JUNE 29, 2017

Chrystia Freeland, Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs, addressed an audience of approximately 120 attendees on the evening of June 29th at the Toronto Lawn Tennis Club.  The majority in attendance were members of the public. Joe C started the evening with a presentation on the history of Rotary and our Guiding Principles. He went on to introduce Ms. Freeland.

 

 

Ms. Freeland became Minister of Foreign Affairs in  January 2017, and is the Liberal Party MP for the riding of University - Rosedale.  Prior to entering politics, she was a successful journalist who worked in various roles for such organizations as the Financial Times, The Washington Post, The Economist, The Globe and Mail and Reuters. She has written the bestselling books The Sale of the Century as well as Plutocrats:  The Rise of the New Global Super-Rich and the Fall of Everyone Else and was awarded the National Business Book Award for the most outstanding Canadian business related book.

 

Ms. Freeland spoke for over an hour and took questions from the audience. She shared humorous stories of her first meetings with Trump and Putin, her views on world politics, the rise of China and Russia, and the decline of the USA. She also spoke proudly of Canada, our positive reputation in the international community,and our leadership role in world affairs. She received a standing ovation from the audience at the end of her presentation.