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The Niagara Independent, February 12, 2021\u00a0 \u2013\u00a0<\/em> In Ottawa she is referred to as the \u201cMinister of Everything.\u201d As Deputy PM, Chrystia Freeland is at the very centre of all policy decisions in the Trudeau Government. She is responsible for Canada\u2019s fiscal policies and its economic recovery from the pandemic. As Canada\u2019s Finance Minister she is scheduled to deliver a federal budget in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n Chrystia Freeland also happens to hold stewardship responsibilities at the World Economic Forum (WEF). For the past three years, she has sat as a trustee on its Board. She was placed on the Board by celebrated globalist Klaus Schwab, who is principal architect of\u00a0The Great Reset<\/em>. As an executive member of the WEF now, Freeland is committed to advancing its global agenda and she works closely with Schwab.<\/p>\n Freeland\u2019s multiple responsibilities to multiple agendas have raised questions about potential divided loyalties. What should Canadians expect from this \u201cMinister of Everything?\u201d<\/p>\n To get a sense of what motivates the woman, one must glance back at Freeland\u2019s path to Ottawa and the friends she made along the way. Freeland is a journalist by profession. The 53 year old started her journalism career as a stringer in Ukraine for the\u00a0Washington Post<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Financial Times<\/em>. She assumed greater responsibilities through successive editorial positions with\u00a0UK News<\/em>, the\u00a0Globe and Mail<\/em>,\u00a0Reuters\u00a0<\/em>and eventually with\u00a0Thomson Reuters Digital<\/em>\u00a0in New York.<\/p>\n In that time covering international financial news, Freeland wrote two books \u2013 the second of which gained her some recognition.\u00a0Plutocrats: The Rise of the New Global Super Rich and the Fall of Everyone Else<\/em>. The book presented Freeland\u2019s thesis that globalization has created a class of uber-wealthy people, which she describes as \u201ca nation unto themselves.\u201d Freeland observed, \u201cThe big danger, though, is \u2026 as the people at the very top become ever richer, they have an even greater ability to tilt the rules of the game in their favour.\u201d<\/p>\n On the surface the book provides a critical look at the uber-wealthy sect, yet Freeland endeared herself to a few key members of this exclusive circle with her description of \u201cgood, technocratic friendly plutocrats.\u201d She lauded the agenda of a New World Order and the visionary merits of \u201cgood oligarchs\u201d such as Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, and George Soros. It is from this writing experience that Soros and Freeland become close friends \u2013 even to the extent that she was commissioned to write the multi billionaire\u2019s biography.<\/p>\n The Freeland \/ Soros connection cannot be overstated as today she is a known personality among the Davos elite. The connection likely played a part with WEF Founder Klaus Schwab personally sponsoring Freeland to the Board of Trustees. As a trustee, Freeland is part of a small group of financiers and billionaires who oversee a 700-person bureaucracy mandated to coordinate a global response to economic, environmental, social and technological challenges.<\/p>\n With this as background, now fast-forward to January 2021 when the WEF held virtual Davos Meetings that featured discussions on\u00a0The Great Reset<\/em>\u00a0and a new document\u00a0Davos Manifesto<\/em>, authored by Klaus Schwab. In short, these meetings presented Schwab\u2019s plan to take advantage of the economic disruption caused by the coronavirus and to redesign capitalism. Schwab writes in the\u00a0Davos Manifesto<\/em>, \u201cWe should seize this moment to ensure that stakeholder capitalism remains the new dominant model.\u201d<\/p>\n Introduced as Canada\u2019s Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister, Freeland attended these WEF meetings to take part in public and private meetings, and to participate as a panelist in the discussion \u201cImplementing Stakeholder Capitalism.\u201d The obvious question arises: which hat(s) was Freeland wearing \u2014 lead minister in the Canadian Government or board trustee of the WEF, or both?<\/p>\n Though the potential for divided loyalties and compromising policy positions is clearly evident, not one media reporter or political commentator in Canada would raise this issue \u2014 that is but for Rupa Subramanya. In her February 2nd\u00a0National Post<\/em>\u00a0column, Subramanya wrote of the WEF meetings and\u00a0The Great Reset<\/em>, \u201cThere\u2019s no need to invent conspiracy theories. The attempt by global elites to subvert local democracy is fully on and in plain view.\u201d<\/p>\n To her full credit, Subramanya honed in on the fundamental concern about Chrystia Freeland\u2019s multiple interests with the WEF, \u201cThese board memberships are far from symbolic. According to the WEF, the board of trustees \u201cact as guardians of its mission and values\u201d and are its \u201chighest-level governance body\u201d\u2026 \u00a0What would happen if acting as a \u201cguardian\u201d for the WEF came into conflict with acting as a guardian for Canada\u2019s public finances, which is Freeland\u2019s day job?\u201d<\/p>\n Subramanya tweeted even more pointed observations: \u201cFrom being a critic of plutocrats to being on the board of trustees of their favourite stomping board, Chrystia Freeland\u2019s strong ties to WEF raises legit questions about how their agenda could conflict with her day job as Canada\u2019s FM and Deputy PM.\u201d And she concluded in another tweet, \u201cThe optics are beyond bad and should concern Canadians\u2026 Chrystia Freeland\u2019s side gig with the WEF is endangering Canadian democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n So, there are numerous ethical questions. Has Canada\u2019s Deputy PM and Finance Minister declared her WEF interests and had them cleared by Parliament\u2019s Ethics Commissioner? Does Freeland receive WEF Trustee fees, expenses, or other benefits from the WEF? Does Freeland publicly declare what official positon she represents when appearing in a meeting where there could be a conflict of interest \u2013 such as at the WEF Davos Meetings or policy meetings with foreign politicians? Does Freeland recuse herself from Cabinet discussions when it is deliberating on matters pertaining to the policy objections of the WEF?<\/p>\n There are also practical questions around Freeland as Finance Minister managing the country\u2019s fiscal policy and its economic recovery plans. Freeland will deliver the highest deficit in the G-20 and announce spending plans that will top an astounding trillion dollars of Canadians\u2019 money. The federal government issued 100,000,000 government cheques to individuals in the last 10 months and it continues to hint at an uncosted guaranteed income for Canadians. Both Freeland and the Prime Minister have said they see the pandemic as \u201can opportunity\u201d to build back better with a green agenda \u2013 and Canadians can expect both carbon tax hikes and billions of dollars of subsidies in new green programs. Is this all in Canadians\u2019 best interests or is it part of the WEF\u2019s plan to redesign capitalism and reset our economy?<\/p>\n With the upcoming federal budget, will Freeland stand in the House of Commons to deliver a WEF or a Canadian document? This is a reasonable question for Canadians to ask when you are \u201cMinister of Everything.\u201d<\/p>\n Chris George<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0is an Ottawa-based government affairs advisor and wordsmith, president of\u00a0CG&A COMMUNICATIONS<\/a>. Contact:\u00a0ChrisG.George@gmail.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n