Expense accounts revealed that Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland uses a government-issued car and chauffeur in Toronto..According to Blacklock’s Reporter, Freeland's claim that she avoided using cars for travel and instead walked or used public transportation to attend meetings was contradicted by records..“I right now am an MP from downtown Toronto,” Freeland told reporters. .“A fact that still shocks my dad is I don’t actually own a car because I live in downtown Toronto. I am like 300 metres from the nearest subway.”.“I walk, I take the subway,” said Freeland. .“I make my kids walk and ride their bikes and take the subway. It’s actually healthier for our family. I can live that way.”.Expense records indicate that Freeland has used a chauffeured car on 14 occasions over the past two years to attend “meetings and events” in Toronto. The most recent chauffeured trip took place on March 6..According to records, Freeland also used government airplanes to travel within Ontario, even when there were other public transportation options. .On Jan. 23, 2022, Freeland chose to book a flight from Ottawa to Hamilton, ON, even though a VIA Rail train was available for the same route..On Nov. 6, after Freeland made a statement to Global News claiming that she travels without a car, she mentioned that she is a regular person who likes to save money. .As an example, she mentioned that she cancelled her Disney cable subscription to save $14..“Families are looking really closely at all of their expenses,” said Freeland..“I personally, as a mother and wife, look carefully at my credit card bill once a month and last Sunday I said to the kids, ‘You’re older now, you don’t watch Disney anymore, let’s cut that Disney Plus subscription,’” said Freeland..“So we cut it. It’s only $13.99 a month that we’re saving, but every little bit helps, and I think every mother in Canada is doing that right now.”.In past remarks, Freeland also depicted herself as an ordinary farm girl. Both her parents were criminal lawyers. Freeland is a millionaire Rhodes Scholar with a Harvard BA and property investments in London, England. .“I’m a farm girl,” she once testified at the Commons Trade committee..“I am actually very personally aware of the hard work our farmers do,” Freeland told the Commons in 2020. .Freeland said she learned to drive a tractor as a schoolgirl — “I know how to keep my foot on the gas pedal” — and knew the hardships of farm labour. .“As the daughter of a farmer, I worked on the family farm during the summer,” said Freeland. .“Obviously, I worked without pay because it was the family farm.”.In 1940, Freeland’s grandfather on her dad's side cleared a farm in Peace River, AB. .Even as recently as 2016, Freeland still had some ownership of that farm, according to documents filed with the Ethics Commissioner.
