Is Canada's Deputy PM a foreign agent?

There’s been a lot of noise about the need to have a registry of lobbyists who are working in Canada at the behest of foreign entities. The noise comes mostly from the same choir of American Empire Loyalists behind the current Hogue Inquiry into foreign interference in our democracy. Justice Hogue released her interim report today, confirming former GG David Johnston’s conclusion that we’re basically dealing with a media-driven nothingburger here. Her report did add the caveat that in some vague way the scandal may have undermined Canadians’ “faith in democracy.” Frankly, what undermines my faith in democracy is the quality of the candidates I’m allowed to choose from at election time. I never seem to have any choice outside a narrow range of pro-USA, pro-NATO, pro-Israel, pro-”free trade” options. That of course brings with it certain certitudes about what our foreign policy must look like. To put the matter bluntly, it inevitably looks like whatever Washington wants it to look like. Which brings me to a titillating headline I saw at the CBC a few days ago. Military charges senior officer with making derogatory remarks about commanders, allies. Murray Brewster, the top gun on military affairs at CBC, didn’t give us a whole lot of details, nor did any other Canadian news outlet. Today I ran across this nugget; Canada is losing its war against Russia and is charging senior officers with disloyalty. Holy heck, who could imagine!? I strongly recommend you read John Helmer’s article. Unlike Murry Brewster, he seems to have contacts in the CAF beyond the PR department. According to him, Colonel Robert Kearney committed the cardinal sin of deviating from the official script on our disastrous mission in Ukraine. Official script; with NATO’s commitment for whatever it takes for as long as it takes, Ukraine will eventually prevail and defeat Putin’s Russia. Colonel Kearney’s alleged heresy; Not a hope in hell. Apparently the Colonel was highly regarded as a tell-it-like-it-is kind of guy, which is a deviation from the norm amongst the neutered upper ranks of the CAF. When word of this outrage reached Ukraine’s numero uno lobbyist in Canada, Deputy PM Chrystia Freeland, his fate was sealed. Which brings us full circle to the question raised in the title. Should Chrystia be considered a “foreign agent?” That’s not as simple a question as you might think at first glance. Technically, a “foreign agent” would need to get some sort of benefit from the foreign entity they were working for. In Chrystia’s case, I’m not seeing that. Oddly enough, it looks to me like the main pro-Ukraine lobby, the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, is largely financed by the Government of Canada! How fucked up is that?