Canada鈥檚 Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland has been at the forefront of the government鈥檚 response to Russia鈥檚 invasion of Ukraine, and for her, this crisis hits a little differently.
On Feb. 24, the day Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a full-scale military attack on the sovereign country, Canadians watching a government update about the situation got a hint of her personal heritage.
鈥淭o my own Ukrainian-Canadian community, let me say this: Now is the time for us to be strong as we support our friends and family in Ukraine,鈥� she said, later speaking in Ukrainian.
Freeland鈥檚 maternal grandparents were both born in Ukraine and her mother helped draft the country鈥檚 constitution when it gained independence in 1991.
Between 1988 and 1989, she studied at the University of Kyiv as an exchange student while earning a degree at Harvard University. There, she caught the attention of the Soviet Union鈥檚 KGB for her pro-democracy, pro-Ukrainian independence activism.
In the 1990s, she launched her journalism career in Ukraine and later became Moscow鈥檚 bureau chief for the Financial Times.
Along with other Canadian politicians and diplomats, Freeland is barred from entering Russia after the West applied sanctions for its annexation of Crimea.
When CTVNews.ca reached out to the minister鈥檚 office requesting background material and a statement about how her personal connections impact her work on the file, staff referenced comments she made on Thursday that the focus of Canadians should be centred on the Ukrainian people.
鈥淲hat we are seeing across Ukraine is a very, very determined people who have decided they鈥檙e willing to fight and die for democracy and for freedom. [鈥 Seeing the Ukrainians stand up and say, 鈥榃e may be smaller than you, you may have a fierce army that is bigger than ours, but we will not submit,'" she said during a press conference.
"I think that is what has been transformative, and I鈥檓 very proud of them. I鈥檓 very inspired by the people of Ukraine, and I think the whole world is.屎
Retired major-general David Fraser, a former NATO commander, says he commends the efforts she鈥檚 made to distance her personal background with the situation at hand.
鈥淚 got to say, she鈥檚 been pretty low key about this throughout the conflict so far and I credit her for 鈥� she could have come out very emotional, but she hasn鈥檛. She has been more what we should expect from our deputy prime minister,鈥� he said in an interview on CTVNews.ca.
鈥淪he鈥檚 not taken the soapbox and used it for, quite frankly, cheap political moves.鈥�
Moving in lockstep with its allies, Canada has levied a series of economic sanctions at Russian institutions and elites 鈥� including Putin 鈥� for the war in Ukraine. The government has also announced shipments of lethal and non-lethal military aid to Ukraine, millions of dollars in humanitarian aid, and has closed domestic airspace and waterways to Russia.
Almost daily, Freeland has stood alongside her colleagues, unveiling incremental punitive measures as the situation escalates.
Former Conservative defence and foreign affairs minister Peter MacKay said in a statement to CTVNews.ca that it鈥檚 evident the minister is 鈥渕oving mountains鈥� within her own department and 鈥渁rguably others鈥� to expedite the government鈥檚 support.
鈥淚t鈥檚 how it should be in times like these. After a somewhat slow and measured response, the sanctions and aide packages have certainly picked up. Her willingness to spend political capital and embody the urgency and the motivation to deliver is very much on display in recent days,鈥� he said.
The minister has, however, faced criticism in recent days after being photographed at a Ukrainian solidarity march in Toronto on Sunday holding a red-and-black scarf inscribed with the slogan 鈥淕lory to Ukraine, glory to the heroes.鈥�
It was a slogan adopted by the Ukrainian Insurgent Army during its congress in Nazi-occupied Poland in April 1941.
Both her office and the Ukrainian Canadian Congress suggest the questions and backlash she received about it online is linked to a pattern of Russian-backed disinformation targeting members of the Ukrainian community.
Similar criticism has emerged in the past as Freeland鈥檚 grandfather was the editor of a Nazi propaganda newspaper in occupied Poland during the Second World War.
One former diplomat told CTVNews.ca, it鈥檚 important to acknowledge Freeland鈥檚 solidarity with Ukraine and her bold rhetoric targeting Putin has long been infused in her work in previous portfolios, namely as foreign minister.
On June 6, 2017 she delivered an impassioned speech in the House of Commons laying out Canada鈥檚 foreign policy priorities and underlining the importance of preserving a global order 鈥渂ased on rules.鈥�
She noted how the sanctity of borders is under threat and specifically called out the 鈥渋llegal seizure鈥� of Ukrainian territory by Russia as something Canada 鈥渃an鈥檛 accept or ignore.鈥�
Now, after a second invasion, Freeland鈥檚 rhetoric has intensified.
鈥淗istory will judge President Putin as harshly as the world condemns him today. Today, he cements his place in the ranks of the reviled European dictators who caused such carnage in the 20th century. The response by Canada and our allies will be swift and it will bite,鈥� she said on Feb. 24.
As Fraser put it, she has and always will be a 鈥渧ehement pit bull against the Russians.鈥�
With files from The Canadian Press
Correction:
Freeland's journalism career took off in the 1990s. A previous version of this story stated an incorrect decade.
