There will be drama.

Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland took pains to predict that in a lengthy August 2017 speech that spelled out CanadaB次元官网网址檚 goals at the start of the North American Free Trade Agreement talks with Mexico and the volatile Trump administration.

B次元官网网址淚 chose my words really carefully because you didnB次元官网网址檛 have to be a rocket scientist to anticipate that there would be moments of drama,B次元官网网址� Freeland recalled in an interview.

B次元官网网址淲e knew there would be moments where we had to fasten our seatbelts, and I think what was important was to be mentally prepared for those moments, and not to be knocked off course by them.B次元官网网址�

Ultimately, CanadaB次元官网网址檚 foreign minister led the countryB次元官网网址檚 efforts to salvage a new North American free trade deal. That white-knuckle ride earned Freeland the title of CanadaB次元官网网址檚 Business B次元官网网址maker of the Year for 2018.

She was the runaway choice of 81 per cent of editors surveyed by The Canadian Press. Alberta Premier Rachel Notley was second with nearly 10 per cent.

Jeff Labow, an editor with the Globe and MailB次元官网网址檚 Report on Business, said Freeland B次元官网网址渦ndoubtedly kept her cool amid all the Trump tweeting, lying, changing his direction and ended up with a deal that can be lived with.B次元官网网址�

Hugo Fontaine, business editor of La Presse, said Freeland was the B次元官网网址渇ace and the voiceB次元官网网址� of the Canadian negotiating team.

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Freeland led a spasmodic negotiation that was coloured by the personal insults U.S. President Donald Trump hurled at Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and, ultimately, at her. But Freeland said she was never shaken from her B次元官网网址渃ore convictionB次元官网网址� B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址渨hat I truly felt from the minute that the president was electedB次元官网网址� B次元官网网址� that a deal on NAFTA was possible.

B次元官网网址淥ne of our colleagues said to me that somehow I seemed always to be a little bit serene. I wouldnB次元官网网址檛 say I was serene, but I was always confident.B次元官网网址�

Freeland was blindsided when Mexico and the U.S. reached a side deal in August, threatening to sideline Canada unless it joined by the end of September. Freeland cut short a three-country European trip and diverted to Washington where she would spend the better part of the next month on the turf of her American counterpart, United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.

Trump had already injected an unprecedented level of drama into the talks. There was his ever-present threat to rip up NAFTA, his post-G7 insults calling Trudeau B次元官网网址渧ery dishonest and weak,B次元官网网址� his frequent broadsides against Canadian farmers and supply management. He imposed punishing tariffs on Canadian and Mexican steel and aluminum and swung a Sword of Damocles threatening to add a 25 per cent tax on all Canadian autos entering the U.S.

In late September, days before the U.S.-imposed deadline, Trump told a freewheeling news conference that he was B次元官网网址渧ery unhappy with the negotiations and the negotiating style of Canada. We donB次元官网网址檛 like their representative very much.B次元官网网址�

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he wasnB次元官网网址檛 surprised to hear complaints about CanadaB次元官网网址檚 negotiating team, led by Freeland.

B次元官网网址淲hen youB次元官网网址檙e in a tough negotiation and the other guy complains about the quality of your negotiators, or how tough your negotiators are, thatB次元官网网址檚 not a reason you should be changing your negotiator,B次元官网网址� the prime minister said in an interview.

B次元官网网址淭hatB次元官网网址檚 a reason to buy your negotiator a beer at the end of the day.B次元官网网址�

At the time, Freeland held her powder.

Looking back, Freeland said she laid down some markers for herself, and for Canada, early on. She began making preparations for NAFTA as soon as Trump was elected B次元官网网址� two months before her promotion from the trade ministerB次元官网网址檚 job to a retooled foreign affairs portfolio that put her in charge of Canada-U.S. trade.

Trump may have had the Art of the Deal, but Freeland had Steve Verheul, CanadaB次元官网网址檚 chief negotiator. Freeland and Verheul played hardball together to nail down the final version of the Canada-EU trade deal in late 2016, travelling to the nether regions of Belgium to stare down a restive constituency known as the Walloons, who were threatening to veto seven years of negotiations with a Byzantine set of constitutional powers.

Heading into NAFTA, Verheul told Freeland they had to remember an important lesson they had learned. B次元官网网址淭he worst thing in a trade negotiation is to have a weak or uncertain counterparty because then you canB次元官网网址檛 get a deal,B次元官网网址� the minister recalled. B次元官网网址淲hat you actually really want at the other side of the table is someone who is really smart. Because then, at the end of the day, they will be able, together with you, to identify that win-win landing zone.B次元官网网址�

Freeland calls herself an B次元官网网址渆conomic determinist.B次元官网网址� That boils down to: B次元官网网址渋f something makes economic sense, it tends to happen.B次元官网网址�

So Freeland kept her focus on Lighthizer. The strapping septuagenarian may share TrumpB次元官网网址檚 protectionist ideology, but he was divorced from the drama of his presidentB次元官网网址檚 bluster.

B次元官网网址淏ob, at the end of the day if you made a logical case to him, a logical case about why something was in his interest to agree to, he would understand that.B次元官网网址�

To this day, Freeland said there are things that she and Lighthizer still disagree on.

B次元官网网址淏ut he is a real pro and it became clear to me, I would say pretty early on, that notwithstanding the very great, great differences in our starting positions that he was a guy we would ultimately be able to do a deal with.B次元官网网址�

Late in the evening of Sept. 30, as Freeland was with the team assembled in TrudeauB次元官网网址檚 office across from Parliament Hill, Canada and the United States ended the suspense and announced their 11th hour deal.

Exactly two months later, Freeland was at the G20 summit in Argentina. She and Lighthizer, along with their Mexican counterpart, Ildefonso Guajardo, stood behind the three North American leaders as the new trade pact was formally signed.

Trump reached out to shake FreelandB次元官网网址檚 hand.

B次元官网网址淗e made a point of that, after the signing. I was always very clear that there would be moments of drama,B次元官网网址� Freeland recalled.

That was all well and good, but she reminded herself of yet another cold, hard fact.

B次元官网网址淚 am paid in Canadian dollars. I work for the people of Canada. And the people whose interests I try, heart and soul to earn, are CanadiansB次元官网网址�, and it is their judgement to which I answer,B次元官网网址� she said.

B次元官网网址淭hatB次元官网网址檚 the judgement that matters to me.B次元官网网址�

Mike Blanchfield, The Canadian Press

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