldwin.[131] Her paternal grandmother, Helen Caulfield, was a World War II war bride fromGlasgow.[132] Freeland's mother, Halyna Chomiak, was born at a hospital administered by the US Army; her parents were staying at the displaced persons camp at the spa resort inBad Wörishofen in Bavaria, Germany. Halyna'sUkrainian Catholic parents wereMykhailo Khomiak (Ukrainian:Михайло Хомяк, anglicized as Michael Chomiak), born inStroniatyn [Wikidata],Galicia, and Alexandra Loban, originally of Rudniki, near Stanislaviv (nowIvano-Frankivsk).[16][133]
Freeland's maternal grandfather,Michael Chomiak, had been a journalistbefore World War II. During the war inNazi-occupied Poland and later inNazi-occupied Austria, he waschief editor of the Ukrainian daily newspaperKrakivs'ki Visti (Kraków News) for the Nazi regime.[134] After Chomiak's death in 1984,John-Paul Himka, a professor of history at theUniversity of Alberta, who was Chomiak's son-in-law (and also Freeland's uncle by marriage), used Chomiak's records, including old issues of the newspaper, as the basis of several scholarly papers focused on the coverage of Soviet mass murders of Ukrainian civilians. These papers also examined the use of these massacres asNazi propaganda against Jews.[135][136][137] In 2017, when Russian-affiliated websites, such asRussia Insider andNew Cold War, further publicized Chomiak's connection toNazism, Freeland and her spokespeople responded by claiming that this was a Russiandisinformation campaign during her appointment to the position ofminister of foreign affairs.[142] Her office later denied Chomiak ever collaborated withNazi Germany;[143] however, reporting byThe Globe and Mail showed that Freeland had known of her grandfather's Nazi ties since at least 1996, when she helped edit a scholarly article by Himka for theJournal of Ukrainian Studies.[138]
| 2025 Canadian federal election:University—Rosedale | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ** Preliminary results — Not yet official ** | ||||||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Liberal | Chrystia Freeland | 39,589 | 63.88 | +17.40 | ||||
| Conservative | Liz Grade | 14,625 | 23.60 | +5.66 | ||||
| New Democratic | Serena Purdy | 6,142 | 9.91 | –18.16 | ||||
| Green | Ignacio Mongrell | 1,063 | 1.72 | –2.72 | ||||
| Communist | Drew Garvie | 303 | 0.49 | +0.02 | ||||
| Marxist–Leninist | Barbara Biley | 138 | 0.22 | N/A | ||||
| Independent | Adam Golding | 117 | 0.19 | N/A | ||||
| Total valid votes/expense limit | ||||||||
| Total rejected ballots | ||||||||
| Turnout | 61,977 | 66.01 | ||||||
| Eligible voters | 93,896 | |||||||
| Liberalnotional hold | Swing | +5.87 | ||||||
| Source:Elections Canada[144][145] | ||||||||
| Candidate | First ballot | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes cast | % | Points allocated | % | ||
 | Mark Carney | 131,674 | 86.84% | 29,456.91 | 85.9% |
| Chrystia Freeland | 11,134 | 7.34% | 2,728.57 | 8.0% |
.jpg) | Karina Gould | 4,785 | 3.16% | 1,100.34 | 3.2% |
.jpg) | Frank Baylis | 4,038 | 2.66% | 1,014.18 | 3.0% |
| Rejected Ballots | 0 | – | – | – | |
| Total | 151,899 | 100.00 | 34,300 | 100.00 | |
| Abstained | 268 | – | – | – | |
| Electors | 163,836 | – | – | – | |
| 2021 Canadian federal election:University—Rosedale | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Liberal | Chrystia Freeland | 21,716 | 47.50 | −4.20 | $85,780.47 | |||
| New Democratic | Nicole Robicheau | 11,384 | 24.90 | +3.00 | $32,287.56 | |||
| Conservative | Steven Taylor | 9,307 | 20.36 | +4.06 | $97,838.32 | |||
| Green | Tim Grant | 1,909 | 4.18 | −4.32 | $23,475.69 | |||
| People's | David Kent | 1,155 | 2.53 | +1.63 | $5,169.67 | |||
| Communist | Drew Garvie | 243 | 0.53 | +0.33 | $0.00 | |||
| Total valid votes/expense limit | 45,714 | – | – | $109,583.59 | ||||
| Total rejected ballots | ||||||||
| Turnout | 45,714 | 58.83 | ||||||
| Eligible voters | 77,708 | |||||||
| Source:Elections Canada[147] | ||||||||
| 2019 Canadian federal election:University—Rosedale | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Liberal | Chrystia Freeland | 29,652 | 51.7 | +1.90 | $83,556.09 | |||
| New Democratic | Melissa Jean-Baptiste Vajda | 12,573 | 21.9 | −6.60 | $28,390.50 | |||
| Conservative | Helen-Claire Tingling | 9,342 | 16.3 | −1.03 | $38,588.65 | |||
| Green | Tim Grant | 4,861 | 8.5 | +5.57 | $33,386.65 | |||
| People's | Aran Lockwood | 510 | 0.9 | – | none listed | |||
| Animal Protection | Liz White | 159 | 0.3 | +0.08 | none listed | |||
| Communist | Drew Garvie | 143 | 0.2 | −0.02 | none listed | |||
| Stop Climate Change | Karin Brothers | 124 | 0.2 | – | none listed | |||
| Marxist–Leninist | Steve Rutschinski | 27 | 0.0 | −0.10 | none listed | |||
| Total valid votes/expense limit | 57,391 | 100.0 | ||||||
| Total rejected ballots | 281 | |||||||
| Turnout | 57,672 | 71.6 | ||||||
| Eligible voters | 80,567 | |||||||
| Liberalhold | Swing | +4.25 | ||||||
| Source:Elections Canada[148][149] | ||||||||
| 2015 Canadian federal election:University—Rosedale | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | |||||||
| Liberalnotional gain fromNew Democratic | Swing | +17.24 | ||||||
| Source:Elections Canada[150][151][152] | ||||||||
| 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 | |||||||
| Liberalhold | Swing | +1.14 | ||||||
| By-election due to the resignation ofBob Rae. | ||||||||
Source(s) "November 25, 2013 By-elections Poll-by-poll results".Elections Canada. RetrievedAugust 20, 2020. "November 25, 2013 By-election – Financial Reports". RetrievedMay 9, 2014. | ||||||||
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
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.
Krakivs'ki visti published materials from German papers, especially the Nazi party organVölkischer Beobachter, which appeared frequently. Articles were also translated fromBerliner Illustrierte Nachtausgabe and all most important Berlin papers.
| 30th Ministry – Cabinet ofMark Carney | ||
| Cabinet post (1) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Predecessor | Office | Successor |
| Anita Anand | Minister of Transport andInternal Trade 2025–present | Incumbent |
| 29th Ministry – Cabinet ofJustin Trudeau | ||
| Cabinet posts (5) | ||
| Predecessor | Office | Successor |
| Ed Fast | Minister of International Trade 2015–2017 | François-Philippe Champagne |
| Stéphane Dion | Minister of Foreign Affairs 2017–2019 | François-Philippe Champagne |
| Dominic LeBlanc | Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs 2019–2020 | Dominic LeBlanc |
| Anne McLellan | Deputy Prime Minister of Canada 2019–2024 | Vacant |
| Bill Morneau | Minister of Finance 2020–2024 | Dominic LeBlanc |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Academics | |
| People | |
| Other | |