- by Anne Finlay-Stewart, Editor
When Liberal candidate Michael Den Tandt introduced Chrystia Freeland to his campaign supporters this afternoon in Owen Sound, he told them she had been his boss when she was an editor at the Globe and Mail.
What Freeland gave him was a personal endorsement anyone would be delighted to receive from a former boss. She said Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound was a very winnable riding for the Liberals and parliament would be richer with Den Tandt as a member.
Asked why she is supporting her former colleague in his run to replace the retiring incumbent in Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound, Freeland said that Den Tandt's roots run deep here and he is clearly committed to this area. “And it is rare to find a first-time MP who also knows the ropes in Ottawa,” she said. Den Tandt worked in the Prime Minister's Office during the North American Free Trade negotiations, playing a "key role" in what Freeland described as “one of the most challenging issues we've ever faced”.
Freeland, Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Liberal government, answered questions about trade with the US and China and its impact on Grey-Bruce. She said although our economy is only 10 percent of the American's, our trade with the US is balanced and mutually beneficial - currently $2 billion a day under existing agreements.
Acknowledging her own father who is currently harvesting his canola crop in Peace River, Alberta, Freeland said that Canada is on a constructive and appropriate path with China, in both canola and beef and pork.
Concerning trade negotiations, she said “We do not escalate, and we do not back down,” particularly referencing Chapter 19 of NAFTA, the dispute mechanism Canada will not concede, that protects against dumping and countervailing duties. When asked about ratification of the new NAFTA Freeland said “I am no longer a journalist - it is not my job to speculate on US domestic policy” but said she was keeping close touch with both the Democrats and Republicans, and Canada has begun the process at the same rate as the Americans – neither faster nor slower.
Den Tandt said he admired Freeland's intellect, common sense and compassion. He said reading her best-selling book, Plutocrats: The Rise of the New Global Super-Rich and the Fall of Everyone Else, in which she was among the first to call out the fundamental shift in inequality, led in part to his decision to join the Prime Minister's Office.
Freeland in turn said that she considered that writing clearly, as she says Den Tandt did in many newspaper columns she misses since his turn to politics, demonstrates an ability
to think about issues clearly – an important skill in a parliamentarian.
Freeland's visit to the area included a scrum with local media, a campaign rally with a room full of supporters at the Harmony Centre and a fundraising lunch at Stone Tree.
She said although she was keen to visit the riding to support her colleague and friend, it is a finite campaign period and she goes where the national campaign director sends her. “Ministers will only be sent to ridings that in his judgement we can win,” she said. “The fact that I am here is a sign of that judgement, and I look forward to making that call on October 21 to congratulate Michael on becoming your MP.”
Justin Trudeau was also in Owen Sound to officially open Den Tandt's campaign office on September 4.
