In Unreliable Boyfriend, Chrystia Freeland details the rift between her and Trudeau
Chrystia Freeland's new book, 'Unreliable Boyfriend,' explores her complex professional and personal relationship with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. The book details their initial collaboration and eventual political rift.
Why it matters
The book offers an insider perspective on the internal dynamics of the Canadian Liberal government and the challenges of high-level political partnerships.
While the book's "unreliable boyfriend" is the United States under U.S. President Donald Trump, readers could be forgiven for thinking the title is actually inspired by Trudeau.
She enthuses about how the pair worked together on the trade file, their management of the pandemic and their rollout of national child care. Yet she also details Trudeau's slide into unpopularity, penchant for humiliating members of his cabinet, word-policing and tendency to pick on those weaker than him.
While their relationship ended bitterly, she is still able to praise Trudeau for his strengths, one of which she noticed at a party in Toronto in late 2012, before Trudeau the Liberal MP became Trudeau the prime minister.
At that party celebrating the launch of Freeland's book Plutocrats , her father cornered Trudeau to convey his thoughts on politics, eager to speak with "Liberal political royalty."
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