Chrystia Freeland Biography

Christina Alexandra Freeland was born on August 2, 1968, in Peace River, Alberta, Canada, to Halyna Chomiak and Donald Freeland.

Halyna was a lawyer and an influential member of the Ukrainian Canadian community. In 1988, Halyna contested the federal election as a member of the 'New Democratic Party.' Donald, too, was a lawyer and a farmer. Freeland has a younger sister, Natalka Freeland.

Her parents divorced when Freeland was 9.

Christina Freeland�attended the 'Old Scona Academic High School' in Edmonton, Alberta.

She attended the ‘United World College of Adriatic' in Italy between 1984 and 1986, on a scholarship from the government of Alberta. There, she worked on a project that aimed at bringing about international peace and understanding.

She earned a BA degree in Russian history and literature from 'Harvard University' in Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S. The course included an exchange program in Kiev, which was then part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialistic Republic (before the Berlin Wall that separated West and East Germany was brought down).

She attended the 'St. Antony's College,' Oxford, England, a constituent college of the 'University of Oxford,' as a 'Rhodes Scholar.' She went on to obtain a Master of Studies degree in Slavonic studies from the institute in 1993.

In Ukraine, Chrystia Freeland started working as a freelance journalist with 'The Washington Post,' 'The Financial Times,' and 'The Economist.'

Later, she worked with 'The Financial Times' as a deputy editor in London, England. She became the editor of the ‘Financial Times' weekend edition, 'FT.com,' and U.K. news.

Between 1994 and 1998, she worked as the Moscow bureau chief and an Eastern European correspondent with the ‘Financial Times.’ During this period, she interviewed many Russian business people. These interviews became the source for her book 'Sale of the Century: The Inside Story of the Second Russian Revolution,' which was published 2 years later.

Between 1999 and 2001, Christina Freeland worked as the deputy editor with 'The Globe and Mail.'

Chrystia Freeland returned to the ‘Financial Times' as a deputy editor and then went on to become its U.S. managing editor.

In 2010, she started working with Canada-based 'Thomson Reuters' as its managing director and editor of consumer news.

Her second book, ‘Plutocrats: The Rise of the New Global Super-Rich and the Fall of Everyone Else,’ was released in 2012.

Christina Freeland�worked with 'Thomson Reuters' until 2013, after which she decided to enter Canadian politics.

On July 26, 2013, Chrystia Freeland quit her job to plunge into Canadian politics as a member of the 'Liberal Party of Canada,' representing ‘Toronto Centre.’ She won the nomination on September 15, 2013, and won the by-election on November 25, 2013.

Her relationship with Ukraine and its leaders (who were not in the good books of Russian politicians) led to a travel ban on her, imposed by Vladimir Putin's administration.

In 2015, the restructuring in Toronto compelled her to contest the federal elections from ‘University-Rosedale,’ Ontario. She won the elections and was appointed as the minister of international trade.

One of the significant highlights of Chrystia Freeland's tenure was the signing of the 'Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement' on October 30, 2016. She also renegotiated the terms of the 'North American Free Trade Agreement' with the U.S. and Mexico.

In less than 3 months, due to the cabinet reshuffle, she was made the foreign affairs minister of Canada.

In March 2017, she extended her support to the reigning Ukrainian government and continued to provide them military backing.

She ordered her departmental officials to enthusiastically investigate the reports of Canadian-manufactured vehicles being used against civilians in Al-Awamiyah, a city with a Shia Muslim majority. A year later, she criticized the arrest of Samar Badawi, a Saudi Arabian human rights activist and sister of imprisoned blogger Raif Badawi. Saudi Arabia retaliated strongly to the criticism by expelling the Canadian ambassador and banning trade with Canada.

She raised concerns about the human rights abuse against the Uyghur Muslims in the Xinjiang “re-education camps,” in a September 2018 meeting with Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi.

Upon the request of the 'Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees,' she received Kuwaiti refugee Rahaf Mohammed, who was fleeing her abusive family, at the 'Toronto International Pearson Airport.' She then granted her asylum.

Christina Freeland�expressed her support for the 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests.

She criticized the unilateral Turkish invasion into north-eastern Syria in October 2019.

She was re-elected in the 2019 federal election and was appointed as the deputy prime minister of Canada and the minister of intergovernmental affairs.

The book 'The Rise of the New Global Super-Rich and the Fall of Everyone Else' was an international bestseller. In 2013, it won the Canadian ‘National Business Book Award' for the most outstanding business-related book and the 'Lionel Gelber Prize' for non-fiction reporting on international affairs.

In 2018, Chrystia Freeland was named “Foreign Policy's Diplomat of the Year” by 'Atlantik-Brucke,' a non-profit organization based in Berlin, Germany, and was awarded the 'Eric M. Warburg Award.'

On April 18, 2019, she was named 37th on ‘Fortune’ magazine’s annual list of the world's leading leaders.

Chrystia Freeland is married to Graham Bowley, a British writer and reporter working with 'The New York Times.' They have three children: Natalka, Halyna, and Ivan. The family stays in Toronto, Canada.

She is fluent in English, Russian, Ukrainian, French, and Italian.

Along with her sister, she co-owns an apartment that faces the Maidan Square in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine.

In 2013, she bought an expensive house in Toronto.