Chrystia Freeland

Chrystia Freeland is a Canadian politician, journalist, and author whose career has spanned government, international diplomacy, and global media. Born in Alberta, Freeland studied at Harvard University and continued her education as a Rhodes Scholar at the University of Oxford. She began her journalism career as a Ukraine-based freelance reporter for Financial Times, The Washington Post, and The Economist, later serving as deputy editor of The Globe and Mail and United States managing editor of Financial Times. Freeland also worked as managing director of Thomson Reuters before returning to Canada to enter politics.

Freeland is the author of two books: "Sale of the Century: The Inside Story of the Second Russian Revolution" and "Plutocrats: The Rise of the New Global Super-Rich and the Fall of Everyone Else." "Plutocrats" became a bestseller and won the Lionel Gelber Prize for its analysis of economic disparity. These works established Freeland as a leading voice on global economics, wealth inequality, and geopolitics.

Elected as a Member of Parliament, Freeland has held positions including Minister of International Trade, Minister of Foreign Affairs—where she led the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement into the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement—and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, becoming the first woman to serve as Canada's finance minister. As Minister of International Trade, she led the negotiation of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between Canada and the European Union. As Minister of Finance, Freeland oversaw economic policy during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on job protection, economic stability, and maintaining Canada's AAA credit rating and favorable debt and deficit ratios among G7 countries.

Freeland has received international recognition for her commitment to democracy and human rights, including the Foreign Policy Association Medal, Freedom House's Mark Palmer Prize, Foreign Policy's Diplomat of the Year, and the Eric M. Warburg Award from Atlantik-Brücke. During her tenure as finance minister, she played a central role in the global response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, including the seizure of Russian sovereign assets to support Ukraine.

After leaving cabinet, Freeland continued to influence global affairs. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appointed her as an unpaid economic adviser, a role that draws on her Ukrainian heritage and expertise in international economics. Freeland speaks Ukrainian, English, French, Italian, and Russian. She has also been named warden of Rhodes House and chief executive officer of the Rhodes Trust, leading one of the world's most recognized international scholarship programs.