¶ Chrystia Freeland
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Chrystia Freeland is a Canadian politician based in Ottawa, Ontario. She serves as Deputy Prime Minister of Canada under Justin Trudeau, as well as Minister of Finance and Minister of International Affairs. She was appointed Deputy Prime Minister in November 2019, and has been described as Trudeau's “heir apparent.”[1][2] She is a member of the Board of Trustees of the World Economic Forum (WEF).[3]
She is the granddaughter of Michael and Alexandra Chomiak,[4] and the niece of John-Paul Himka.[5]
¶ History
Freeland's maternal grandfather, Michael Chomiak, was Ukrainian. He worked as chief editor during World War II at Krakivs'ki Visti, a Ukrainian newspaper which published propaganda for the German Nazi Party.[5:1] He reportedly received training in Vienna, Austria for espionage and propaganda operations,[6] and was well-compensated in the form of "a powerful post, money, home and car" in Kraków, Poland.[7]
As the German army was sent into retreat by the Soviet counteroffensive, Chomiak relocated to Vienna where he continued his work. He reportedly provided the Germans with information on other Ukrainians, including Stepan Bandera. Chomiak evacuated to Munich with the German forces in March 1945. By September 1946, he and his wife, Alexandra Chomiak, were accommodated in a "well-known spa resort for wealthy Bavarians" controlled by the United States Army.[7:1]
Following the end of World War II, Chomiak joined some 2,000 Nazi collaborators who escaped to North America.[6:1] Chomiak emigrated to Canada in 1948, settling on a farm in the province of Alberta.[8]
In the 1960s, the Government of Poland uncovered records of Chomiak's involvement with the Nazis. Polish intelligence agencies maintained an active investigation into Chomiak's whereabouts until the 1980s.[6:2]
¶ Education
Freeland attended Harvard University, then moved to the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar.
¶ Activities in Ukraine and Russia
While a student at Harvard in the 1980s, Freeland participated in a university exchange program that brought her to live in Kiev, Ukraine for a time.[9] While there, she was involved in 1988 and 1989 in the Ukrainian independence movement, and was tailed by the KGB. She was given the codename “Frida”, and described as a “well-known troublemaker.”[10]
Descriptions of Freeland's activities in Russia and Ukraine seem to indicate she was performing foreign intelligence duties. She allegedly evaded interception from the KGB by sending material out of Ukraine via a diplomatic pouch at the Canadian embassy in Moscow. “I am aware that my work with pro-democracy and environmental activists invoked the ire of the Soviet KGB. I remember being the target of smear campaigns in the Soviet press,” she told The Globe and Mail in October 2021.[11]
¶ Career
Freeland began her career as a journalist in Ukraine working freelance for the Financial Times, The Washington Post and The Economist, before landing various positions at the Financial Times of London.
Freeland co-edited a paper published in 1996 in the East/West: Journal of Ukrainian Studies revealing her grandfather's Nazi ties.[5:2]
She moved on to become Deputy Editor of The Globe and Mail between 1999 and 2001 before returning to the Financial Times as Deputy Editor and then United States Managing Editor.
In 2000, Freeland participated in the World Economic Forum's Global Leaders for Tomorrow program.[12] She then participated in the inaugural Forum of Young Global Leaders in 2005, where “their discussions have led them to consider the probable state of the world in 2020, part of the 2020 Initiative.”[13][14] Among the primary points of discussion in the 2020 Initiative was “Communicable diseases, outbreaks and pandemics,” with the SARS-CoV-1 outbreak specifically mentioned.[15]
In 2010, she joined Thomson Reuters as Managing Director and Editor of Consumer News until she returned to politics in 2013.
From 2015-2017, Freeland served as Canada's Minister of International Trade, credited for negotiating the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement with the European Union. She then served as Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs, wherein she lead the renegotiations for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) between Canada, Mexico and the United States.
¶ External links
MacCharles, T., & Campion-Smith, B. (2019, November 20). Chrystia Freeland named deputy prime minister in cabinet shuffle. Toronto Star. Retrieved August 13, 2023, from https://web.archive.org/web/20230813173005/https://www.thestar.com/politics/federal/chrystia-freeland-named-deputy-prime-minister-in-cabinet-shuffle/article_63f37216-8ba5-5227-8319-bbf51d13fbff.html ↩︎
Mitrovica, A. (2019, December 2). Chrystia Freeland: Trudeau’s heir apparent. Al Jazeera. Retrieved November 30, 2021, from http://archive.today/2021.11.30-234435/https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2019/12/2/chrystia-freeland-trudeaus-heir-apparent/ ↩︎
Leadership and Governance. World Economic Forum. Retrieved November 30, 2021, from https://web.archive.org/web/20211121052749/https://www.weforum.org/about/leadership-and-governance/ ↩︎
Alexandra Chomiak Obituary. (2005, February). Legacy. http://archive.today/2023.11.23-203710/https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/legacyremembers/alexandra-chomiak-obituary?id=46889882 ↩︎
Fife, R. (2017, March 7). Freeland knew her grandfather was editor of Nazi newspaper. The Globe and Mail. https://web.archive.org/web/20180409142649/https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/freeland-knew-her-grandfather-was-editor-of-nazi-newspaper/article34236881/ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎
Pike, C. (2018, February 2). Canada’s Nazi Problem. The Saker. https://web.archive.org/web/20211222101640/http://thesaker.is/canadas-nazi-problem/ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎
Helmer, J. (2017, January 22). Canada’s New Foreign Minister Lying About Family’s Ukrainian Nazi Past. Vigile Québec. http://archive.today/2021.02.08-233426/https://vigile.quebec/articles/canada-s-new-foreign-minister-lying-about-family-s-ukrainian-nazi-past ↩︎ ↩︎
Ukrainica in Canada. State Archival Service of Ukraine. Retrieved January 29, 2019, from http://archive.today/2019.01.29-181125/http://www.archives.gov.ua/Eng/canada.php ↩︎
Bilefsky, D. (2022, February 25). A Canadian leader with Ukrainian roots puts Putin in the ranks of “reviled European dictators.” The New York Times. http://archive.today/2022.02.27-011938/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/25/world/europe/chrystia-freeland-vladimir-putin.html ↩︎
Retson, D. (1989, May 20). Student “glasnost” chilly. Edmonton Journal, 14. http://archive.today/2022.03.01-232411/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/48118493/edmonton-journal/ ↩︎
Miles, S. (2021, October 11). KGB archives show how Chrystia Freeland drew the ire (and respect) of Soviet intelligence services. The Globe and Mail. http://archive.today/2022.02.17-002254/https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/article-kgb-archives-show-how-chrystia-freeland-drew-the-ire-and-respect-of/ ↩︎
Global Leaders for Tomorrow Class of 2000. World Economic Forum. Retrieved March 19, 2013, from https://web.archive.org/web/20130319042241/http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GLT_ClassOf2000.pdf ↩︎
Young Global Leaders Profiles. The Forum of Young Global Leaders. Retrieved October 29, 2005, from http://archive.today/2005.10.29-205708/http://www.younggloballeaders.org/scripts/modules/Profiles/page11255.html ↩︎
Annual Meeting News: Young Global Leaders at the Annual Meeting 2005. The Forum of Young Global Leaders. Retrieved October 30, 2005, from https://web.archive.org/web/20051030125249/http://www.younggloballeaders.org/htdocs/files/Annual Meeting Wrapup_Light.pdf ↩︎
Health in 2020. The Forum of Young Global Leaders. Retrieved October 29, 2005, from http://archive.today/2005.10.29-192713/http://www.younggloballeaders.org/scripts/page8087.html ↩︎