Canada’s Former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland Endorses Zainab Azim for Mayor of Milton

In a personal video message filmed at her home, Canada’s former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance says Azim, who served in her office, “knows how Ottawa works” and adds she “could not recommend her more highly” to be Milton’s Mayor.

MILTON, ON, Oct. 21, 2026 /CNW/ — The Honourable Chrystia Freeland, Canada’s former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, has endorsed Zainab Azim for Mayor of Milton in a personal video filmed at her home, at her invitation, and released today in English and French.

“I am here to support my friend Zainab,” Freeland says. “Zainab worked for me in my office when I was Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister. She worked on housing. She worked on infrastructure, that means transit. She worked on science and innovation. These are all areas that are so important for the people of Milton.”

Azim served as a Policy Researcher in Freeland’s office. “She knows how Ottawa works,” Freeland continues. “She knows how to get things done, working with the federal government to make life better in Milton.”

On Azim’s age, Freeland is direct: “What we actually need is smart, hardworking young people who’ve thought about the world, who have real relevant experience, to step up and to work in government for all of us.”

“Working in Minister Freeland’s office, I learned how decisions in Ottawa reach kitchen tables in Milton. As Mayor, I will bring that experience home: federal partners at the table for our transit, our hospital and our Education Village,” said Azim.

The endorsement joins earlier support from Harvard’s Marshall Ganz, Members of Parliament Salma Zahid and Sima Acan, former MP Bryan May and former Mayor and Ontario Cabinet Minister Kathryn McGarry. The full video is at Milton.com.

Azim, a Milton-raised educator, Harvard Teaching Fellow and Milton’s 2022 Citizen of the Year, is running on three pillars: Careers Close to Home, Transit Every 20 and Alive After Five. Election Day is Monday, October 26; ward voting locations are open 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Full platform and endorsements: Milton.com.

Authorized by the official agent for the Zainab Azim Campaign.

SOURCE Zainab for Mayor Campaign