Chrystia Freeland’s rally for the official launch of her Liberal Leadership bid had trouble launching Sunday afternoon. After a touching introduction by her two children, Freeland was interrupted time and again by Hamas-supporting protesters.
At least a dozen times, Freeland was interrupted by protesters who had strategically placed themselves around the gymnasium at the St. Alban’s Boys and Girls Club in Toronto.
Freeland spent more than 15 minutes trying to tell the story about a Canadian flag that the children at St. Alban’s painted for her that now hangs in her office. The crowd of a few hundred supporters had to break out into chants of “Freeland! Freeland!” as the protesters interrupted.
As security ushered those with Palestinian flags, and banners claiming genocide and such were removed, some of them interrupted by banging on the gym doors from the outside.
“If you’re going to stand up to Donald Trump, and I’m going to do that, you can’t let a little bit of noise bug you,” Freeland said from the stage.
Freeland is clearly making her ability to stand up to Trump a key part of her leadership bid. She mentioned it several times in her speech on Sunday, it was the focus of an op-ed she published in the Toronto Star on Friday and a video she released online Saturday.
“I’ll let you in on a little secret,” Freeland said in the video. “Donald Trump doesn’t like me very much.”
The video then cuts to a clip of Trump from his first term saying, “Canada, we don’t like their representative very much.”
While running against Trump may be smart politics in a leadership race for the Liberal Party, it may turn out to be a disaster for the country if Freeland ends up across the table from the U.S. leader. Yet even Freeland’s comments in her speech against Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre were all focused on Trump, saying that Poilievre won’t stand up to the American president.
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In essence, the majority of this speech was a call to hire Freeland to be our next PM because Donald Trump doesn’t like her, and she will fight him.
“Canada is not for sale, and our sovereignty is not negotiable,” she said. “If you hit us, we will hit back.”
Freeland spent a bit of time playing up her cabinet positions in the past, including stints in trade, foreign affairs and finance — the role she resigned from just over a month ago.
“Canadians want good jobs, homes they can afford, and great care for their kids. They want a government that is as careful with Canada’s money as Canadians are with their own,” she said.
Of course, a finance minister who blew past every deficit projection she ever made may not have the ability to say that she’s careful with anyone’s money. Even comments about her cabinet experience were used to bring listeners back to her core message that she will fight Trump.
“We need a battle-tested leader with the scars to prove it,” Freeland said, which may be her most effective line and sales pitch to those voting in the Liberal leadership.
Freeland was flanked by several MPs on stage including Anthony Housefather, Yvan Baker, Michael Couteau, Mark Holland and Rob Oliphant, among others.
“Whether or not I win this race, I will run for re-election in the next federal election,” Freeland said. “Other leadership candidates should make the same commitment.”
That was a shot at Mark Carney, the former bank governor, who doesn’t have a seat. The Freeland campaign has pushed the narrative that Carney won’t stick around, even as leader, if he doesn’t win the next election. That’s a claim that Carney’s campaign has vigorously denied.
Freeland is seen as one of the front-runners in this leadership race. Candidates must declare their intention to run by Jan. 23, with the winner being announced March 9.