Chrystia Freeland Part I: Why didn’t Justin Trudeau’s Economic Advisor fight to keep good middle-class jobs in Canada?

CHRYSTIA FREELAND HELPS SHIP TORONTO JOBS OVERSEAS

One can look no further than her work with Thomson Reuters, where Freeland oversaw the outsourcing of jobs from Toronto to Bangalore, India. Regardless of whether one agrees or disagrees that this was smart business, there is certainly nothing smart about refusing to face people before you ship their jobs overseas.

" A common refrain from former Reuters employees is a sense that Freeland didn't go to bat for them when their jobs were on the line. Aviva West spent three years as a full-time, contract editor who worked every weekend at the Toronto operation.

"We had zero contact with (Freeland),'' said Aviva West. "She was in charge of consumer news, and that's what we were doing in Toronto, programming 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, Reuters.com. We never, ever saw her.''

"We wanted to show her what we did because we worked really hard on this site, we loved our jobs and we wanted to show her the value that we added to the company,'' said West. "But we never got that chance.'' – Canadian Press, November 14, 2013

Or as another former Reuters' editor summed up in the same article:

"[Freeland] Campaigning for the middle class is just so hypocritical."

SMART POLICIES HELP KEEP MIDDLE CLASS JOBS IN CANADA

While they were shipping Canadian jobs overseas, Reuters was also enjoying tens of millions in no strings attached Corporate tax giveaways courtesy of Liberal and Conservative finance ministers, who lowered the rate from 29.2% in 2000 to 16.5% in 2011.

In contrast, New Democrats believe smart policies would tie tax reductions to job creation and economic growth.

Canadians deserve economic advisors who believe smart management means fighting to keep good middle-class jobs in Canada.