Chrystia Freeland: Elbows Up Canada

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Sarah,

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hello and welcome to the Jann Arden Podcast. I'm here, as always, with Sarah Burke and Caitlin green. We have a really, really special guest today. Chrystia Freeland is a politician, as we all very well know she was. She is a journalist. She's an author, Mother, Wife, Daughter, very important things, she's a member of parliament. Has been for a long time, until not so long ago, she served as the Deputy Prime Minister of this great country of ours. She is also the very first female Minister of Finance in Canada, which is a pretty damn big deal. This is a woman who President Trump refers to as the killer. Please. Welcome to the Jan Arden pod Chrystia Freeland, welcome. I am so glad to be here with you, Jan and Sarah and Caitlin, thanks a lot. Right out of the gate, I want to ask you, What in heaven's name got you interested in going into politics? I have a feeling it might be the journalism end, but I don't know. And What in heaven's name is inspiring you to keep going in politics in such a volatile, weird, fantastical, bizarre time in the world's history, okay? What inspired me? I guess, if I had to just say in two words, would be my dad in 2013

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there was a by election for a seat in Toronto that was held by a liberal. It was Bob Ray, actually, and he decided to step down. The great Bob Ray, he's become a friend. I admire him so much. And that triggered a by election, and people said that I should run. There were only a few challenges. One, I was living in New York at the time, where I had a job and my three kids. And the other challenge was, you know, from a kind of careerist perspective, it was kind of a dumb thing to do, right? The Liberals at that point were the third party in parliament, and the opportunity for me was quit your job, pack up your kids, move back to Canada, run in a contested nomination which you could lose, and then run in a by election which you could Lose. Everyone said, Oh my god, that is utter madness. Do not do it. And there were two people in my life who said, do it. One was my husband, and the other one was my dad. And my dad is a farmer in Peace River, Alberta, a lifelong liberal, and there are not too many of them in the Peace country, and a passionate Canadian, and he said to me, Canada has given you so so much. And Jan kind of like you, I grew up in the era of the Alberta Heritage Trust Fund and Peter Lockheed, and that was amazing, like there were so many great government scholarships that created this world of opportunities that would have been impossible for me, and my dad knew that, and so he said, Canada's giving you so much it's a chance, and maybe you'll succeed, maybe you'll fail, but you might as well give it a shot. And I said, But dad, I'll be unemployed if I fail. He said, You're pretty smart. You can get another job. And then he said, and if you don't try, you won't be my daughter anymore. He was kind of joking, but kind of serious. So that's how I got started. And why am I running now? I guess the answer also is one man, also a man named Donald. My dad's name is Don Freeland, but whereas my dad is a Donald who I just love and admire. I'm so grateful to the other Donald is a different one, Donald Trump. And for me, the world changed on November 25 that was when President Trump first said he was going to impose 25% tariffs on Canada. I took it extremely seriously, and what it said to me was he was going to target us first. You know, he has lots of countries he wants to beat up on in the world, but when he said that, it was clear to me he was actually going to start with us entirely perversely, right, best friend, best neighbor. You know, America is so lucky to have us next door. But he said that I took it totally, totally seriously. A lot of people, actually, for a while, a lot of journalists, when I would do interviews, would say, Oh, you're kind of exaggerating, right? You know, I started using the term existential threat. Is that really the case? And I'm really actually sad to have been proven right, and I do think that this is the most dangerous moment for Canada since the Second World War, maybe in our existence as it could.

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Country. And I'm gonna say a thing, Jen, that I hesitate a little bit in even thinking it, because it's kind of UN Canadian, and it's not very modest. And I do think modesty is a virtue, but I really think that in this critical moment for our country, I am uniquely qualified by virtue, really, of pretty much every single thing I've done in my life, whether it was being a student in Ukraine in 8889 and dodging the KGB or writing a book called plutocrats about the rise of the super rich and the fall of everyone else kind of familiar, right? Or dealing with Trump and Putin. You know, I've been Foreign Minister, I've been trade minister, I've been intergovernmental affairs minister, I've been finance minister, I've been elected four times, and I really feel like I'm the best person to lead our amazing country in this challenging time. I really do. What do you think Donald Trump actually wants from Canada right now, and how far do you feel he's willing to go to get it? I think we have to take him at his word. I think he actually, genuinely wants us to be the 51st state. I've tried to kind of maintain a range of connections in Trump land, because it's important to keep the lines of communication open and someone who is close to the president, okay, and to give you a sense of the closeness, this is the person who gave me the President's cell phone number, which allowed us to call him the government right after the election. So someone genuinely close, and this person said, you know, you guys should really see it as a compliment when he says he wants you to be the 51st state, it means he really likes Canada, like from his perspective, to be American is the best, most privileged status in the world, and he's offering it to you guys as a freebie. So from his perspective, it's flattering. Now, of course. And I said to this person, I was like, you gotta understand, generally, we like Americans. We know Americans Well, I think pretty much every Canadian has a friend or a relative or a business partner in the United States, but we are different from you, and we love our country just as much as you love yours, and we do not consider it in any way flattering for you to say, be the 51st state, but no, I think Donald Trump genuinely would like that to happen. And I think he is utterly serious in saying he wants to use economic coercion to force us to accept that. Now I think he will fail. I'm certain he will fail. I feel like he's not even gonna last the term of the presidency. I mean, what are we eight weeks in? And I know it's not just me, the girls and I have talked about this a lot, but the general feeling, I think, globally, is one of apprehension. People are anxious. People are on an edge. And you spoke to it Christian by saying, you know this could possibly be one of the most pivotal, important political moments in Canadian history.

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It feels that way. It doesn't feel light. I'm reluctant, like most Canadians, to turn the TV on in the morning to see what has you know, conspired overnight. I know all these things they must pray heavy on your mind, because you have kids. You are a devoted Canadian, and you've shown us that time and time again. You know, over these years of service, being in public service is it's mind boggling. How do you cope with the vitriol that must come at you hour after hour, minute after minute in the day, like I often think of everyone in public service, anyone in politics, and what we're dealing with and how brazen people have become since President Trump showed up on the scene, you know, 2016

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and how much the climate has changed on how we treat each other. So you know what, Jen, I'm gonna start by saying, my degree of self pity is non existent, and maybe it's because of, like, where I grew up, in northern Alberta, in Peace River, around really hard working people, you know, people who, when it's 40 below, still have to go outside and work and Not bitch about it. And I was at a rally in Edmonton, actually, just last Saturday, and a gentleman called Amarjeet came up to me at the end, and he told me a little bit about himself. He had three kids, he said 10, eight and six, and he works as a porter at the Royal Alex hospital. And.

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And I think about people like that and how hard someone like that works. And he talked about the Canada child benefit and Canada workers benefit, and he said, this makes my life and my family's life possible. And this is like, really true and sincere. I actually get so much positive feedback from people, and that's what keeps me going. Like this morning, I was at Martin Raya up in Vaughan, just north of Toronto, and I know people there because I've been working with the car parts manufacturers Since 2016 when we had the first NAFTA negotiation. And car parts are like at the heart of the Canada us trading relationship, some extremely technical issues, like Rules of Origin of car parts. If I say more, I'll bore you completely, but it's really important and really technical. So I've spent a lot of time with car parts companies and car parts workers, so people knew me when I was there this morning, and they were just so nice, like everyone hugged me and wanted to take pictures with me and said, like, let's keep going. And so many people were wearing Canadian flags, and they're just like, they're up for it. They're gonna fight for Canada. And that is what keeps me going. And I think right now, there is just this wave of patriotism. You know, that's what makes me so confident that not only are we going to be okay, I think as a country, we're going to find opportunities in this crisis to make Canada even better well. And it's funny that you're talking about the auto parts, because we've just had an update from the White House about 10 minutes ago, and they've announced a one month delay for the auto industry levies after talking with the big three CEOs in Canada. So this is the part for me with with Trump, where it's going to be the tariffs. It's not going to be the tariffs. He's very mercurial, and I think he's sort of hard to predict what he's going to do, but I certainly do take him at his word in terms of his intentions. And it can be dark and scary to have someone as powerful as the US president doing stuff like this with your economy and with your people and your sense of stability. So if the average Canadian, let's assume, could use a real pep talk right now about our economy, yes please, and about how we actually have a lot of strength in this. Like, what would the pep talk you would give to the average Canadian sound like right now? Okay, I do think this is a very important point, and I think we all need to have a pep talk. And need to give ourselves a pep talk. It is a political act and an act of resistance to do it, because part of what Trump wants, I think, is to make us all feel little and that we can't do anything. And there was actually a moment during the first NAFTA negotiations when, like, they were brutal and there were lots of insults in public, but that was nothing compared to what happened inside the room, and there was one moment when there was like a shouting match, and I had sort of shouted at me, I am 10 times bigger than you, so I get my way 10 times more than you in this negotiation. That's how they want us to feel. They want us to feel like we're just tiny, tiny and they're big. So here's my pep talk. Yeah, we need the US, but they need us to the stuff they buy from us. They don't buy like, out of the goodness of their heart because they're feeling like being nice to a Canadian. They buy our oil because they need it. They buy our electricity because they need it. They buy our potash, which you cannot grow a crop without, because they need it. More than 80% of their fertilizer comes from us. You know, get used to being hungry America. I know that's food. That's the food on their table, right? They keep themselves, they drive their cars and they eat thanks to us. Second of all, second area where we have leverage is we are their biggest market, and not just by a little bit. Canada is the biggest market for the US, by far, larger than China, Japan, the UK and France all combined. So one Canada, by itself, has more economic leverage over the United States than China, Japan, the UK and France together. And remember these guys, they're the country where the customer is always right? Well, we are their biggest customer, so we have power in this relationship, and we have to be confident in that Canada is strong, like actually we have everything. We are an energy superpower. We actually export energy. We are an agricultural superpower. We don't just.

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Feed ourselves. We sell food to the rest of the world. We are a superpower in all of the critical minerals and metals that the world needs. Going forward, uranium, potash, nickel, rare earths. We have it all. We manufacture things like we actually build stuff in Canada, whether it is cars or airplanes or producing steel and aluminum. We are brilliant technologists. I mean, the guy who won the Nobel Prize in Physics for inventing AI, he lives in Toronto, and a professor at the U of A won the Turing prize, I think, just today, for inventing the math behind AI. So we're smart, and we have great technology companies. And then finally, our people overall are great. And I'm not just saying that because I'm Canadian and I love our neighbors and my friends and family and all that, we are measurably great. We live longer than Americans. We are far more educated than Americans. I was just at this car parts company this morning. This is a company that has operations in Canada and the US, and they were saying they just can't get workers in the US, okay? Because American society is, I would say, dare I coin a phrase, broken regular Americans don't have good health care. Regular Americans do not have a good education system. Regular Americans really are struggling, and a company that manufactures things in the United States is finding that because it's hard for them to hire people who have the skills they need. Well, we're certainly not without our struggles here. I would be remiss not to speak to housing, which is a huge issue going into this election, and we have been told continually by the UCP party that we are a broken country, everyone compares certain things that are happening here with what has happened to the United States. I think those comparisons are getting more and more visible and more apparent as we go forward. How can you speak to what you would do to even begin to fix things like food insecurity. Here you talk about selling food to the rest of the world, but I know for a fact, and certainly during COVID, all these marginalized things, people, unhoused people, people that were going to food banks. I mean, it was just so there was like a magnifying glass on everything, and it was very hard for us to take in as Canadians that we have big problems here that need to be solved. We do. We totally, totally do Jen and I think that we need to, well do exactly as you've said, Right? Recognize that there are a lot of ways, I mean, Visa, be the US. We have to feel strong and confident and not let ourselves be undermined. But at the same time, I think we need to say to ourselves, there are lots of ways that we can make Canada better. And my view is that this is a moment we can actually capitalize on this wave of patriotism, this wave, I would say, a fellow feeling. It's definitely there we have our flag back, for instance, yeah, exactly. And everyone is wearing it, right? Yes, that's exactly right. And so I think there is an opportunity now to capitalize on that, to make Canada even better.

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You've talked about the challenges so many people are facing in their regular lives, and we need to fix those, and fix those with a real sense of urgency. I think housing is really central to the challenges, and it's especially a challenge for younger people who haven't bought their first house. So one thing that I will do as prime minister is lift the GST on newly built homes for first time home buyers. And that can make a first home 4050, $60,000, cheaper for a young person, or maybe not that young for a first time home buyer. And the idea is to make the home cheaper and to give the first time home buyer that leg up in the housing market. Another thing that I would do is, as finance minister, I introduced something called the first home savings account, and this has proven to be wildly popular. Hundreds of 1000s of people are saving money in this account. It's tax free in, tax free out.

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To buy their first home. I see Sarah nodding, do you have a first home savings account? Or maybe you know someone who has one? I have my second home now, but for my first home, the first condo I bought in London, Ontario, I use exactly that. And thank you. Yeah. Okay, so it's really valuable, and so many people are using it. And to me, that shows that young Canadians do want many of them anyway. Do you want to buy a house? It's a great investment. I mean, as far as building equity, it's going to be the biggest thing that you get in your life. It's not going to be the car. It's not going to be, you know, our the money that we have for retirement, most of us, comes from equity built up in the homes that we have, whether it's a reverse mortgage, whether it's selling that home, getting that motor home the last 1015, years of your life, and booting around it is a big thing. And I'll, you know, I'll give you an example. And I have a much different life than than these two girls. I'm 20 plus years older than them. I'll be 63 this month. Everything that I've worked for since I was 20 years old. I am sitting in right now. You know, I do my RSPs every year, and if I don't have the money, I borrow it from the bank to get them. That's what I do. I'm just like, I have really good financial people that are always trying to balance out. This is the interest you're going to pay on this. Get the RSP. But I am sitting in it. This is everything that I have is in this home. I would like to think that I don't have to leave here to retire, but as it stands, and I don't know if people think I'm Celine Dion or what, I have to keep working. I have to keep working. And I know I'm in a very good position as an artist. I know that I don't work for the man. No one's going to walk into my home and find and fire me, but I still worry for my friends all the time. Christian, I really do like Toronto market, especially, you know, you live here Caitlin, and I live in Toronto, I never would even have the home I have right now if I didn't have the leg up from the first home in London, Ontario, where I could afford, at 26 years old to even do that. That's amazing. Yeah, and I do think, Jen, you raise a really important question. I've had so much fun in this campaign.

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It's a real personal liberation for me, and it's also a chance to just talk to lots and lots of people, which you've said you enjoy. I love it. It's fun. And it's actually, it's very moving to me when a person is willing to share a part of their life with you and tell you something about themselves. And I spoke to a nurse practitioner in Riding Mountain in Manitoba, and she told me, you know, a story a little bit like yours, Jan, she's, she's doing well, she has an important job that she loves, that gives real value to her community, but she's single. And she said, You know, I'm I sometimes worry about, when will I be able to stop working? When will I be able to retire? And so, you know, I think there is the concern that young people have thinking about building their life, getting that first home, and there's also a concern that older people have, maybe particularly single women, thinking, will I be able to take care of myself? And you know, we've done a lot to increase the security for seniors, and fewer seniors are living in poverty. But we really need to be aware of how people are living and be there to support them. I have kind of a 180 question. It's sort of about about defense spending, which is something that I'm hearing, I guess, more and more people online talk about, because the US is military has sort of felt like our de facto military for such a long time, and now that they pose this bizarre and unexpected threat to us, how do you think that will impact defense spending and the desire of Canadian voters to boost our defense spending? Caitlin, that is a great question. And you know, one decision that I made during my campaign, and when I say I should say we, because, with the team of MPs and ministers I'm working with, we decided really early on we wanted to do things differently. We didn't want a kind of one man band, cult of personality approach. We wanted something more collaborative. I think that's a better way to lead. It's not necessarily where the political culture steers us, but I think collaboration works. You get better ideas, and also it's much more fun. So that's how we've been doing it, and we decided early on we would have a very policy rich campaign. Anyone who is a policy wonk or even just a citizen, please look at my website, and you will see a very detailed series of policy proposals.

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Sales, you will know exactly what I stand for on defense. We came out early on and said we would get to spending 2% of GDP on defense by 2027

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so in two years. But crucially, Caitlin not just writing checks to the US Military Industrial Complex. I mean, that would be perverse. Like the reason we have to spend more on defense is because these guys want to make us the 51st state. So sending them checks seems not the best idea. And so I think that 2% has to be spent as much as possible here in Canada on Canadian industry, like we make stuff right, let's make the stuff we need, and crucially, actually, on Canadian technology, because the future of defense spending is as much about AI and drones as it is about F 35 and let's spend it on those great Canadian companies, and they're excited about it. I mean, part of what gave me the idea is in December, talking to some brilliant Canadian AI scientists who actually worked with Geoff Hinton in his lab. And they were worried about the US, and they said, Let us help. You know, spend some money with us. We're really smart. We love Canada. We want to defend Canada against the Americans. We can do it. That's what we need to do, and we need to focus on the Arctic. Yeah. Very much. So I just read an op ed piece about, I wish I knew the journalist's name offhand, but he was talking today about the United States not being in a position at all, like they're just at a critical

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kind of overload in, you know, where they've got their different tendrils all over the world. I mean, we saw it in Iraq. We saw it in Afghanistan, of, you know, wars that could have been a lot different, but it just they couldn't stay there and manipulate those countries and its people. You know, we're seeing Trump talks endlessly about the spending in the Ukraine and the war that's been going on there for three years because Putin invaded a sovereign country. Let's get that straight right now. But it's hard to see. I guess, in one hand, it's kind of reassuring to see this op ed of this guy going there's no possible way that we can be annexed. They do not have the manpower. They don't have the boots on the ground. They don't have the means to come up and do it. And that's not really what he's trying to do. He may think that's what he's trying to do, and I think that's where so many the concerns of my friends, people that I'm talking to from 30 to 80 is they lie in bed at night, worrying about people coming up over the border or flying their drones over the house and literally taking over the country. And as absurd as that sounds, I haven't completely taken it off the table, like I'm just like, I don't know. I'm at a point in my life where I just don't know what could be next, like COVID changed everything in our minds. Our minds do not rest anymore. You are totally right. And one of the things that has struck me in campaigning and talking to people across the country is how many people are worried about that? And I have been asked that question by four year old girls in Saskatoon, by, you know, 60 year old dairy farmers in Sherbrooke, Quebec. And I think we really we have to, you know, not give in to despair like quite the contrary. We have to feel strong and confident in our strength, because it is there. But I do think we have to take the threat seriously, and we have to really, I really believe that right now, our organizing principle as Canadians needs to be stand for Canada, fight for Canada. Use the sort of galvanizing effect of this threat to do things that we know will make our country stronger, more prosperous, more resilient. Thank God we won the hockey game. Yes, that was good. That was good

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with what you were just saying, is that where your slogan, like meet the moment comes from, sort of, yeah, yeah. It totally does like, because I think, you know, I truly it's not just believe. Believe suggests some sort of element of faith. It is the case that this is a more challenging moment that at any time since the Second World War, maybe since Confederation, and that's just true. And the good thing is, Canadians know it. Canadians really, really get it, and Canadians are ready. What?

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I think we really need is leadership. It's very key. And Zelensky said something to me early on after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and

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I was complimenting him on how great he is, because I think he is great. And he said to me, a leader can only be as strong as the people who he leads. And I am strong because the people of Ukraine are strong, and that's the feeling I have right now about Canada. I think Canada can have a strong leader because Canadians are strong, and all that they need is a leader who can kind of channel that national determination. Can you kind of feel that Christian that shift? It's been very divisive, because I feel that I live in Alberta, and you know very well what I'm dealing with here, with our premier, with just everything that's going on with trans kids, with fossil fuels, with education, with health care, it's all up in the air right now, like we're not sure where we're headed, and we have someone leading the party here, our government here, that is quite determined to not

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participate in what is happening with the rest of the country. How would you propose dealing with situations like that, because I just feel like ultimately, it is the prime minister of this country that finds a way to unify the provinces. It doesn't feel right to me. Somehow it just feels like we're either all in or we're not. I love you for making that point, Jan, because you know, like you I am a proud daughter of Alberta. I love Alberta, and I feel very much that who I am is because of having grown up in Alberta. Ditto, right? And like I love Alberta, and I I am a daughter of Alberta, and I've stayed here in the arts community. It is a rarity. Everyone leaves. You look around for Katie Lang or Tegan and Sarah or, you know, people that have kind of made it through that passage. I live here because I love it here, and I salute you for that. And you are Albertan. You're an Alberta woman with an Alberta voice. The reason I love you raising this point is I think what Canada wants and needs right now is leadership which is unifying and not divisive. And I think that the Conservative Party has been working very hard to divide Canadians, to create wedge issues, to make people hate each other and look that can work in politics. I had someone lecture me once, actually on the liberal side of things about how wedge issues were really important, and sort of telling me I was a little bit of a Pollyanna, to think that we should sort of try to find what unites us, but that actually opposition and conflict was what works. And I'm sure that there are times when that's the case, but I really believe that today, when we have this really big external threat, I just I trust in the smartness of Canadians, and I trust that Canadians understand that threat, and I trust that Canadians right now are going to rally around leaders who say, let's work together. Now, we're not going to agree about everything for sure, but there's a heck of a lot we agree on, right? I think we agree. We don't want to be the 51st state. There's some people very high up here in this province

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that would like nothing more

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than to be part of the United States of America. And I say that trepidaciously. I mean, I'm not afraid of I cause enough shit here, trust me, I'm very outspoken, and I'm constantly reminded that, you know, I should shut up and sing. But anyway, I wish I could say that, but there is, there's things that work that, you know, I just saw this guy post this thing. He's in charge of something here in Alberta, but he's taking a few folks down to Washington to talk about, you know, just what that would look like for Alberta to welcome, you know, Mr. Trump's opinions and comments about how we can make that happen. I am looking at this online, it was all I could do. I mean, I tracked the guy's name down. I just thought my manager, Bruce Allen, will kill me for one thing, if I start hurling stuff out there. And I just don't care, because I just don't feel these people are right in the head. I don't like apathy. I think when people don't give a shit, that's when things really go side.

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Ways, and you can care about more than one thing, and I believe that is such a huge part of your job. You know, when you look at something like Israel and Palestine and all the things that have unfolded, you can care about more than one thing. You can care about people that were hostages, and you can care about the people that are being, you know, hit by bombs, people just think you always have to pick a side. And I don't believe that. I don't think that's going to solve any of the world's problems. We have to rid ourselves of apathy and stand up and help each other. You know, when you talk about unity, I can't think of a better time. And people are always unified when things are scary, when things are uncertain, and I have a bigger resolve now than I ever have had in my life, to wave my flag, my freak flag, and to get out there and be opinionated and to be the 60, almost three year old woman that this country needs. I think that those voices, your voice, the voice of women in this world are so important. And I didn't want to leave this conversation without talking about being a woman in politics, the rarity of it, the few seats that women do take at the tables politically all over the world. It's astonishing to me to see still how women are so kind of pushed to the side, and you made a good point. You're in trade talks with the Trump administration the first go around, and you're dealing with comments that are absurd. But how do you feel about being a woman in politics? Is it any different? Do you even give it any time or attention at all? Is it something you don't even consider? Well, I mean, Jan, I don't know the alternative, right? Sure, I get scared sometimes, but I try not to let fear rule me in deciding whether or not to run in this leadership race, I had to think about the issues, the sort of the political issues that would motivate me. And it really came down to this conviction I had about this being a critical moment and being uniquely qualified to fight for Canada. But then I kind of had to think a little bit about myself, and was I up for it, and how would I approach it. And what I realized just about me as a person, is that the defining fact of my life is being a mother, and I approach the people and the things I love with, you know, compassion and care. I'm old enough now that a lot of the people I work with are young enough to be my kids, and I try to cook for them. I might even give them romantic advice. And I believe a good mother is loving and caring, but for me also, a good mother is in your corner, and she is ferocious, and she will fight for you, and that's how I feel about Canada right now. I feel that we are under attack, and I am a ferocious mother, and like there is no creature in nature that is more fierce than a mother who is defending her own and that is kind of the spirit inside me, and that gives me a lot of strength. I think that's a great place to leave this conversation. However, Caitlin has one more question, and we ask our guests this, what does self care look like for you? You're certainly under enough stress to warrant needing some self care. So when you want to unwind, if you have a rare moment off, what would you do? Okay,

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so quite a few quite boring things. My husband is English. We will celebrate our 26th wedding anniversary this summer. I know I give it two more weeks. It is unbelievable, right? And we've gotten to the point where we actually know how to, like, live with each other. It feels like it's taken all this time to be able to do it,

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but he has gotten me addicted to tea. Like, you know how? Like, if you read English novels

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every time there's a problem, put the kettle on. Exactly my husband is that. And he makes wonderful tea. And so he makes a few cups of tea for me in the morning, and if I'm working near the house in the afternoon, he'll make me a cup of tea. It's very comforting. And then the other thing, and this is not, I don't actually like this beforehand, but I like it afterwards. I do believe that running is good for you, especially for someone like me, who doesn't, you know, it's not like I work with my hands for a living. You know, it's not like I'm working on the farm and riding horses every day.

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And stuff. So I try to go for a run, ideally four times a week. Good for you, minimum twice a week. I hate the thought of it. I procrastinate a lot as I'm getting ready to go running, I my husband laughs at me. He's like, Why do you always like, turn on a load of laundry before going for a run, it is to put off the inevitable pain. And I don't run fast at all. My kids go with me. Sometimes the thing they do that I yell at them and stop them from doing, is, if they walk really fast, they can keep up with me. But I trust my kind of pace. It's good. So, you know, I try to do it, and then, ideally, my husband and I go for a run together. So we we take our son to Ukrainian school on Saturday morning. The poor guy still has two more years to go. He suffers, he will tell you. So we take him there. We drop him off, then we have a running route through a river valley, and then at the end of it, there's a really nice restaurant called motorists kitchen, and then we have brunch together, totally undoing the run. And then we take the subway home, and then I have a hot bath. That is my indulgence. I feel great at the end of it. Chrystia Freeland, we cannot thank you enough for your time. We have gone way over. We thank you for everything that you continue to do for Canada and for Canadians, it is not an easy task.

41:28  
You know, I'm one of those people. I have voted for a lot of different parties over the years, but I just, I can't tell you how impressive you are your work ethic. I mean, listeners, this woman speaks five languages. I can barely speak English on any given day, and all these things have led you to this place in your life. You know when you were talking at the beginning of the interview about what inspired to get you into politics? And it is people, and it's listening to their stories and a love of country. And anytime I go away anywhere, and these girls can attest to that too. We've all traveled. We've all gone on these holidays where we're so happy to be on the plane to come home. It's indescribable. It doesn't matter if I've been in the nicest place. I get on the plane to come home, and I'm like, I am the luckiest woman in the world to live here. We wish you the very best. So anyway, our thanks. I just really admire you greatly. Look after yourself. Keep running, keep drinking tea, and thanks for being on the janitor and pod. Christian Phelan has been our guest today, and what a ride. Strap in, folks. Get your elbows in the air. As everyone you'll say an elbows up, and we will get through this. We are a tenacious bunch. And listen, we deal with winter seven months out of the year. Some places are dealing with it 10 months out of the year. And I'm pretty sure there's a lot of folks down south that couldn't do that if they tried. So thanks again. We'll see you next time. Thank you, Christian. Thank you so much. Great, great conversation. Really appreciate it. Thank you, Chris. Just so much. Totally. Do you