Chrystia Freeland Quits Canada’s Parliament to Advise Zelensky
Chrystia Freeland quits Canadian politics to advise Ukraine’s president. The former deputy prime minister takes a bold new role in global economic diplomacy.
Former Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland has announced she will be leaving Parliament to take a job as an advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Freeland said her role as an economic development advisor for Ukraine will be unpaid. In July, she will also take on a leadership position at the Rhodes Trust, an educational charity in the UK.
She was first elected in 2013 and served in key positions under former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, including Minister of Finance, Foreign Affairs, and International Trade.
She broke with Trudeau in late 2024, accusing him in a public resignation letter of not taking seriously the threat of US tariffs, which contributed to his political downfall.
Freeland posted on X on Monday: "Ukraine is today at the forefront of the global fight for democracy, and I welcome this opportunity to contribute, on a pro bono basis, as an economic advisor to [Zelensky].
"I will also be stepping down from my seat in Parliament in the coming weeks. I want to thank my constituents for their trust in me over the years." "I am so grateful to have served as your representative."
Along with stepping down as the MP for the University-Rosedale riding in Toronto, a safe seat for the Liberal Party, she said she would also resign from her other role as Canada's special representative for Ukrainian reconstruction.
Earlier on Monday, Zelensky announced on X that Freeland would be taking on an advisory role.
The Ukrainian president said she has "extensive experience in attracting investment and implementing economic transformations."
Zelensky's announcement prompted opposition politicians to call for her resignation.
Conservative foreign affairs critic Michael Chong said "no Canadian MP can be both a member of Parliament and an advisor to a foreign government."
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He added, "She has to choose one or the other."
It was announced in November that Freeland would become the CEO of the Rhodes Trust this summer, which awards Rhodes Scholarships to Oxford University.
In September, she resigned from her position as Minister of Transport and Intergovernmental Affairs to take on the new role as Canada's special envoy to Ukraine, and announced she would not be running in the next federal election.
A former journalist of Ukrainian descent, Freeland has long been an outspoken supporter of Kyiv in its war with Russia.
In 2014, she was placed on a Kremlin list of Westerners banned from entering Russia in response to sanctions against Moscow.
In 2020, Freeland became the first woman in Canadian history to be appointed Minister of Finance, where she managed Canada's financial response to the COVID pandemic.
She is also credited with helping to renegotiate the existing free trade agreement between Canada, the US, and Mexico during President Donald Trump's first term in 2018. Trump later called her "toxic."
The USMCA trade deal – or CUSMA in Canada – is credited with helping the country avoid a 35% tariff rate imposed by Trump, who had threatened Canada with The agreement provided tariff exemptions for goods covered under the free trade agreement.
That deal is now set for another round of negotiations this year.
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