Ex-Liberal cabinet minister Christia Freeland is now Ukraine s president Volodymyr Zelensky s economic advisor, raising ethical concerns over sitting ministers working for foreign nations. Canadian protests against the capture of socialist dictator Nicholas Maduro were met by anti-communist Venezuelans who were scolding protesters that they do not represent the people of Venezuela.
00:00:00.000former liberal cabinet minister christia freeland is now ukrainian president volodymyr
00:00:10.180zelinski's economic advisor raising ethical concerns over sitting mps working for foreign
00:00:16.840nations canadian protests against the capture of socialist dictator nicholas maduro were met by
00:00:22.660anti-communist venezuelans who were scolding protesters that they do not represent the people
00:00:27.780of venezuela the liberal government has proposed penalties as low as 50 for foreign agents who
00:00:34.580failed to put forward their names on a registry designed to counter foreign interference hello
00:00:40.940canada it's tuesday january 6th and this is the true north daily brief i'm cosmon gerja and i'm jeff
00:00:48.220knight we've got you covered with all the news you need to know let's discuss the top stories of the
00:00:53.960day and the true north exclusives you won't hear anywhere else
00:00:57.640ukrainian president volodymyr zelinski has appointed former liberal cabinet minister christia freeland
00:01:06.680as an economic advisor immediately sparking outrage among conservative mps who are raising ethical
00:01:14.140concerns about the sitting canadian mp taking on a foreign role concurrently volodymyr zelinski
00:01:21.360appointed christia freeland as an advisor on economic development monday saying ukraine needs
00:01:28.400to strengthen its internal resilience as the war with russia continues in a statement posted on x
00:01:35.620zelinski said quote today i appointed christia freeland as an advisor on economic development
00:01:41.700christia is highly skilled in these matters and has extensive experience in attracting investment
00:01:48.160and implementing economic transformations he added quote right now ukraine needs to strengthen its
00:01:55.640internal resilience both for the sake of ukraine's recovery if diplomacy delivers results as swiftly as
00:02:02.520possible and to reinforce our defense if because of delays by our partners it takes longer to bring
00:02:09.380this war to an end prime minister mark carney previously named freeland as canada's special
00:02:14.860representative for the reconstruction of ukraine role that has involved frequent travel to europe and
00:02:21.220ukraine the appointment comes as carney travels to paris to meet with allied leaders to discuss
00:02:27.260continued support for ukraine and efforts to end the conflict the announcement follows freeland's
00:02:32.780election as the incoming chief executive officer of the roads trust knoxford-based educational charity
00:02:39.180that administers the road scholarship she's set to begin that role on july 1st and is expected to relocate
00:02:46.180to oxford england freeland has said she will not run in the next federal election but has not announced
00:02:52.140plans to resign her seat in the house of commons so jeff as a sitting mp uh and a member of the liberal
00:03:00.540party i very much doubt that this decision was not greenlit by prime minister mark carney uh she highly
00:03:10.940likely had to ask permission before taking on a role like this and the prime minister seems to be okay with
00:03:18.380her taking the position because he hasn't said otherwise so what are some of the criticisms leveled against
00:03:25.020freeland for taking this on uh particularly by the conservative opposition yeah cosmon conservatives
00:03:31.340have reacted pretty sharply to christia freeland's appointment as the economic advisor to ukrainian
00:03:36.780president volodymyr zelensky and they've been focusing on the ethical conflicts that it involves
00:03:42.780and they've been calling for her resignation as a sitting mp because of it michael chong stated that
00:03:47.900freeland quote needs to choose between being an mp and working for zelensky emphasizing the
00:03:53.660incompatibility of the roles other mps including roman baber and todd doherty described the move as
00:04:00.460a blatant conflict of interest arguing it undermines her duties in parliament while she holds a foreign
00:04:06.140advisory position roman baber also posted that freeland quote lacked the decency to resign her seat
00:04:12.700and called it a clear conflict the criticism centers on the perception that freeland is prioritizing
00:04:18.220international roles including her upcoming rhodes trust ceo position over canadian
00:04:23.340representation with some questioning how she can serve constituents while advising a foreign
00:04:29.100leader on economic matters juno news put out an article highlighting this as part of a broader
00:04:33.900concern about accountability for liberal figures transitioning to global positions without immediate
00:04:39.100resignation overall conservatives frame the appointment as an ethical lapse that demands her
00:04:44.540exit from the house of commons venezuelan refugees and canadians confronted quote hands-off venezuela
00:04:54.460protesters in toronto who were rallying against the u.s push to oust social dictator nicolas maduro asserting
00:05:01.100that the pro maduro crowds do not speak for the venezuelan people one such moment shared by ex-user leviathan
00:05:07.980shows an emotional woman claiming to be venezuelan yelling at keffia-clad protesters that they are quote
00:05:13.740against her people who are actually happy with the capture of their oppressor the woman a counter
00:05:19.180protester held a sign from the ladies of liberty alliance picturing maria europiza who is a lawyer
00:05:25.580political prisoner and campaign manager for venezuela's opposition leader maria carina machado
00:05:31.340she brandished a passport declaring that she is a venezuelan and that none of those protesting u.s
00:05:36.780president donald trump's seizure of the dictator are from her country the woman is then seen walking away
00:05:41.900from known agitator diana sheriff and another man both clad in palestinian keffias until the man
00:05:48.060called the u.s action against maduro quote state terrorism and what about the terrorism against
00:05:54.540venezuelans who who my friends in a total center there ain't 100 political prisoners this is what
00:06:00.540the venezuelans to do not by americans who is going to help us we don't have guns no the state has the
00:06:07.420guns and that's where the government has the guns and they have killed us taking us and you are not
00:06:13.020standing with us you are standing against us you get support you are same on you yeah yeah yeah let's
00:06:20.140get that let's let's go let's go on you you don't stand with my people you stand against my people
00:06:27.820another video from a pro-venezuela anti-maduro rally in toronto on sunday posted by karima saeed showed a
00:06:35.580similar exchange this time between an anti-communist venezuelan protester and an anti-trump activist
00:06:42.060the anti-trump activist sarcastically mocked the celebrating venezuelans saying that america taking
00:06:47.820charge of the country was worse than the communist dictator continuing to be in power the activist
00:06:52.940told the celebrant that america was stealing venezuela's oil the other activist however noted
00:06:58.300that the country's oil has been plundered by countries such as iran china and russia for years
00:07:03.820so cosmon what are some of the other ways we're seeing western activists and media showing a complete
00:07:09.100disconnect from the will of the venezuelan people in this case you know jeff one of the biggest
00:07:14.860disconnects i see is how western activists um choose to listen to certain voices certain narratives and
00:07:24.620more importantly they decide to ignore most venezuelans themselves if you think about it when you have
00:07:32.060venezuelans in the diaspora literally in tears holding up their passports to prove where they're
00:07:38.860from naming friends who are literal political prisoners and saying look this is what happened
00:07:46.060to our country this is what happened to my family to my friends and western activists uh these usually
00:07:53.180far left like pro-palestine types and it's funny because these people frequent like a cycle of protests
00:08:02.060uh picking their whatever issue is in vogue of the day and these protesters just talk right over them
00:08:10.220over these people who have real experiences with these regimes they don't ask questions they don't even
00:08:16.460try to understand it or have a honest conversation they just dismiss it all as i don't know cia talking
00:08:24.540points or propaganda and that dismissal tells you everything you need to know about who they are and
00:08:31.180their mindset they are ideologically captured and do not consider any opinion outside of the ones that
00:08:39.980they've been fed and brainwashed with but it's also the fault of the media to some degree if you watched
00:08:46.940the news it's sort of detached from the average venezuelans experience you don't really hear about the
00:08:55.020human catastrophe and the cost of the maduro regime and the regime before him under chavez it's all about
00:09:03.580geopolitical sort of vague uh framings about oil interests interventionism etc but meanwhile the actual
00:09:12.780people of venezuela are talking about torture they themselves are people they know endured the
00:09:19.500starvation in the country and disappearances of political dissidents so it's too bad that the media
00:09:26.940would rather focus on theoretical and kind of intellectual conversations about political theory and
00:09:35.900these grand narratives when the voices of the actual people who suffered and lived under venezuelan
00:09:42.540dictatorship are ignored the federal government is proposing penalties as low as 50 for foreign
00:09:53.420agents who fail to register under a law passed by parliament to counter foreign interference it's a
00:09:59.740move that has drawn sharp criticism from conservative mps and senators the draft regulations were first
00:10:06.620reported by black locks reporter public safety minister gary ananda sandri released proposed regulations on
00:10:14.380saturday governing a foreign influence transparency registry mandated by parliament in june 2024 a regulatory
00:10:23.260impact analysis statement from the department of public safety said the regulations would allow some
00:10:29.420information to remain unpublished including payment details citing privacy concerns no deadline was set for
00:10:36.380enforcement despite earlier government commitments that the registry would be operational by june 2025
00:10:43.340parliament passed bill c-70 an act respecting counter foreign interference on june 19 2024 the law requires
00:10:53.020individuals individuals and entities quote acting at the direction of for the benefit of or in association
00:10:58.940with a foreign entity to register when lobbying public office holders the media or the public under the statute
00:11:06.860approved by parliament violations can carry penalties of up to five years imprisonment or fines of up to five
00:11:13.660million dollars the draft regulations however propose administrative monetary penalties that could be as low as 50
00:11:21.740dollars per violation they would also allow non-compliant individuals or organizations to enter compliance
00:11:29.660agreements that could reduce penalties or eliminate them entirely the analysis statement said quote the
00:11:36.460regulations would allow certain information not to be published the department acknowledged that some
00:11:42.140stakeholders had urged the government to acquire had urged the government to require disclosures of
00:11:48.220compensation paid to foreign agents similar to reporting rules under the united states foreign agents registration act of 1938
00:11:57.340the statement said quote diaspora group suggested publishing compensation details in the registry to show the scale of arrangements
00:12:05.740the department considered this but did not adopt it due to privacy concerns i mean jeff fifty dollars for failing to comply with
00:12:14.300foreign interference rules and registration seems pretty low don't you think i mean yeah definitely uh and critics and opposition
00:12:23.420parties have slammed the proposed fifty dollar minimum fine for failing to comply as far too lenient and they're arguing it
00:12:30.300undermines the law's deterrent effect against foreign interference conservative mps like michelle rempel garner have called it a slap on the wrist that
00:12:36.300treats serious violations like failing to register arrangements with foreign principles as just minor infractions
00:12:45.420comparable to like a parking ticket they contend that administrative penalties starting at fifty dollars with options for compliance
00:12:52.300agreements that could reduce or eliminate fines send a weak signal to potential agents of authoritarian regimes
00:12:58.300especially where the statute allows for up to five million dollar fines or five years imprisonment for severe cases
00:13:05.660opposition figures have highlighted the contrast with allies like the u.s foreign agents registration act
00:13:11.020which imposes stricter penalties and full disclosure of compensation and they're accusing the liberal government of
00:13:16.700prioritizing privacy concerns over transparency and national security the decision not to publish payment details
00:13:23.420justified by the department as protecting privacy has fueled accusations that the regulations are watered down
00:13:31.740allowing covert influence to persist with minimal risk overall critics view the low entry level fine as evidence that the
00:13:39.740registry lacks teeth potentially rendering bill c70 ineffective in countering threats from countries like china or russia
00:13:47.500that's it for today folks thanks for tuning in you can stay on top of new episodes every weekday by
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