Is Freeland’s exit a sign of a turn away from Washington? -Yves Engler
spoiler
Don’t let the door hit you on the way out, Madame Freeland.
Chrystia Freeland’s resignation from cabinet is a small win for all those who wish Canada would take a more independent foreign policy and not simply toady to the Americans.
A year after becoming prime minister, Justin Trudeau replaced foreign affairs minister Stéphane Dion, who represented a less pro-military and Washington faction of the Canadian elite, with Freeland. When she became foreign minister, the US embassy in Ottawa sent a memo to the State Department in Washington entitled “Canada Adopts ‘America First’ Foreign Policy.” Uncovered through a freedom of information request by Jay Watts, the largely redacted cable concluded that Trudeau promoted Freeland “in large part because of her strong U.S. contacts” and that her “number one priority” was working closely with Washington.
Coordinating the bid to overthrow Venezuela’s government was the highest profile example of Freeland’s “America First” policy. In 2020 Venezuelan foreign affairs Minister Jorge Arreaza pointed out that the Trudeau government’s Venezuela policy took a sharply belligerent turn after Freeland replaced Dion in January 2017. Freeland helped establish the Lima Group and participated in a half dozen meetings of the anti-Venezuelan government coalition. As the Globe and Mail reported, “Freeland spoke with Juan Guaidó to congratulate him on unifying opposition forces in Venezuela, two weeks before he declared himself interim president” in January 2019.
As part of her pro-Washington policy in the Hemisphere, Freeland also supported the ouster of Bolivia’s first indigenous president. Hours after the military command forced Evo Morales to resign on November 10, 2019, Freeland released a celebratory statement declaring, “Canada stands with Bolivia and the democratic will of its people.”
Ottawa provided significant support for the Organization of American States’ effort to discredit Bolivia’s 2019 vote, which fueled opposition protests and justified the coup. “Canada commends the invaluable work of the OAS audit mission in ensuring a fair and transparent process, which we supported financially and through our expertise”, noted Freeland at the time. But the OAS audit mission was designed to precipitate Morales ouster. A slew of studies demonstrated the partisan nature of the OAS audit mission and a year later Morales’ former finance minister, Luis Acre, won 55% of the vote for president and his MAS party took a large majority in the Congress.
Freeland is deeply anti-Palestinian. She’s attended multiple genocide rallies over the past fourteen months and declared that “Canada stands with Israel”. When I asked Freeland in April if she condemned Israel’s killing of 14,000 Palestinian children she declined to respond. During a visit to Israel in 2018 Freeland announced that should Canada win a seat on the United Nations Security Council, it would act as an “asset for Israel” on the Council.
Israel-first Liberal MP Anthony Housefather and his former colleague, turned Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center head, Michael Levitt, bemoaned her resignation. Levitt labeled Freeland’s resignation letter “a devastating blow to the Prime Minister”.
Freeland is particularly hawkish on Ukraine and the NATO proxy war. As finance minister she’s led the international charge to freeze $300 billion in Russian Central Bank assets and give them to Ukraine. Canada has pledged $5 billion to Ukraine that was taken from seized Russian assets. Freeland’s also repeatedly called for escalating the NATO proxy war and sending more arms to Ukraine.
Long before Russia’s February 2022 invasion, Freeland framed the smoldering fighting in eastern Ukraine as a global battle between good and evil. In November 2019 she declared that Ukraine was at the “forefront of the struggle between democracy and authoritarianism” and that “modern Ukraine is the country where the struggle is ongoing and the future of the rules-based international order and genuine democracy in the world will be determined.” But democracy has never been a genuine concern for the hardline nationalists in Freeland’s family. Her grandfather, Michael Chomiak, was a Ukrainian Nazi collaborator and propagandist during World War II.
When it comes to Freeland’s international policy the dominant media act like fawning sycophants, rather than serious journalists. Their portrayal of Freeland is often downright embarrassing. Expect that type of commentary in coming days.
Chrystia Freeland’s letter announcing her resignation suggests she’s seeking to push the Liberals further to the right. She’s likely hoping to force Justin Trudeau to resign so she can take the reins of the Liberal Party. A reminder that the Liberals can get even worse.
