Freeland appointed to lead Canadian foreign ministry
11 January 2017
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appointed on Jan. 10 Chrystia Freeland as his new foreign minister. Most recently, she served as the international trade minister since her appointment in November 2015. She built her career in journalism, having served as the editor-at-large for the Thomson Reuters news agency and authoring two books on the Russian oligarchy. She became a member of parliament in 2013, representing a Toronto district.
Zenon Zawada: A Canadian of Ukrainian descent, Freeland is intimately familiar with the Ukraine’s problems, having begun her journalism career as a stringer in Ukraine and attending numerous conferences once launching her political career. Her support for fierce sanctions against Russia, including asset seizures and travel bans, earned her a retaliatory travel ban in 2014.
We are confident Freeland was nominated to help offset the influence of the Putin doves nominated by Donald Trump, led by Rex Tillerson for U.S. secretary of state. Tillerson will be extensively questioned during U.S. Senate confirmation hearings today and tomorrow, after which we expect his nomination will be confirmed. Though Freeland won’t have as much diplomatic weight, she will be an active and vocal critic of Trump’s possible attempts to appease Putin.
