If you’ve ever read Bill Browder’s Red Notice, you will have learned something of a Chrystia Freeland that you had not known previously. (And if you haven’t read it, I recommend it – excellent book which should add to your understanding of Russia.) What you learn is that there was a time when she had substance and principles. Of course, entering the world of politics is going to take that away – it must. But I caught a glimmer of that Chrystia when she made her comments about mining and LNG on Friday. She sounded like a Cold Warrior, which, back when she was principled, she was. I thought it was interesting that she made those comments, and not her boss. Our prime minister lets her be the heavy so he can continue to be the bungee-jumping buffoon we’ve all come to know and not love.

It remains to be seen if there will be follow-through, and since Canada doesn’t have the capacity to send LNG to our European allies – at least directly, I suppose we can send it via the United States – perhaps the words were just that, words. But I was happy to see Cold Warrior Chrystia back, the woman who impressed Bill Browder in the 1990s. I was also happy to have Canada sound less wussy than the United States.