Terry Newman: Freeland to lead Ukraine's economic recovery? Don't make me laugh

As far as financial experience goes, Freeland infamously failed to deliver the fall economic statement last year when she was serving as finance minister, knowing full well that she blew past her deficit target by $20 billion. Great success!

During her time in finance, it would be more accurate to say that Freeland made investments, rather than attracting them — at a high cost to taxpayers. Many of these “investments” were in electric vehicle battery plants in Ontario and Quebec, which were attracted to Canada by promising $52.5 billion to 13 foreign companies, at a whopping total of $4 million per job.

What quickly becomes clear with these projects is that the term “investments” is used rather liberally, and seems to refer to “capital expenses.” So, yes, Freeland does have extensive experience “attracting investments,” but that generally entails spending large sums of taxpayers’ money. And she does have a track record of “implementing economic transformations,” though Canada’s moribund economy is hardly worth emulating.

Freeland has had six different ministerial roles since she was first elected in 2013 — including international trade, foreign affairs, intergovernmental affairs, finance, deputy prime minister and transport — landing finally on what would appear to be her final role in September, when she was appointed as special representative for the reconstruction of Ukraine.

If one were cynical, one might say that someone who goes through that many roles, that quickly, probably wasn’t all that good at any of them. Likely, Freeland’s appointment has more to do with her unwavering support of Ukraine and her connection to global elite than it does any sort of investment-attracting expertise.

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Freeland’s role as special representative reportedly involves her working with Ukrainian and Canadian political and business leaders on a plan to rebuild the Ukrainian economy.

Human rights advocate Bill Browder told the Globe at the time of her appointment that Freeland’s “main contribution was convincing all the (G7) finance ministers to go along with an asset freeze (on Russia) immediately after the war started.” That was great, but it isn’t evidence of her purported expertise in attracting investment.

Freeland met Zelenskyy in Ukraine in November to discuss Ukraine’s recovery. According to a government readout of the meeting, Zelenskyy noted that Ukraine “counts on the involvement of Canadian business and Canadian investment in recovery, particularly in energy, agriculture, infrastructure and other areas.”

Freeland, for her part, made it clear that Canada would continue to support Ukraine in its fight against Russian aggression. Now, Freeland will be working for Ukraine directly.

Since 2022, Canada has committed over $23.5 billion to help support Ukraine through economic, military, humanitarian, development, security, stabilization and immigration assistance. This must be the investment-securing expertise Zelenskyy is referring to.

But there have been questions brewing about Zelenskyy’s governance. One has to ask if it’s wise for a member of the Liberal party to accept such a position after some of Zelenskyy’s close associates were allegedly caught embezzling US$100 million (C$138 million) from the country’s energy sector, or after his deputy prime minister, Oleksiy Chernyshov, was indicted on corruption charges, or after his chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, was forced to resign in a corruption scandal.

These matters are made more worrisome by the fact that Zelenskyy abruptly passed a law last summer neutering Ukraine’s two main anti-corruption agencies, though he later reversed course due to a backlash. This led Ukrainians to suspect that his inner circle was being investigated for political corruption, and it turned out they were right.

Given this, Freeland should have demanded a guarantee that Zelenskyy completely root out corruption from his government before accepting the position.

Making matters worse, Freeland’s constituents spent most of the day on Monday wondering if they still had a full-time representative in Ottawa. It wasn’t until later in the day, after word of her new role spread, that Freeland finally posted an explanation on social media.

“Ukraine is at the forefront of today’s global fight for democracy, and I welcome this chance to contribute on an unpaid basis as an economic advisor to President Zelensky,” she wrote.

She went on to say that she will be stepping aside from her special representative role and relinquishing her seat in Parliament in the coming weeks. She ends by thanking her constituents “for their years of confidence” in her, claiming she feels grateful to have been their representative.

Yet Freeland didn’t have enough respect for her constituents to inform them first, suggesting her interests do not lie with Canada. From now on, she should be treated in line with her newly accepted role, as an individual solely concerned with the interests of a foreign country. That is the choice she made.