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www.policymagazine.ca January—February 2020
Canadian Politics and Public Policy
Chrystia At the
Freeland Centre
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Canadian Politics and
Public Policy
EDITOR AND PUBLISHER
L. Ian MacDonald
lianmacdonald@policymagazine.ca
ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Lisa Van Dusen
lvandusen@policymagazine.ca
The Trudeau cabinet, class of 2019, with Governor General Julie Payette after their swearing-in
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
at Rideau Hall, last November 20. Adam Scotti photo
Thomas S. Axworthy,
Andrew Balfour, Yaroslav Baran,
Derek H. Burney, Catherine Cano,
Margaret Clarke, Celine Cooper,
Rachel Curran, John Delacourt,
In This Issue
Susan Delacourt, Graham Fraser,
Dan Gagnier, Martin Goldfarb,
1 From the Editor / L. Ian MacDonald
Now What?
Sarah Goldfeder, Patrick Gossage,
Frank Graves, Shachi Kurl,
Brad Lavigne, Kevin Lynch,
3 Jeremy Kinsman
The Many Stages of Chrystia Freeland
Jeremy Kinsman, Andrew MacDougall,
Peter Mansbridge, Carissima Mathen, 7 John Delacourt
Chrystia Freeland’s Domestic Pearsonian Mission
Elizabeth May, Velma McColl,
David McLaughlin, David Mitchell,
Don Newman, Geoff Norquay, 10 Yaroslav Baran
Ten Lessons for the Conservatives as They Seek to Rebuild
Fen Osler-Hampson, Kevin Page,
Robin V. Sears, Gil Troy, Lori Turnbull,
Jaime Watt, Anthony Wilson-Smith 13Thomas S. Axworthy
All Parliament, All the Time: Life in a Minority Government
WEB DESIGN
Nicolas Landry 16 Robin V. Sears
Minority Mood Music
policy@nicolaslandry.ca
SOCIAL MEDIA EDITOR
Grace MacDonald
18Graham Fraser
François Legault’s Doctrine of WWDD: ‘What Would Duplessis Do?’
gmacdonald@policymagazine.ca
GRAPHIC DESIGN & PRODUCTION
24 Sarah Goldfeder
Beyond Realism: Canada and America’s Trumpian Discontent
Monica Thomas
monica@foothillsgraphics.ca 27 Chand Sooran
Indigenous Procurement: Too Important to Fail
Policy
Policy is published six times annually 29 Column / Don Newman
Keep Calm…or Not. We’ve Seen Worse.
by LPAC Ltd. The contents are
copyrighted, but may be reproduced
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Policy home page at
www.policymagazine.ca. 30 Perrin Beatty
Seeking Canada’s Place in a World Transformed
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From Paris to Madrid
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34 Verbatim / Brian Mulroney
‘Still Place for Daring in the Canadian Soul’: How to Lead
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on Climate Change
and Toronto.
Now available on PressReader.
COVER PHOTO: Adam Scotti
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From the Editor / L. Ian MacDonald
Now What?
W
elcome to our special is- Mexico. Expanding on an agreement between Lester B. Pearson and NDP
sue on the results and after- reached only last year with the Trump Leader Tommy Douglas was about
math of the 2019 election, administration, the new deal could be nation-building, resulting in achieve-
probably the most bothersome cam- called NAFTA 2.5. There was Freeland, ments such as Medicare, the Cana-
paign of the modern era, which pro- “At the Centre” of it all. da-Quebec Pension Plan, new feder-
duced one of the most interesting Our lead foreign affairs writer, Jere- al-provincial fiscal arrangements, and
outcomes—a minority Parliament my Kinsman, has known Freeland for the Maple Leaf Canadian flag.
in which no single opposition party a quarter century, from their overlap- Graham Fraser writes of the similarity
holds the balance of power. ping posts abroad, he as ambassador between François Legault’s Coalition
The unveiling of the Liberal-minor- to Moscow and high commissioner Avenir Québec government, conser-
ity ministry on November 20 was to London, while she was creating a vative nationalists along the lines of
more like a Cabinet shuffle than the remarkable career in journalism. As Maurice Duplessis, as the model for
swearing-in of a new government— Kinsman writes: “it’s worthwhile to Yves-François Blanchet’s Bloc Québé-
with one exception, the emergence of look back at who she is, where she’s cois deputation rather than the for-
Chrystia Freeland as a uniquely pow- from, and what she’s done.” He’s got mer sovereigntist-leaning Bloc.
erful second-in-command. the whole story.
Sarah Goldfeder, a former U.S. diplo-
As deputy prime minister and minis- Veteran Liberal strategist John Dela- mat in Ottawa, writes that “Canada’s
ter of Intergovernmental Affairs, Free- court writes that with the newly up- reliability as a partner and ally is of-
land is clearly “At the Centre”, as we dated NAFTA, “Freeland’s political ten taken for granted. But that is no
say in the caption for our cover pack- capital is both affirmed and enhanced small part of the intrinsic value of
age, in which our fascinating lead ar- around the cabinet table.” Canada to the United States—that it
A
ticles are focused on her. acts predictably in the best interests
nd the opposition Conserva-
It wasn’t long before Freeland was of North America.”
tives, since Andrew Scheer’s
meeting provincial and territorial sudden resignation in mid- Investment executive Chand Sooran
leaders to hear them out on challeng- December, find themselves in a real writes that the Liberals have promis-
es facing the second Trudeau govern- leadership race, a story fast develop- es to keep with Indigenous Peoples on
ment. Far from the “sunny ways” pro- ing over the holidays. Yaroslav Baran social procurement, and points to a
claimed by Justin Trudeau in 2015, looks at the way ahead, and the one well-developed system in the U.S. un-
the numbers of the new Parliament behind where Scheer was let off at the der the federal Small Business Admin-
reflect linguistic and regional divi- side of the road. istration and states such as New York.
sions as old and profound as Confed-
Tom Axworthy knows a lot about the Finally, columnist Don Newman looks
eration itself—English and French,
difference between majority and mi- at the issues on the bonfires of Trump
East and West.
nority governments, having worked and Brexit, and takes comfort from
It’s a situation made for a leader like in both categories in Pierre Trudeau’s the fact that we’ve been here before.
Freeland—an Alberta girl born and office during the 1972-74 Liberal mi- In Canada and the World, we offer a
raised, she now represents Toronto nority, and during the subsequent thoughtful article on our changing
Rosedale, perhaps the most cosmopol- Trudeau majority of 1974, followed by
itan neighbourhood in the country. political environment from Chamber
the Joe Clark Conservative minority
Along the way, she’s studied at Har- of Commerce President Perrin Beat-
of 1979. When the Liberals regained
vard and Oxford, worked at the upper ty, adapted from Western University’s
majority territory in 1980, Axworthy
levels of global journalism in Moscow, Thomas d’Aquino Lecture.
stayed on as Trudeau’s principal sec-
London and New York as well as To- retary from 1981-84. Of minority gov- Elizabeth May’s column offers a situ-
ronto, written bestselling books and ernments, Axworthy writes: “Repre- ational update on climate change—
raised three children to adolescence. sentation of the regions is crucial, but from Paris to Madrid. And in a notable
And she wasn’t long on the new job so, too, are policy outcomes.” Verbatim, former Prime Minister Brian
when her retained responsibility for Robin Sears looks at the history of mi- Mulroney looks at the many current
Canada-U.S. relations came to the nority governments and concludes challenges of the environment and
fore with the re-signing of the updat- that the 1963-68 Liberal-NDP alliance says: “There still is place for daring in
ed North American Free Trade Agree- set the standard for progressive and the Canadian soul.”
ment with the United States and productive legacies. The partnership Enjoy.
January/February 2020
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Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the successful conclusion of the NAFTA 2.0 trade talks in October 2018. She
retained responsibility for Canada-U.S. relations in the post-election cabinet shuffle and was in Mexico City as deputy PM for the signing of the further
updated NAFTA 2.5 in December 2019. Adam Scotti photo
The Many Stages
of Chrystia Freeland
Policy foreign affairs writer and veteran diplomat Jeremy Jeremy Kinsman
S
Kinsman first met Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Free- eeing Deputy Prime Minister
Chrystia Freeland on December
land over dinner at a mutual friend’s apartment in Mos- 10, holding up the just-signed
cow in the tumultuous early 90s, when he was Canada’s NAFTA II agreement in Mexico City
ambassador to Russia and she was a young journalist. on live television alongside Presi-
dent Manuel López Obrador, towered
Since that moment, he has seen her dance on a tabletop over by U.S. and Mexican negotiators,
at the Hungry Duck pub, provoke Vladimir Putin, finesse was a reminder of how very far she
has come.
Donald Trump and become the most powerful woman in
Freeland was named foreign affairs
Canada. It’s been a trip. minister in January, 2017 to defend
Canada’s vital interests against a hos-
tile overturning of the very notion of
North American cooperation by Don-
ald Trump.
It was doubtful that anybody else
in government had the chops, the
knowledge, the chutzpah, and per-
haps decisively, the status beyond
January/February 2020
4
Canada to effectively counter the bul- seas war duty with a war bride from the unforgettable, Canadian-operat-
lying, grandstanding, and outright Glasgow. Grandmother Helen dressed ed Hungry Duck pub, when Freeland
misrepresentation that can character- Chrystia and her sister in kilts as lit- was late-night dancing on a tabletop.
ize White House negotiation in the tle girls; Scottish blood mingles with Still, to quote Lloyd again, she came
age of Trump. With a superb profes- Slavic in those ministerial veins. across as a young “woman of huge in-
sional team, Freeland pulled it off. But back in Moscow at the Grays, the telligence, energy, and good sense.”
dinner table talk wasn’t about Scot- When John left Moscow at last, Chrys-
As evidence mounted over the course
land: it was all Ukraine. Chrystia was tia, still in her twenties, was named
of the last year that the prime minis-
trying out the idea, then simmering bureau chief for the FT.
ter’s judgment could use buttressing
from people with significant experi- in Kiev, that maybe Ukraine ought She had been super-bright as a kid,
ence, he called on Chrystia Freeland to hold on to its Soviet-legacy nucle- winning a scholarship out of high
to step up as a clear number two in the ar weapons to bargain for air-tight se- school in Edmonton to a world col-
country. He needs her help. curity guarantees from Russia, which lege stint in Italy followed by a schol-
clearly had trouble coming to terms arship to Harvard where she studied
Given that the dangling question—
with the idea of Ukraine as a separate Russian history. But she didn’t surf
how much farther can she go?—has
state, no matter what deal Boris Yelt- her way through exams—she did all
only one answer, the situation is a
sin had struck with Ukrainian Presi- the work, all the way.
bit delicate for both Freeland and
dent Leonid Kravchuk to bust up the And so she did at the FT, in London,
Trudeau. In the meantime, it’s worth-
USSR and thereby enable Yeltsin to re- before being hired away to be deputy
while to look back at who she is, where
place Mikhail Gorbachev. For a Cana- editor of the Globe and Mail in 1999,
she’s from, and what she’s done.
dian ambassador then in the thick of then heading back to the FT in Lon-
I have known Chrystia Freeland since a massive and costly NATO campaign don as its Deputy Editor. When a
she turned up in Russia 25 years ago to help Ukraine and Kazakhstan rid male colleague 20 years older got the
as a newbie reporter, stringing out of themselves of their worrisome “loose top job, Chrystia went to New York as
Kiev in newly independent Ukraine nukes”, this was a destabilizing and the FT’s U.S./Americas editor and col-
for several A-level UK publications. unwelcome thought. umnist on international finance and
We first met her for dinner in Moscow
W
e settled warily but am- business. In 2010, looking for new
at John and Elizabeth Gray’s, back
icably, and parted as new challenges, she got hired away as Re-
when the Globe and Mail and every
friends. Ukraine did be- uters global editor at large, based in
other Canadian outlet of consequence
come officially a non-nuclear weap- New York, and then spearheaded their
maintained a Moscow bureau to cover
ons state, and Chrystia soon after leap into the new media world as ed-
the monumental story of the end of
joined the swelling crowd of Western- itor of Thomson Reuters Digital. Her
communism, the Cold War, the Sovi-
ers in Moscow, hired as a reporter by rise in journalism had been phenome-
et Union, and in effect, the 20th cen- nal. As a journalist, Chrystia produced
tury. Canadians, especially—possibly the Financial Times. John Lloyd, who
was the FT’s Moscow bureau chief re- top-flight deadline copy that was out
because of the culturally and political- there for all to see. As an editor of top-
ly potent Ukrainian-Canadian com- calls “It was very clear she was bright,
driven to get the story right, always af- flight operations, she got the best out
munity—had also to cover the new of talented people and, said Lloyd,
story of how an independent Ukraine ter the minister/official/dissident who
could tell the story best. She was, of was “loyal up and down.”
was working out. This bright, Ukraini-
A
an-and Russian-speaking, high-ener- course a Ukrainian patriot: but she long the way, she had mar-
gy, dauntless young woman fresh out was clear about keeping her views out ried a soft-spoken, fine British
of Oxford, a Rhodes Scholar from Al- of the reportage.” writer, Graham Bowley (now
berta, was a real find. And she did, doing excellent reporting with the New York Times, commuting
She had come to Kiev to join her from Russia, initially on the economic to NYC from Toronto). Together, they
mother, Halyna, who was helping chaos that nobody understood, detail- have raised three non-passive chil-
the Ukrainians draft their inaugural ing how Western treasury departments dren. But it would have been impos-
constitution. Both Chrystia’s parents and multilateral institutions (nota- sible without help, especially from her
were legal professionals. Halyna was bly the International Monetary Fund) mother, Halyna, who, having done her
a scholar, who had met Donald Free- were whipping shock therapy on Rus- best on Ukrainian constitution-draft-
land at law school in Edmonton. He is sia—at the grotesque cost, as The New ing, moved into the New York house-
also the son of a lawyer, whose fam- Yorker’s David Remnick put it, of “the hold for her grandkids. When she trag-
ily roots were on a farm in Alberta’s destruction of everyday life.” ically died a decade ago, it was “the
Peace River district, though Donald There was an exuberance to Chrystia. Ukrainian ladies” of Nannies Interna-
earned his living mostly practising law Montreal take-no-prisoners freelanc- tional who helped keep it all afloat.
in the provincial capital. Donald’s dad er Sandy Wolofsky recalls our post- Chrystia somehow found time to
had returned to Peace River from over- Chrétien visit “wheels-up” party in write two big books. Sale of the Century
Policy
5
(2000), about Russia’s rigged privati- cia, Western Ukraine. It was historical- CETA makes the new NAFTA look al-
zations, remains a must-read for those ly part of the Austro-Hungarian Em- most clunky. It’s said that it took sev-
of us who still care about what the pire, which was more permissive of en years to negotiate. Actually, it be-
hell went wrong with the naive best Ukrainian cultural autonomy and lan- gan in 1972, but that’s another story.
intentions for Russia’s forward jour- guage rights than the Soviet Union, Jean Chrétien reanimated it, Premier
ney from Gorbachev’s heroic acts that which repressed them. So, there is Jean Charest forced the issue with
changed the world. Plutocrats (2012) is ample historic anti-Moscow national- France, and ultimately it fell to the
a sweeping survey of the landscape of ist sentiment in Lviv, which was the Harper government to open formal
international capitalism, in the wake capital of Galicia, that still animates negotiations. But it would take Chrys-
of its breakdown, which exposed Canada’s Ukrainian community. tia’s leadership to pull off a complex
2008’s financial frauds, and led to the and ground-breaking comprehensive
When the Euromaidan protests broke
near-collapse of the global system. It is deal through very hard work, superb
out in 2014 between the wary union of
clear from her scathing narrative that personal connections with top Euro-
reformist and nationalist Ukrainians
Freeland is no neo-liberal. peans, and political persuasion of par-
and the Moscow-supported regime of
So, she was super-busy. It wasn’t her liamentary doubters in several capitals.
Viktor Yanukovich, Stephen Harper,
ambition to get into politics, but as Kenney and the Conservatives chose Cut to November 2016, and the world
she did tell me over some Chardon- the side of Ukrainian diaspora votes. gets Donald Trump and his vow to
nay on a shared flight to Newark a de- Harper wouldn’t shake Vladimir Pu- tear up NAFTA. It was hard to imagine
cade ago, she wanted to come back to tin’s hand at a G20 meeting without the all-important NAFTA re-negotia-
Canada. But Canadian media space (so he boasted to Canadian media) tion with the America Firsters under
doesn’t offer many opportunities to snarling, “Get out of Ukraine.” anyone else, and so she replaced Sté-
operate at the very top. When the phane Dion as foreign minister.
But the diminished Liberals had one
Liberals came calling, having done At the top, it was Chrystia Freeland
Ukrainian/Canadian parliamenta-
a big and ambitious book, and with head-to-head against U.S. Trade Rep-
ry card to play. They sent Chrystia
enough-already of New York City, she resentative Bob Lighthizer. They se-
off to Kiev, where she encouraged
wondered if public service could be a riously underestimated her (always a
the young reformers occupying the
rewarding Canadian alternative. plus for a negotiator) and weren’t very
Maidan. Speaking the language, be-
Chrystia agonized about running for ing a master communicator, owning nice, resenting her exceptional me-
office. The Liberals were in third place, an apartment with her sister, Natal- dia impact, especially in Washington.
going nowhere fast. But party politics ka, overlooking the Maidan, she was a Who the hell did she think she was?
is actually pretty close to the fam- hit, carrying weight precisely because Only Canada’s foreign minister. And
ily bone. Halyna had run in Edmon- she was an old Moscow hand. The she was about as good as any, ever. As
ton Strathcona in 1988—for the NDP! Russians noticed. John Delacourt writes elsewhere in this
And father Donald Freeland’s paternal issue of Policy, she never negotiated in
After the Liberals won in October,
aunt Beulah was married to long-time public but somehow came out with all
2015, Chrystia was a shoo-in for a top
Peace River MP Ged Baldwin, who was the good lines, that, bit by bit moved
economic portfolio. She must have
Progressive Conservative Opposition the political dial in our direction.
been hoping for Finance. Over-reach-
House Leader for years. She was tough and she and her team
ing? Hardly—read her book. But Bay
She went for the Liberal nomination Street doesn’t read books, so she be- were tough-minded enough to know
to replace Bob Rae in a by-election in came minister of trade. Canada could live without a deal if we
Toronto Centre in 2013 and was elect- had to. It showed. In the end, it was
There haven’t been that many polit-
ed to Parliament. It was around then Trump who ended up most needing
ical leaders in Canada who actually
that Ukraine began to boil. The Con- the win. It was Chrystia who could
had a record of running operations
servative Party had been trying under say at the end win-win-win, and who
of consequence—Brian Mulroney
Jason Kenney’s organization to break made Bob Lighthizer dinner in her To-
and Paul Martin stand out. Chrystia
into the Liberals’ traditional appeal to ronto kitchen with the kids.
stood out in that first Trudeau cabi-
immigrant communities. The Canadi- The U.S. deal was the essential nation-
net for competence and experience,
an-Ukrainian community, more than al existential defensive save. It was his-
including a sound instinct for know-
a million strong, was a prime target. toric. But as foreign affairs minister,
ing whom to connect with and what
Ukrainian Canadians, refugees from made them tick. she began some other things that are
the Soviet Union’s revolution and also very important. I thought they
H
oppression, especially from the trag- er biggest task was to deliver would rank her tenure with Joe Clark’s
ic Holodomor, the forced famine of the CETA trade deal with the and Lloyd Axworthy’s as among the
the early 1930s that killed an estimat- European Union. As a 21st- very best if she stayed to press these
ed 3.5 million Ukrainians (and many century economic partnership treaty themes across the global board. They
Russians), are mostly sourced to Gali- that breaks new progressive ground, have laid the groundwork for her suc-
January/February 2020
6
cessor, François-Philippe Champagne, Last year, German Foreign Minister the government stood out. As veteran
to pursue, especially mounting a like- Heiko Maas invited her to address Ger- Liberal strategist Peter Donolo puts it,
minded rally in support of inclusive many’s heads of mission from around “Her well-tuned sense of political the-
democracy and liberal international- the world. Germany awarded her the atre was a contrast to the slavish at-
ism. In the pro-Russian, anti-Western, prestigious Warburg Award—for the tachment to talking points exhibited
pro-nationalism media out there she first time to a Canadian—for steering by most of her cabinet colleagues,”
is caricatured as an adversary, a hu- Canada’s firm commitment to multi- who seemingly hadn’t been given her
man rights interventionist. lateralism and to shared transatlantic latitude. Once the election results were
In reality, her much-publicized stand values. He praised Chrystia for stand- in, it became inevitable that she would
in favour of Saudi women was not ing by her convictions. “You are an ac- be transferred out of foreign affairs be-
from some longstanding human tivist in the best sense of the word— cause of the Alberta credibility deficit
rights vocation. She had been primar- both principled and realistic.” and the evident need of Trudeau to
ily an international business writer. have a strong deputy.
She has tried to apply the rights and
But in the summer of 2018, the facts democracy value proposition to oth- It now makes her a potentially deci-
were eloquent and dark. University er relevant international conflict is- sive figure across the Canadian land-
of British Columbia mentors report- sues where Canada had some stand- scape. Let’s be candid. Her good judg-
ed that Loujain al-Hathloul, who had ing. But a few outreach efforts fell ment is going to be calling some big
done a degree there while becoming flat or didn’t happen. For example, shots in this minority government, in
committed to gender equity was be- as minister, she didn’t go to Afri- place of big shots in the PMO calling
ing tortured back home for advocat- ca. She would have, but had to tri- them in the last one. When the min-
ing women’s rights. She wasn’t a Ca- age her time. Overall, our relation- isterial mandate letters surfaced on
nadian citizen but the news distressed ship with Russia could scarcely be December 13, Freeland’s described an
Chrystia, and when Samar Badawi, worse. It’s partly their fault, obvi- unprecedented level of deputized ex-
the sister of jailed and flogged blogger ously. Chrystia Freeland actually did ecutive power. Justin Trudeau ought
Raif Badawi, got arrested a few weeks want to connect even though she was to be the beneficiary, and good for
later, the minister took a critical stand on their sanctions list. But when she him for understanding her value.
against Saudi behaviour on behalf of did meet Putin and Foreign Minister Howard Balloch who was a long-time
Raif Badawi’s wife, Ensaf Haidar, who Sergei Lavrov at a G20 event, Putin’s ambassador to China, comments:
had fled to Canada for asylum. well-known inner misogynist seems
“Chrystia Freeland listens, deeply and
Freeland believed the sincerity of our to have reacted badly to this rather
intently, to as wide a spectrum of in-
values was on the line. She wasn’t small, very bright Russian-speaking
formed views as possible as she formu-
content just to signal our virtue. She minister setting out some ideas that
lates her own.” In this, she reminds
believed we had to help. weren’t wholly congenial to Putin’s
Balloch of previous very successful for-
souring world view. The relationship
A tweet from our Embassy in Ryadh eign minister Joe Clark whose “same
flat-lined near zero.
that they should at once release Sa- respect for both facts and the complex
mar Badawi provoked the Saudi the- On China, the ruination of relations prisms that refract perception of those
ocracy to a massive over-reaction. is not her fault. She wasn’t part of the facts when seen from other cultures
Chrystia was then slammed by some Meng Wanzhou ambush but has loy- and backgrounds,” also put him in
pro-business groups for letting do- ally defended what happened as re- charge of federal-provincial relation-
gooder naïveté put Canadian jobs specting the rule of law. The cruel re- ships at a vexed time in our history.
at risk. She didn’t get much interna- prisal captivity of the two Michaels
Let’s hope it works out for Freeland,
tional support at first—until Jamal sears at her, as it should. China in-
for Trudeau, and for the country; that
Khashoggi was butchered. siders confide that her Beijing coun-
the Peace River part of the Alberta girl
terparts respect her. Still, howev-
The experience was jarring. It made clicks in enough to win back the pub-
er the immediate hostage situation
Chrystia Freeland want to use her lic’s trust that the government is lis-
plays out, things with China have
ministry for value issues as well as tening while it leads.
changed. We’ll not be as friendly
macro-trade deals.
with Beijing as we once thought we Chrystia Freeland has risen to new
Trump’s reversal of U.S. policy on hu- would be, but nor can we be hostage heights. Everyone knows she may go
man rights and international coopera- to an emerging epochal duel for glob- higher. It’s an impressive story. We
tion, notably climate change, as well as al leadership between the world’s two should count ourselves lucky that she
what he was doing to democracy’s rep- biggest economies. had a hankering for home.
utation were preoccupying other like-
A
Contributing Writer Jeremy Kinsman is a
minded democratic leaders. Chrystia s last year produced govern- former Canadian ambassador to Russia,
found herself building a caucus, an in- ment blunders and polls indi- and the EU, and high commissioner to
formal alliance with her colleagues in cating minority government the U.K. He is a distinguished fellow of
Berlin, Paris, Stockholm and elsewhere. prospects, her own performance in the Canadian International Council.
Policy7
Chrystia Freeland is sworn in as deputy prime minister and minister of intergovernmental affairs during the cabinet swearing-in ceremony at Rideau
Hall in Ottawa, November 20, 2019. Adam Scotti photo
Chrystia Freeland’s Domestic
Pearsonian Mission
In facing Donald Trump’s surrogates in the NAFTA II John Delacourt
Y
negotiations, Chrystia Freeland proved she could navi- ou could take it as an auspi-
gate the novel conflict terrain of triangulated social me- cious start to the 43rd Parlia-
ment. As the Liberals returned
dia pressure and weaponized trade tweets. As veteran to Ottawa for the new session under
Liberal strategist John Delacourt writes, the environment grey skies, with fresh snow on the
of her new fed-prov mandate may not look that different. ground, their second throne speech
strained to summon a few bright
beams of inspiration from the sunny
ways of 2015. Justin Trudeau’s team
is ostensibly chastened; the aspira-
tions of their minority mandate were
reflected less in the top line messag-
es adroitly woven through the Speech
from the Throne than in the last para-
graphs, in a quote from the late Lib-
January/February 20208
eral prime minister and Nobel Peace
Prize laureate Lester B. Pearson:
“Tonight, we begin a new chapter in
our country’s story. Let the record of
that chapter be one of co-operation
and not conflict; of dedication and
not division; of service, not self; of
what we can give, not what we can
get. Let us work together as Canadi-
ans to make our country worthy of
its honoured past and certain of its
proud future.”
Such sepia-toned optimism. Prime
Minister Pearson spoke those words
on December 31, 1966, as he lit the
Centennial Flame for the first time in
front of the Parliament Buildings.
Pearson could look Justice Minister Pierre Trudeau and Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson at the conclusion of a 1968
constitutional conference, as Pearson’s second minority term as PM came to a close and Trudeau’s
south to our largest time drew near. The two Pearson minorities of 1963-68 and the later Trudeau minority of 1972-74
were among the most productive Canadian governments of the modern era. Reg Innell, Toronto Star
trading partner and be Photograph Archive, Courtesy of Toronto Public Library
assured of a congenial
reception for any bilateral
with President Lyndon B. sured of playing a part in this “proud Minister’s Office began this subtle
future.” The lines of division between recalibration of statecraft back in
Johnson, a figure as the provinces and the parties were early 2017.
historically remote as a less pronounced. The coarsened, po-
Roman senator in relation to This was when it became clear the
larized rhetoric of free-ranging hostil-
Trump administration’s plans to rip
the current U.S. president. ity and alienation had yet to emerge,
up the North American Free Trade
perhaps because it didn’t have the
Agreement could send our econo-
echo chambers of two social media
my into a tailspin, and that the gov-
platforms to enable it.
ernment’s best person on the front
Pearson could look south to our larg- line to negotiate the new agreement
est trading partner and be assured of was Chrystia Freeland, backed by a
At that moment, Pearson could a congenial reception for any bilater- dream team of senior officials and
look back on nearly four years and al with President Lyndon B. Johnson, staffers working closely with Ambas-
two terms of the most successful mi- a figure as historically remote as a Ro- sador David MacNaughton’s office
nority parliament in Canada’s histo- in Washington.
man senator in relation to the current
ry—and probably the most success-
U.S. president. And perhaps most im- The drama and high-stakes cri-
ful Canada will ever experience. It
portant as a point of differentiation sis management this team worked
was a government that managed to
between now and then, fears of cli- through over the last three years is a
introduce the Canada Pension Plan,
mate change and “extreme weather story that has yet to be written. But
our health care system—and our Ma-
events” would have seemed like the any conversation with those close to
ple Leaf flag. It was capable of bold
most dystopic of science fiction tales the Canada-U.S. file will confirm for
thinking and ambitious projects,
to Pearson’s electorate. you that Freeland and team pulled
and an implicit transactional rap-
off a remarkable feat with the newly
I
port among all parties, regardless of
the requisite theatrics in the House, f the first four years of Trudeau’s signed agreement, despite the dam-
to get those projects done. Liberal government are any indi- age the negotiations have caused to
cation, the chapter in the coun- the steel and manufacturing sectors
Pearson’s speech, televised to a baby try’s story this parliament is fated to in particular. For anyone close to the
boom generation not yet old enough write features a shift in the dynam- centre of this government, it is con-
to vote, resonated strongly to Cana- ics of executive leadership itself. sidered the signal achievement of
dians who could be realistically as- Trudeau’s team within the Prime the first four years. As the bill is set
Policy9
to move quickly through the House More worrisome for Trudeau is the fluencers among those who would
now, Freeland’s political capital is potential impact of this dynamic on be inclined to work more congenial-
both affirmed and enhanced around federal party politics. Earlier this year ly with Conservative governments.
the cabinet table. Jason Kenney’s United Conservative During the worst of the negotiations
Party (UCP) and Doug Ford’s Progres- with the U.S. on the Section 232 steel
There were two principles behind
sive Conservatives (PCs) did some in- tariffs, Freeland surprised by her ac-
the best practices of Freeland and
teresting, strategically savvy polling cessibility and responsiveness, tex-
team. First and foremost: no nego-
on whether their voters would give ting CEOs to provide them with up-
tiating in public. Throughout the
their leaders licence to take on the dates and to hear their concerns. She
many scrums Freeland lived through federal government on issues that
over the last three years, she perfect- accomplished this without sacrificing
were not necessarily provincial in na- any of the discretion and confidence
ed a technique of saying just enough ture; in essence, were both able to cut
that the news media had a sense of high level negotiations required. She
Andrew Scheer’s grass and not pay can achieve that magical balance of
the direction negotiations were tak- for it in terms of political capital.
ing while revealing virtually nothing being perceived as both principled
about how marked the divide might and tough, flexible and constructive.
have been in intentions and objec- Chief negotiators Chief negotiators and key stakehold-
tives across the table. and key stakeholders ers all come away from their inter-
all come away from their actions with Freeland and her team
The second principle: execute a with at worst a begrudging sense of
“doughnut strategy.” This is a pro- interactions with Freeland respect. More often than not, it’s ad-
cess of building political capital and her team with at worst miration for how well she knows her
among the influencers on policy a begrudging sense of files and how ably she manages diffi-
outside the inner circle of decision
making. As the political capital ac-
respect. More often than cult conversations.
cumulates the pressure from these not, it’s admiration for how With the release of the cabinet man-
influencers increases. The result: in- well she knows her files and date letters on December 13, we now
tractable positions at the start of the how ably she manages know what we already knew—Free-
negotiations begin to shift and soft- land will continue her oversight role
en. Win-win propositions begin to
difficult conversations. on Canada-U.S. relations along with
emerge. Given the burgeoning chaos her other responsibilities.
at the heart of the Trump adminis-
And, as any colour-coded map of par-
tration, that such a strategy actually
ty seats in each province and terri-
worked is a minor miracle.
tory will confirm, her mandate in
N
intergovernmental relations will be
ow, with Freeland in the role The results were encouraging, if you
to stitch together a functioning dia-
of deputy prime minister, were a premier with designs on an
logue from a stark patchwork of re-
that strategy will be directed eventual federal run. In contrast to
gional interests. To create, as Pearson
where it is needed most: at the in- the challenge the Liberals face from
hoped, “co-operation not conflict …
tergovernmental level. To see a por- Legault’s Coalition Avenir Québec
dedication and not division” is to
trait of the first ministers in 2019 is (CAQ) and Blanchet’s revived Bloc
Québécois (BQ), neither Ford nor fulfill a promise that requires more
to acknowledge that there is a re-
markably different cast of charac- Kenney have stuck to their knitting than the prime minister’s tarnished
ters than those around the table and solely spoken to what they deem charisma and renewed focus on cau-
in 2015. British Columbia’s Chris- good for their respective provinces; cus management. It will require the
ty Clark, Ontario’s Kathleen Wyn- they have taken on the mantle of transposition of Freeland’s winning
ne and Alberta’s Rachel Notley have speaking for the larger Conservative strategy into an arena that may prove
been replaced by premiers who, in project—on regional alienation, on even more challenging than dealing
gender and age, look a lot more like national unity, on the potential of a with Trump.
Trump’s inner circle. The Liberals resurgent conservatism that Andrew Contributing Writer John Delacourt,
have no illusions about the tense Scheer failed to grasp. To be Justin Vice President and Group Leader
negotiations that will take place on Trudeau in a room with such poten- of Hill + Knowlton’s public affairs
carbon pricing, on universal phar- tial adversaries is to limit the scope of practice in Ottawa, is a former director
macare and, with perhaps the most what can be achieved.
of communications for the Liberal
difficult of conversations, on sup-
W
Research Bureau. He is also an author
port for the energy sector in its tran- here Freeland and team of three books.
sition to a radically different econo- have excelled is in their
my over the next two decades. diligence in swaying in-
January/February 202010
Jason Kenney and Andrew Scheer walking down from the West Block during the Alberta premier’s working visit to Ottawa December 9-10.
When Scheer resigned as Conservative leader, Kenney immediately took himself out of the running to succeed him. Andrew Scheer Flickr photo
Ten Lessons for the Conservatives
as They Seek to Rebuild
The conventional wisdom about parties that lose an Yaroslav Baran
C
election is that they need time in the ‘wilderness’ to reas- urrently embarking on a lead-
sess their priorities. The Conservative Party of Canada ership race, the Conservative
Party of Canada is poised for
won the popular vote in October, increased its seat count collective introspection and renewal,
and then dumped its leader. While the wilderness there- the result of which will determine the
likelihood of the party emerging from
fore may not be in order, some soul-searching still may the next election with a mandate to
be. Veteran Conservative strategist Yaroslav Baran pro- govern the country.
vides this thumbnail post-mortem and action memo for Much has been written, stated and
overstated about the state of the par-
moving forward. ty in recent weeks. It is not teetering
at the edge of an abyss. It is not fa-
tally divided between factions—most
notably social conservative versus the
others. It does not suffer from a fun-
damental existential crisis. Conserva-
tives know who they are, just as Liber-
als and New Democrats do. Moreover,
not all members—within either of the
parties—are the same. All political
parties enjoy, and benefit from, an in-
Policy11
ternal diversity that pollinates differ- We need to get over the mental tether to ‘equality
ence of perspective.
of opportunity’ and recognize that government can
In short, the vast majority of Cana-
and should actively defend and protect. That includes gay
dian voters voted in the last election
to oust Prime Minister Justin Trudeau rights and that includes women’s rights.
and his government. A plurality of
voters voted for the Conservative
Party to be that vehicle of change.
The party gained ground in a major-
ity of provinces. It increased its seat is the value of—and need for—vali- regulate large final emitters sector by
count by more than any other party dation. Many Canadians and groups sector, similarly to Barack Obama’s
in Parliament. Proportionally, it had of Canadians do face systemic chal- climate GHG plan. This can be ef-
the second-largest growth. This is not lenges and barriers. It’s a fact. We fective but economists agree that
a crisis—this is more than a halfway need to get over the mental teth- a carbon tax is more efficient. It is
step, very similar (though admitted- er to “equality of opportunity” and also the quintessential small-c con-
ly not identical) to the party’s feat recognize that government can and servative approach. It harnesses
in 2004, when it brought the Martin should actively defend and protect. market forces and follows a pollut-
government down to a minority and That includes gay rights and that er-pay model. It’s by no means the
finished the job two years later. includes women’s rights. We tend only way forward, but the party may
to herald certain values anyway— want to get past its political rhetoric
There is no crisis. on carbon pricing (a carryover from
things like human rights and our
T
here are, however, important governing institutions—so we are al- the 2008 campaign against Stéphane
ready in the signaling game. Well, if Dion), and give it a second look.
lessons to be learned. Depend-
ing on its collective choices, we are, then it’s inexcusable to not •
Taxation. On that note, the party
the party can set a one-election path be proactive on both women’s rights would be wise to get over its general
to victory or mire itself in prolonged and LGBTQ rights because we know mantra that “all taxes are bad”. This
difficulties before it again sorts itself there is lots still to be done. is an importation from American
out and emerges with an efficient, dis- • Climate change. The more quickly libertarianism, and not a traditional
ciplined and united machine ready to conservatives get past the idea that Canadian conservative notion. Yes,
vie competently for power. “our voters don’t vote on climate conservatives tend to want taxes to
change”, the better. Yes, it is true be low and for state activity to be re-
The following are 10 pieces of advice
that all parties have a different ag- stricted to where necessary or over-
the Conservative Party would be wise
gregated profile of supporters, and whelmingly more beneficial. But
to heed:
that different concerns rank differ- taxation is a critical tool for achiev-
• Reconcile the role of social conser- ing policy objectives. We have al-
ently among parties. But something
vatives in the party. There is noth- ways had “sin taxes” and for good
has changed in recent years. Even if
ing wrong with social conservatism reason. The tax system is a power-
climate change is number five or six
or social conservatives. They deserve ful tool for incenting desirable be-
on the average conservative’s rank-
no more ridicule nor scorn than any haviours and disincenting harmful
ing of top concerns, it needs to be
other group of Canadians. Social ones. We provide tax credits or re-
treated very seriously. For one thing,
conservatives should be welcome ductions for the good stuff, and levy
it is climbing as a concern for Ca-
just like any other group, but any fines for the bad. It’s not only legit-
nadians at large, so avoiding it only
ideological or zealous wing of social imate; it’s smart. Let’s please move
distances the party from the Canadi-
conservatism must be held at bay. past the rhetoric—it makes the party
an trendline—especially the young
No special interests should be per- sound ideological and naïve.
replacing the older cadre of voters as
mitted to either try to hijack the par-
they die off. • Reclaim environmental policy. The
ty for its own narrow agenda, nor to
Conservative Party has a proud leg-
bully the leader or caucus.
The party needs to accept the full
acy in environmental stewardship.
importance of climate change as a
• Get over the aversion to express the It’s time to get back to that. Be it
major concern, and not only have
values for which the party stands. protection of land, water and air, be
a plan but to actively talk about its
Many conservatives roll their eyes at it habitat remediation, be it fighting
plan. They need to demonstrate it’s
“virtue signaling”—not so much be- critical pollutants, or be it establish-
not just a check box (“yes, we have
cause they disagree with the values ment of national parks, Conserva-
themselves, but because they detest a climate plan”) but that they genu-
tive governments have in fact done
the constant talk backed up by lit- inely recognize the full import. more than any other on the tradi-
tle or no action. What conservatives They would also be wise to reconsid- tional measures of environmental
need to better understand, however, er their model. The party pledged to protection. It is time to reclaim that
January/February 202012
conservationist heritage and contin- er’s office official notes “the kids have the other candidates, so he steadily
ue building on that legacy. This isn’t taken over the orphanage” since the inched up in each round of tabula-
a Liberal issue. It is very much a Con- post-election ouster of senior staff. tion as opponents dropped off the
servative one. It always has been. The strongest people at the party’s ballot. This is a great strategy to win,
Again, let us stop hiding from issues disposal need to be brought in to take but a poor one for building a strong
we think don’t work for us, and em- charge of this rudderless mess and loyal support base for when the go-
brace who we are—particularly as keep the ship on course until after the ing gets tough. There is indeed some-
that is where the Canadian public is leadership contest is done. They’re thing to be said for a traditional dele-
increasingly heading. out there, and some of them are the gated convention where the strongest
• Have a comprehensive policy plat- best political strategists Canada has faction wins and gets to govern for a
form. Before the last election cam- to offer. They need to be brought while. It guarantees the new leader
paign, the Conservative Party put back in from the cold. Yesterday. has an army of foot soldiers to later
tremendous energy into devising a come to his or her defence.
non-carbon-tax GHG emissions re- There is indeed • Reach out to unions and Indigenous
duction plan, then proceeded to something to be said groups. There is no reason organized
not talk about it. Campaign man- for a traditional delegated labour and Indigenous Canadians
agers were told that when residents should be rolling their eyes or in-
note climate change as a top issue
convention where the
stinctively bristling when they hear
at the door, to not waste their time strongest faction wins and the word “Conservatives”. A gen-
and move on. That is madness. Sim- gets to govern for a while. eration ago, the party had similar-
ilarly, the 2019 platform had virtu- It guarantees the new leader ly weak ties with most ethnocultur-
ally nothing on Indigenous policy. al groups, but recognized the many
This is a critical error and underap-
has an army of foot soldiers
reasons that was a liability. It now
preciation of voters’ sophistication. to later come to his or has deep roots and new support bas-
Cost of living may well have been her defence. es in many communities. It needs to
the appropriate “ballot question” follow this same path of good-faith
in 2019, but voters what to know outreach with labour and Indige-
that the man or woman who would nous groups. There is plenty to work
be prime minister has thought about, with, fruitful policy partnerships to
and has something meaningful to •
Have a short race. Prime Minister be had, and plenty of headaches to
say, about everything. Trudeau is governing in a minority be avoided if done well.
The biggest mistake of the 2019 parliament. As stable a minority as it
might be, nobody knows when the The Conservative Party is not in exis-
campaign was that it was a mile deep tential crisis. It is on an upward track.
on tax credits and pocketbook perks, next election is going to be. A pro-
longed leadership race will only de- Continuing this trajectory, however,
but it was only an inch wide in pol- does require that it learn from the Harp-
icy breadth. Fifteen years ago—even lay a new leader’s onboarding and
transition hiccups, defer the ability of er decade and from the brief Scheer
10—you could win an election by era—including the deficiencies of the
laser-targeting certain more accessi- a new team to gel, and postpone all
the critical pre-election work of nom- 2019 campaign and the mistakes of
ble demographic profiles. That sim-
inating candidates, raising funds and the 2015 campaign, which was much
ply is not enough anymore. Voters
preparing a platform. The party cur- worse. The party has all the tools and
collectively will not reward a party
rently has a convention booked for talent of a formidable and modern ma-
that has only a partial agenda. They
Toronto in April. This should not be chine, but it needs to choose to learn
appreciate that governments need to
a mid-campaign debate opportunity. and adapt. It cannot just try the same
be comprehensive, so rightly expect
This should be the culmination of thing again but with a different face.
that from their politicians. And let’s
the leadership race—voting time to The leadership contenders are starting
not be allergic to big and bold ideas.
select the new leader. to line up. Let’s hope that they—and
We cannot assume that people only
the party hierarchy—have the wisdom
want small-stakes retail. The leader- • Fix the balloting system. If at all pos-
to do what they ought to do to fashion
ship race—and the next election— sible for this race, the party would be
a modern Conservative party for the
should not be shy about showcasing wise to rethink its single preferential
21st century.
some vision. ballot for choosing a leader. Events,
post-election, illustrate why. Andrew Contributing Writer Yaroslav Baran is
• Bring in good, seasoned senior staff. a partner with the Earnscliffe Strategy
The next several months will be cha- Scheer won the helm with an “every-
Group. He was communications
otic. The party will be managing a body’s second choice” strategy. He
director in Stephen Harper’s successful
leadership race. The caucus has an was inoffensive, didn’t stick his neck
leadership race, and ran Conservative
interregnum, so critics will feel em- out (beyond supply management) Party communications through three
boldened. On the staff side, one lead- and was generally well-liked by all election campaigns.
Policy13
All Parliament, All the Time:
Life in a Minority Government
When Pierre Trudeau’s first, Trudeaumania-fueled majority tinguished Professor Emeritus, David
E. Smith, thus writes: “Government
was followed by the hangover of his 1972 minority gov- and Opposition are part of a shared
ernment, the Liberal team adapted its approach and tone, community-Parliament.” As the
only elected part of Canadian gov-
writes longtime Pierre Trudeau advisor Tom Axworthy. ernment, “the House of Commons,”
Axworthy, who remained with Trudeau during Joe Clark’s Smith writes “is Canada’s premier in-
minority government of 1979-80 and beyond, provides stitution for the authoritative expres-
sion of electoral opinion and for ap-
invaluable perspective on the minority governing experi- proval of public policy formulated in
ence from both sides of compromise. response to that opinion. The House
of Commons is the voice of the Ca-
nadian people, the one place where
the people’s representatives from all
regions can debate and legislate.” To
Thomas S. Axworthy government as the government’s very
quote Smith again, “Parliamentary
existence depends upon securing a
“T
wo cheers for minority majority of members on votes of con- debate is a great leveller of conflict-
governments,” exclaims fidence. I served as a junior policy ad- ing interests as well as a calming in-
Professor Emeritus Peter visor in Pierre Trudeau’s minority gov- fluence on intense feeling”.
C
H. Russell of the University of To- ernment of 1972-74 and was in his
ronto, one of Canada’s most distin- anada will need Parliament
Opposition office during Joe Clark’s
guished political scientists. Russell’s as a national articulator and
minority government of 1979-80 and,
argument is that majority govern- conciliator of conflicting in-
in both cases, it was “all Parliament,
ments are too easily dominated by terests and, even more hopefully,
all the time.”
the prime minister and the coterie of as a calming influence, because the
unelected advisors in the Prime Min- A prime minister still has the pre- 2019 election revealed a country
ister’s Office which, in turn, reduces dominant role in deciding upon deeply divided on critical issues of
the role of ministers and MPs, “there- the government’s agenda and legis- the environment, the economy and
by weakening parliamentary democ- lative priorities in a minority situa- regional fairness.
racy itself.” tion. But, unlike in a majority gov-
ernment context, his will alone does The campaign was bitter and nasty
The main difference between major- not resolve the issue. Compromise, (recall that in his opening remarks,
ity and minority governments in the adjustment, and understanding the in the English-language debate, Con-
parliamentary world, he writes “is in priorities of the other parties are the servative Leader Andrew Scheer be-
their method of decision making. The order of the day. So, a parliament gan by calling Justin Trudeau a “pho-
difference is fundamentally between of multiple parties with none com- ney and fraud”). Social media trolls
a system in which the prime minis- manding a majority is a countervail were hard at work, too, spewing ru-
ter dominates the decision-making to the growing power of an imperial mor, disinformation and scurrilous
process and a system in which policy- prime ministership. personal attacks.
making is subject to the give and take
Countervail, however, is a check- The election results reflected this
of parliamentary debate and negotia-
ing mechanism. There is a broader, mood, with no party being hap-
tion.” As Eugene Forsey, another con-
more positive, even idealistic vision py about the result except the Bloc
stitutional sage, put it: “A government
of Parliament. The key starting point Québécois. But the Liberals can nego-
without a clear majority is more likely
is that governments are not elected, tiate with either the Bloc or the NDP
to stop, look, and listen.”
MPs are and governments arise out to win majority votes in the House,
Russell and Forsey are correct. Parlia- of Parliament if they can command so there is room for manoeuvre if the
ment can’t be ignored by a minority a majority of members. Another dis- Trudeau Liberals are adept.
January/February 2020You can also read
