Recently appointed Foreign Affairs Minister and Canada’s top diplomat, Chrystia Freeland, banned fro

"It’s a laugh now, but let’s see who’s laughing — and who’s crying — four years from now, when these incompetent tokens have had time to do real damage..." Rebel Media

By Amy Minsky National Online Journalist Global News

Chrystia Freeland, Canada’s newly-minted top diplomat, is banned from entering Russia.

The new foreign affairs minister is a recognized face in the United States, where she was once based during her career as a journalist and has frequently appeared on television shows including Real Time with Bill Maher and The Colbert Report, and on radio.

There, Canada has already been defending its interests ahead of president-elect Donald Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration.

Canada will also be considering its relations with Russia after years of tough talk from the previous Conservative government following Russian President Vladimir Putin’s 2014 annexation of Crimea.

Canada’s choice of Russia critic as top diplomat seen as a bold move.

But Freeland hasn’t been allowed to set foot there for almost three years, since she was among the 13 Canadians placed on a sanctions list as part of Putin’s retaliatory measures to Western sanctions.

Freeland, a Toronto MP of Ukrainian descent, had only been an MP a few months before Russia slammed the door on her.

So what did she do to earn herself a place on the list?

Prior to entering the political fray, Freeland was a financial journalist who had worked and lived in Moscow for several years, and offered frequent, sharp criticisms of Putin.

Canada won’t drop Russia sanctions to ease Freeland’s travel ban, feds say.

She had called him an authoritarian, an autocrat and “really dangerous.”

Further, a close friend of hers, Bill Browder, who is also an internationally prominent critic of Putin, has said Freeland has long “favoured very strongly” his call to deepen sanctions against Russia.

Specifically, Browder has lobbied for sanctions on Russians who have violated human rights.

The day she was banned from Russia. Freeland responded on Twitter, saying she considered the sanction an honour.

This week, after she was named foreign affairs minister, Freeland said if her inability to travel to Russia was an issue, it would be something for Moscow to deal with.

A Russian news agency reported Wednesday that Russia would be willing to lift the ban on Freeland if Canada lifted its sanctions. Freeland’s spokesperson said Canada is not interested in bargaining on the subject.

With files from Reuters and The Canadian Press

© 2017 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

According to Huffington Post (link to main article here)

"The Oxford-educated Rhodes Scholar was an acknowledged rising star for the Liberals as international trade minister this past year, doggedly completing the CETA trade agreement with the European Union begun by the previous Conservative government. Freeland then graciously shared the credit with her predecessors."

"She denied that her incisive deconstruction of the planet's super-wealthy in her 2012 best-selling book "Plutocrats: The Rise of the New Global Super-Rich and the Fall of Everyone Else'' constitutes "baggage'' in dealing with a Trump administration packed with billionaires."

"The Russian and Ukrainian-speaking granddaughter of Ukrainian emigrants was among a dozen Canadians put on a Russian sanctions list in 2014 as part of Putin's tit-for-tat response to Western sanctions following Russian-backed military incursions into Crimea."

Chrystia Freeland Walks Out Of CETA Talks With Belgian Holdouts CP | By Mike Blanchfield, The Canadian Press (link to main article here)

Posted: 10/21/2016

OTTAWA — International Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland walked out Friday on talks aimed at convincing the holdout Belgian region of Wallonia to agree to the European Union's wide-ranging free trade deal with Canada.

Sources inside Freeland's office confirmed that the minister "walked out" on the talks with Wallonia's leaders in Brussels — and the despondent-sounding statement that followed suggested the deal is all but dead.

"I personally have worked very hard, but it is now evident to me — evident to Canada — that the European Union is incapable of reaching an agreement, even with a country with European values such as Canada, even with a country as nice and as patient as Canada," the statement read.

October 24, 2016 Canada’s Minister for International Trade has “mommy blogger” meltdown REBEL STAFF (link to main article here)

Over in the European Union, they’re nailing down the final details of a massive trade deal — really the biggest one for Canada since our free trade deal with the U.S.

Harper’s government did all of the heavy lifting, but some final negotiations remained, so Trudeau’s team went over to finish the job.

Then Chrystia Freeland started crying.

She actually wrote about crying, and complained about being away from her family (even though she’s the Minister of International Trade...)

She says she can’t believe the other side was being tough — especially when Canada is so “nice.”

And here’s the insane thing:

That “mommy blog” type melt-down was so awesome, in the eyes of Trudeau’s Liberals, that it was translated and sent out as an official government press release. I’m serious.

Justin Trudeau really wanted to show what he could do with a 50 per cent female cabinet. But Freeland’s only real business experience was a complete disaster, costing her old employer tens of millions of dollars and wiping out hundreds of jobs.

It’s a laugh now, but let’s see who’s laughing — and who’s crying — four years from now, when these incompetent tokens have had time to do real damage...