Sometimes your service to your country has a larger impact that most will remember.
We will soon big a fond farewell to one of my favourite members of parliament, former Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland.
The Toronto Liberal MP has announced she’ll step down as Prime Minister Mark Carney’s special representative for the reconstruction of Ukraine and will also leave Parliament in the coming weeks to become an unpaid adviser on economic development in Ukraine.
While most will remember her years near the top in Ottawa, I wonder if most people will remember how she literally helped shape the current political landscape.
It was just over a year ago that she resigned from the Cabinet of former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, citing major differences in spending and preparations for the upcoming trade war with the U.S., which she absolutely called accurately before it happened.
Her open revolt against Trudeau was the final straw, leading to his departure as leader and Prime Minister, and the complete revitalization of the Liberal Party itself.
When she left, the Conservatives had a 20-point lead in the polls. Her exit was a major shock, making Trudeau finally admit the time to leave had come and leading to Mark Carney’s coronation and a Liberal minority government (unthinkable a few months before).
So good or bad, we could have a much different government today if not for Freeland, whose biggest legacy may have begun when she chose when to step down and break the silence.
I’m Paul Martin and that’s what I see looking Beyond the Headlines.
