Ahead of a planned Sunday launch for her Liberal leadership bid, former deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland has unveiled a flashy campaign video that pitches her as an opponent to U.S. president-elect Donald Trump.
The 80-second video opens with Freeland noting that “Donald Trump doesn’t like me very much,” before touting her as a “tough negotiator” who “won” the last round of trade talks with the U.S.
During Trump’s last administration, Freeland led the Canadian team in negotiations to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA).
The video goes on to claim federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievere will “bow down to Trump and sell us out.”
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“This moment matters,” Freeland says, before confirming “I’m running… to fight for Canadians.”
Freeland officially signalled her plans to run in a short social media post on Friday and is set to hold a launch event on Sunday.
Once one of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s closest allies before she resigned from cabinet in December, Freeland is among the highest-profile candidates in the race to replace him, along with former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney.
At least 10 Liberal MPs, including Health Minister Mark Holland and former Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault, have endorsed her for leader.
Emergency Preparedness Minister Harjit Sajjan, meanwhile, announced his support for Carney on Saturday.
On Friday, Freeland penned an op-ed in the Toronto Star that also focused on a response to Trump’s threat to impose 25 per cent blanket tariffs on Canadian goods.
Freeland warned in the Star piece that, “we must take President Trump at his word” when it comes to threats of economic coercion, and said if he follows through the Canadian “counterpunch must be dollar-for-dollar.”
Freeland, who has served as the member of Parliament for the Toronto riding of University-Rosedale since 2015, was Trudeau’s finance minister for four years.
Her high-profile exit from the portfolio — on the same day she was scheduled to deliver the government’s fall economic statement — came just weeks before Trudeau announced his plans to step down as Liberal Party leader and prime minister.
The Liberal Party will decide on its new leader on March 9.
-With files from Craig Lord
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