Canada's Deputy PM Chrystia Freeland has played a huge role in punishing Russia due to their actions in Ukraine.

From the article -

"The Soviet Union’s secret police, the infamous KGB, praised her savvy and erudition, even as she frustrated their attempts to spy on her in Cold War Ukraine. They tagged her with the code name Frida. But today we know Chrystia Freeland as Canada’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance.

Ms. Freeland’s ties to Ukraine are no secret, but materials uncovered from the KGB archives in Kyiv illuminate her role in the Ukrainian independence movement while on exchange there from Harvard University.

In the former Soviet republic – now Moscow’s antagonist – access to information on the communist period is guaranteed, both as part of reckoning with Ukraine’s past and explicitly as a rebuke to Russia, which is seeking once again to impose itself on the country.

The materials show what drew the Soviet intelligence services’ attention to the then-troublesome young Canadian, who was the subject of denouncements in the Soviet press and even warranted a feature in top-secret KGB documents.

In articles bearing titles like “Abuse of Hospitality,” Soviet newspapers publicly lambasted the Canadian visitor for recklessly meddling in the Soviet Union’s affairs with malice aforethought.

What business, the Kyiv newspaper Pravda Ukrainy asked, did someone from Edmonton have leading a civic organization for the preservation of the Ukrainian language in Ukraine? Why did someone in Ukraine to study Ukrainian spend so little time doing so at the university sponsoring her visit – and why study when, as the televised rallies at which she spoke time and again clearly showed, she spoke the language flawlessly?

Even Pravda, the official broadsheet of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, condemned her by name, and others like her, for their efforts to tear Ukraine away from the USSR.

Opinion: How Ukrainian politics became the most Canadian of politics

Ms. Freeland, in a written statement to The Globe and Mail, said: “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.

“Though I was eventually forced to leave the country, I have no regrets about my time in Ukraine during the Soviet period. Out of this experience, what struck me, very powerfully, was how quickly a rotten political system could collapse, and how important the work of brave dissidents could be.”

Ms. Freeland was part of a flood of tourists; activists; missionaries; students; and even historians, purporting to work in the archives (but suspected by authorities, including the KGB, of having ulterior motives), visiting the Soviet Union during its final years. But she is unique in having become a top-secret published case study for the KGB in just how much damage one determined foreigner could do to the USSR as they knew it.

The Soviet Union’s state media tended to adopt a breathless style when exposing what it saw as the wicked machinations of foreigners such as Ms. Freeland. However, the KGB’s Colonel A. Stroi, based in Kyiv, dispensed with the feigned indignance in his report on the woman giving him so much grief in the pages of Sbornik KGB SSSR (Digest of the KGB of the USSR), the KGB’s top-secret, in-house journal.

Ms. Freeland, and her ilk, were a threat to the Soviet Union – but one which had to be handled delicately: Treating her too harshly could give credence to the “libellous” stories told in Ukrainian émigré communities about how the KGB treated national minorities in the Soviet Union.

According to the KGB, Ms. Freeland was more than just an agitator for, as Col. Stroi derisively put it, “the liberation of Ukraine” who coerced Soviet citizens into staging marches and rallies to attract Western support. She delivered cash, video- and audio-recording equipment, and even a personal computer to her contacts in Ukraine."

Continued -

"All of this took place under the watchful eye of the KGB, which surveilled Ms. Freeland. Its officers tailed her wherever she went; tapped her phone calls to Ukrainians abroad; bugged her accommodation; read her mail; and had an informer, codenamed Slav, insert himself into Ms. Freeland’s circle and gain the young Canadian’s trust.

Freeland warns Canadians to beware of Russian disinformation

But Ms. Freeland knew the rules of the road. She used a Canadian diplomat at the embassy in Moscow, known to the KGB as Bison and suspected of being a spy, to send material abroad in a diplomatic pouch that could not be intercepted or read.

She increasingly avoided major gatherings, lest her participation draw too much attention to her. And the Soviet secret police’s subtler attempts to curtail her activities failed: Her teacher at Kyiv’s Taras Shevchenko University, on the KGB’s orders, increased her workload. But the student, ostensibly on a visa to study Ukrainian, was so fluent that she did not need to attend class in the first place in order to make grades – much to the KGB’s chagrin.

Instead, she spent her time traversing Ukraine, purporting to visit far-flung family members, but in fact working as a fixer for visiting journalists from Canada, Britain and the United States, for example taking a BBC film crew to Lviv to meet leaders in the Ukrainian Catholic Church. Countless “tendentious” news stories about life in the Soviet Union, especially for its non-Russian citizens, had her fingerprints as Ms. Freeland set about making a name for herself in journalistic circles with an eye to her future career prospects.

Col. Stroi certainly objected to what Ms. Freeland was doing in Ukraine, but the KGB officer could not help but be impressed. She was “a remarkable individual” with “an analytical mindset.” The young Canadian was “erudite, sociable, persistent, and inventive in achieving her goals,” nefarious as they may have been in the eyes of Soviet intelligence.

The student causing so many headaches clearly loathed the Soviet Union, but she knew its laws inside and out – and how to use them to her advantage. She skillfully hid her actions, avoided surveillance (and shared that knowledge with her Ukrainian contacts) and expertly trafficked in “misinformation.” The conclusion is inescapable: Chrystia Freeland, this KGB officer was saying, would have made an excellent spy herself.

Ms. Freeland’s time in the Soviet Union came to an end when customs agents at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport, tipped off by the KGB, searched her luggage as she returned from a trip to London and found anti-Soviet materials. Even more worrying, they discovered a veritable how-to guide for running an election destined for use by non-Communist Party candidates campaigning for Ukrainian independence in the Soviet Union’s first-ever free elections. She was denied re-entry on March 31, 1989.

Some 30 years later, there is no love lost between Canada’s Deputy Prime Minister and the current leader of Russia, himself a former KGB officer, Vladimir Putin. And she still cannot fly into Moscow – since 2014, Chrystia Freeland has once again been the target of Kremlin sanctions, barred from entering the country."

Simon Miles is assistant professor in the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University.

"Sale Of The Century : The Inside Story of the Second Russian Revolution"

Thanks for starting this thread. I'll read up on her, OP. Anyone doing the most to help kick Vlad's ass is good with me.

Good for her! And judging by her knowledge, she seems well-positioned to be Canada’s next PM? Am I reading the runes correctly, DL Canadians?

She might, R5. She has been sounding the alarms about Russian disinformation targeting Canada for years now too.

Dropped by the wiki entry on her, and apparently gurl cut her teeth in the world of journalism. The FT, Globe and Mail, and Reuters. Well, I’ll have a look at her work!

For Americans who may not be familiar, here's here Wiki. It's not overly detailed, but it's a start.

I remember about 20 years ago, she was often on MSNBC-- frequent guest on Hardball if I remember correctly. Always liked her.

She wasn't intimidated by the KGB at 20, so she's clearly a force not to be fucked with.

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Here's an old TED talk of hers.

I’ve been a great admirer of her for some time- particularly as a pundit- and her insights on The McLaughlin Group- she is very clever and has deep knowledge on many matters. I will confess as a Canadian I’m disappointed on her moves alongside Trudeau regarding the EA implementation- I expect more from both of them; however I’m sure she is on path to becoming the Prime Minister at some point.

[quote] After the tariffs were imposed, Trudeau and Trump spoke on the phone; Wherry reports Trump called Freeland a "nasty woman" and accused her of talking about him to other world leaders.

R5 I mean, sort of. Trudeau seems to be propping her up as potential party leader after he steps down. Yes, he will step down eventually.

Oh, she's a "Nasty Woman"? SOLD!

R15 Ooh fun. The golden endorsement.

LMAO

I had no idea, go Frida go!

Nice attempt, OP, trying to make this bitch [italic]happen[/italic].

Trying to make her happen, R21? There's no need for that - she's already "happened." She's the Deputy PM of Canada, wrote a book about Russian oligarchs, was spied upon by the KGB at 20, graduated from Harvard and Oxford, orchestrated the NAFTA deal (meaning she had to negotiate with Trump), and had a very successful career before she entered politics.

What have you done with your life?

I didn't know what SWIFT actually was, so I had to Google it. It's the official messaging system used by financial institutions to order electronic funds transfers.

"As powerful as SWIFT is, keep in mind that it is only a messaging system. SWIFT does not hold any funds or securities, nor does it manage client accounts."

It replaced Telex (now that's old school!)

“The response by Canada and our allies will be swift and it will bite,' Freeland swore after Putin’s forces crossed the border."

I see what you did there, Chrysti!

I don’t get it.

Her husband writes an article for the New York Times about once every ten days. He works the very important Bill Cosby/ Alec Baldwin shooting beat that is so essentially to world affairs.

R26 Oh dear.

R21 An eager beaver lesbian has a crush. Heaven forfend!

When she was a journalist she was regularly on "Left, Right, and Center" with Robert Scheer; I think she was supposed to represent the center, but usually veered left. Very smart and articulate.

She's my MP and I see her from time to time near my house. I think she is incredibly smart and we'd be fortunate if she does get the leadership. I believe Trudeau is doing everything he can to put her front and centre, particularly since the last election last summer, which seems to suggest he's engaged in succession planning. The day after the last election he announced she would retain Minister of Finance and Deputy PM, but said nothing about anyone else. My only concern is that parties here can vote against the acknowledged front runner, so I really hope that when Trudeau steps down she doesn't fall victim to that. Mark Carney, the former head of the banks of Canada and England is out there in the ether, focusing on environmental issues, and is always rumoured to be a potential candidate and would probably be a genuine rival. She will presumably be the first woman elected to lead government. The other woman won leadership of the party but lost her first election.

R32 I thought something similar watching the address where Trudeau announced the declaration of emergency. He brought her front and center to announce the economic measures, which were the most important part in my opinion. He could have addressed all of that himself but chose not to.

I think he made her the face of the money laundering crackdown knowing it would be the great success and the legacy of the emergency declaration. It's what this will be remembered for years from now. He's putting his weight behind her now with an eye to future elections.

nice to read

Unfortunate for Russia that the kid they hassled in the 80s is now Finance Minister of one of the world's stronger economies. Shoulda thought of that.

^ It's apparently a small world even on the biggest scale.

R36 Her family history and academic career are what got her in the door of politics to begin with. What makes her threatening to Russia makes her attractive to Canada.

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East of the Annex, R38.

I didn't know any of this about Freeland's past run-ins with the USSR or her being a bit of a whiz kid at a young age. That said, I already liked her and think she would make an excellent PM. the fact that she has an established past of countering dark money (and the influence of dark money) and oligarchical power is a real bonus.

You know what first made me like her, though? When she got emotional on camera after a difficult day of CETA negotiations (trade deal between Canada and Europe which did eventually get done) a few years ago. There was something matter-of-fact about the way she handled her own emotions, iirc she even acknowledged it and explained that she was very frustrated as she gave her statement to the assembled media. There was immediately something I admired in her a)not running away because she was emotional but also b)still getting her statement out and not falling apart or giving in completely to the emotion. It seemed a grown-up and pragmatic way to deal with what could have been a highly embarrassing situation for her.

Did anyone see her today??

"You. Were. Warned."

“Canada and its allies continue to take concerted action to ensure that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will be a strategic failure,” said Freeland in a statement on Monday. “This has never been done before at this scale. Today, we are taking a historic step by directly censuring Russia’s central bank.”

Lord I hope she has good security.

Oh shit -

"I warned that the wests' economic sanctions would be swift, coordinated, sustained and crushing....dictators, including the Kremlin's tyrant often fail to understand democracies. We can seem to them to be weak and divided compared to the servile conformity that they impose on their societies at the barrel of a gun. But our very openness to debate and dispute means that once we are agreed on a course of action, we are strong and we are united."

She's not fucking around.

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[quote]That man really doesn't have much of an ego.

I think that's possibly being generous. He's taken major hits over his comments during the trucker mess when he went straight for the woke jugular and lumped them all in as Nazis and blah blah blah blah and then criticism for either going too late or for going at all. We can all agree, surely, they were all idiots of one kind or another but in fairness they might have been wrong in their frustration but probably weren't all plotting their next hate crime. Rightly or wrongly, there was a lot of kick back over tone and content there. I think even the Star called him on that. Anyway, he had a rough, rough month so the alternate theory is he's probably standing back in public out of deference to her family history and clear expertise and so as not to be a distraction. And it's obvious he's positioning her for her leadership bid and rightly so. She's got a ton of talent.

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R47 I think that's the more realistic take. Trudeau and sincere don't belong in the same sentence, much as I approve of a lot of what he's done politically.

R48 There were massive protests being planned for provincial capitals last Saturday that were preempted by the invasion of Ukraine. That, and Trudeau wisely removed most of the fuel from the fire by rescinding the declaration of emergency really quickly. They're not done.

I can’t imagine having the balls as a college student to leave home in the West and go play cat and mouse with the KGB.

Many columnists in many newspapers were sharply critical of the Prime Minister using such divisive rhetoric. Be laughably partisan if you like.

The left and the right in Canada are harping on Freeland's grandfather again. She really needs to address this or risk looking like she's avoiding the topic. This will haunt her if she runs for leadership one day.

What's the deal with her grandpa again? Nazi?

Kind of Nazi adjacent... this column has an edge to it but the paper is reliable...

"For starters, The Ukraine Archival Records held by the Province of Alberta. It has a whole file on Chomiak, including his own details about his days editing the newspaper Krakivski Visti. Chomiak noted he edited the paper first in Crakow (Cracow), Poland and then in Vienna. The reason he edited the paper in Vienna was because he had to flee with his Nazis colleagues as the Russians advanced into Poland. (The Russians tended to execute collaborators well as SS members).

Here is what the Los Angeles Holocaust Museum has to say about Krakivski Visti and a similar newspaper, Lvivski Visti, both publications associated with the Nazi regime.

“The editorial boards carried out a policy of soliciting Ukrainian support for the German cause,” the Holocaust Museum noted. “It was typical, within these publications, to not to give any accounts of the German genocidal policy, and largely, the editions resorted to silencing the mass killing of Jews in Galicia. Ukrainian newspapers presented the Jewish Question in light of the official Nazi propaganda, corollary to the Jewish world conspiracy.”

“In 1943 and 1944, both Lvivski Visti and Krakivski Visti hailed the German-approved formation of the 14th Waffen SS Division Halychyna, composed of Ukrainian volunteers,” the museum pointed out.

On Wednesday the Globe and Mail reported that, “Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland knew for more than two decades that her maternal Ukrainian grandfather was the chief editor of a Nazi newspaper.”

some more context:

In 1996, Prof. Himka wrote about Mr. Chomiak's work for Kravivski Visti, a Ukrainian-language newspaper based in Krakow that often published anti-Jewish diatribes including "certain passages in some of the articles that expressed approval of what the Nazis were doing to the Jews."

But he also said in the article, edited by Ms. Freeland, that Mr. Chomiak had told his family that he was playing a double game as the editor of the newspaper.

"A daughter of the chief editor, who interviewed her father about his wartime experiences, has informed me that Mykhailo Khomiak [Michael Chomiak] and the editorial board as a whole worked to some extent with the anti-Nazi resistance; in particular, they issued false papers for members of the underground," he wrote.

Prof. Himka said that he was never able to verify this information, which he described as "fragmentary and one-sided."

In an interview on Tuesday, Prof. Himka said he never knew that Mr. Chomiak had worked for the Nazis until after his father-in-law passed away and he discovered copies of Krakivski Visti in his personal papers.

Although he acknowledged that Mr. Chomiak was a Nazi collaborator, he maintained that the Germans made the editorial decisions to run anti-Semitic articles and other Nazi propaganda.

"Yeah he was the editor of a legal newspaper in Nazi-occupied Poland. He never signed anything in the paper. He never made policy or that kind of thing. It wouldn't be his call," Prof. Himka told The Globe and Mail. "[The newspaper] also performed a function for Ukrainian culture and kept Ukrainian intelligentsia alive during the war by paying them for articles, not just anti-Semitic articles but articles about Ukrainian culture. It was a bit of a mixed bag."

I don't remember the hard left and the far right constantly agreeing on every issue. Is this a new phenomenon? This is like the third major political issue in a month where they've teamed up to attack the Liberals. Usually they at least feign differences.

R56 he was a collaborator for sure, edited a Nazi newspaper.

It’s a shame that Freeland has never really acknowledged this, as it will no doubt harm any leadership bid she makes as R55 mentions. Strange really as she is usually a savvy politician and must realize that it is relatively common knowledge at this point.

Trudeau's trip gets called out by the CBC.

R61, some of it's true, some of it isn't.

I am no fan of Trudeau but that was a stupid question and near as I can tell, baseless. Anyone saying Trudeau should have stayed home would likely be the kind of voice the CBC would prefer not to listen to.

I wish Freeland came back with: A lot of people think we shouldn't spend public money on the CBC, but there ya go.

^ Wrong thread.

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She always reminds me of what Samantha Bee would've been if she had focused on books instead of comedy.

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The Canadians who lurk here really need validation for something, don't they? Anything. Just, something they can point out.

New role.