Chrystia Freeland
Chrystia Freeland is a Canadian writer, journalist, and politician.
Place of Birth. Education. Born on February 8, 1968, in Peace River, Alberta, Canada. Her father, Donald Freeland, was a lawyer and a member of the Liberal Party of Canada. Her mother, Galyna Chomiak (1946-2007), a Ukrainian, was also a lawyer and ran for the New Democratic Party in the Edmonton-Strathcona riding in 1988. Freeland attended the Adriatic College of the Unified World. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in Russian History and Literature from Harvard University and a Master’s degree in Slavic Studies from St. Antony’s College, University of Oxford in 1993, where she was a Rhodes Scholar.
She speaks Russian, Ukrainian, Italian, French, and English.
- Canada will issue sovereign bonds to support Ukraine - Financial Times
- Chrystia Freeland with Ukrainian roots could become NATO Secretary General after Stoltenberg - CBC News
- 'Terrible news.' World leaders reacted to the Supreme Court's decision on abortions - News
Career. Freeland began her journalism career in Ukraine as a freelance writer for Financial Times, The Washington Post, and The Economist. She later worked at Financial Times in London as deputy editor, UK news editor, head of the Moscow bureau, Eastern Europe correspondent, weekend editor, and FT.com editor.
From 1999 to 2001, she was deputy editor of the Canadian newspaper Globe and Mail before taking the position of Managing Director of Financial Times in the USA. In March 2010, Freeland moved to the position of editor at Thomson Reuters, and in April 2011, she became editor of Thomson Reuters Digital. Before leaving Thomson Reuters, Freeland was Managing Director and Editor for consumer news. She was also a weekly columnist for Globe and Mail.
Political Career. On July 26, 2013, Freeland left journalism to run for the Canadian Parliament for the Liberal Party in the Toronto riding in a by-election. On September 15, 2013, she won the nomination, and on November 25, she received 49% of the votes, defeating Linda McQuaig from the New Democratic Party.
On November 4, 2015, she was appointed Canada's Minister of International Trade.
On January 10, 2017, she was appointed Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs in Justin Trudeau's government following a cabinet reshuffle. Similar to her colleague Maryam Monsef, Chrystia Freeland placed her hand on the Ukrainian Bible during her oath of office as cabinet minister and said 'Thank you!' in Ukrainian at the end.
After the Canadian federal elections on November 20, 2019, she was appointed Deputy Prime Minister of Canada and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs.
On August 17, 2020, Justin Trudeau announced cabinet reshuffles: Freeland was appointed Minister of Finance, and the Chair of the Privy Council, Dominic LeBlanc, replaced her as Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs.
Appearances on Talk Shows. Freeland has been a guest on the talk show 'Real Time with Bill Maher' six times. She has also participated in programs such as 'The McLaughlin Group,' 'The Dylan Ratigan Show,' 'Imus in the Morning,' 'Fareed Zakaria GPS,' and 'The Colbert Report.' She frequently appears on the political talk show 'Left, Right & Center' on KCRW radio station. In June 2013, Freeland gave a TED Talk on economic inequality, plutocracy, and globalization.
Books. Freeland is the author of the books 'Sale of the Century' (2000) about Russia's transition from communism to capitalism and 'Plutocrats: The Rise of the Global Billionaires and the Fall of Everyone Else' (2012). 'Plutocrats' made the New York Times Bestseller List and won the Lionel Gelber Prize for the best view of global affairs as well as the National Business Book Award for outstanding Canadian book on business.
Personal Life. She is married to Graham Bowley, a British writer and journalist for the New York Times. They have three children. Since the summer of 2013, she has lived in Toronto.
09.19.2023