Why a KGB Memo from the 80s Could Choose Canada’s Next Prime Minister
Canadian deputy PM Chrystia Freeland’s pro-democracy activities in Soviet-era Ukraine could rescue the Liberal Party from Justin Trudeau’s declining popularity
An intriguing article on Canada’s deputy prime minister and minister for finance, Chrystia Freeland recently appeared in Canada’s paper of record, the Globe and Mail. The article presented details from the KGB’s archived files on Freeland from her time as an exchange student in Ukraine in the late-1980s. Explaining how the KGB found her to be an enormous pest, but also seemed to have great respect for her, describing Freeland as “erudite, sociable, persistent, and inventive in achieving her goals.” It was a burnishing of Freeland’s image that no amount of conventional political attributes could buy.
Yet what the article also did was provide the Liberal Party with a path toward solving its current primary problem; the waning popularity of prime minister, Justin Trudeau. For two elections in a row, the Liberal Party has lost the overall popular vote, and has also been unable to secure a majority of the seats in the House of Commons. The party has only been able to hold on to power due to an electoral system and a regional distribution of…
