Saturday, August 22, 2020

Canada's "Minister of Everything" gains a new portfolio

In the wake of Bill Morneau's resignation debacle, Chrystia Freeland has been named as the new Finance Minister of the beleaguered Liberal government.
Indeed, it could hardly have been anyone else. Trudeau does not have any ministers available of the appropriate seniority who also have a finance background. Ms. Freeland does not have a finance background either, but she is perhaps Trudeau's most trusted and loyal minister, and has the enviable reputation of being able to adroitly handle anything she is presented with, whether it be NAFTA re-negotiations as Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, or holding the country together in what could have proved a larticularlt fraught and fractious time of pandemic as Minister of Intragovernmental Affairs. She has also been Deputy Prime Minister since the government's re-election in November 2019, and the de facto minister in charge of the government's COVID-19 response. In fact, she has earned herself the moniker "Minister of Everything" (and "Warrior Princess" from the Globe and Mail).
So precipitous has been her rise, it's easy to forget that Freeland has only been an MP for 7 years, and that she's only 52 years old. Prior to 2013, she was a journalist, writing for the Globe and Mail, the Financial Times, the Washington Post, the Economist, and Thomson Reuters, working her way up to become managing director of the latter. She is also, if that is not already apparent, a smart cookie: from humble beginnings in Peace River, Alberta, she earned a Rhodes Scholarship, and has degrees from Harvard and Oxford.
And, furthermore, she seems to have the happy knack of getting on with pretty much everybody, on both sides of the political divide. Even arch-Conservative Ontario Premier Doug Ford is a big fan, and commented recently, "I absolutely love Chrystia Freeland. She's amazing." Perhaps even more importantly, she is baggage-free, and seems to be able to avoid scandals (so far, at least).
Is her lack of financial experience going to be a problem in her new role? Probably not. She seems to be able to take most things in her stride. Most commentators, including people who have done the job before her, seem to think that her political experience, and the invaluable experience of negotiating the new NAFTA deal will stand her in good stead. And all that goodwill is probably not going to hurt.
In fact, most people are just assuming that she will be the next leader of the Liberal Party, when Trudeau has finally pissed enough people off and got fed up of apologizing. After all, as Elizabeth Renzetti notes, "If she is so good at fixing things, why isn't she in charge of ensuring that things don't get broken in the first place?"

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