Prime Minister Mark Carney with then-cabinet minister Chrystia Freeland in September in Ottawa. Ms. Freeland says she'll be resigning from Parliament in the 'coming weeks,' a move that will trigger a by-election in her Toronto riding.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press
Prime Minister Mark Carney was pressed Tuesday on whether he asked Chrystia Freeland not to quit as an MP to preserve his fragile minority government as questions persisted over her decision to accept a role advising the Ukrainian government while still an MP.
The Prime Minister said he did not make that request, and her decision was “consistent” with her plans to leave Parliament and a desire to better help Ukraine.
Ms. Freeland’s appointment was announced by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky early Monday. It met with swift backlash from Conservatives MPs who demanded she immediately resign as an MP as parliamentarians ought not also be advising foreign governments.
After a day of criticism, she said she would resign as an MP “in the coming weeks.”
The unpaid and part-time position as an adviser on economic development is work Mr. Zelensky said was necessary as Ukraine begins to contemplate the aftermath of the war with Russia.
Freeland says she will resign as MP in coming weeks after being appointed Zelensky’s adviser
Mr. Carney was in Paris Tuesday for global talks toward that goal, and told reporters Ms. Freeland’s new job is similar to the one she held as his special representative for the reconstruction of Ukraine.
She is also stepping aside from that role. She was appointed after she resigned as transport and internal trade minister in the fall. At the time, she said she was not running again, but would remain an MP.
A source close to Ms. Freeland said she was offered the job with Ukraine on Dec. 22, and told Mr. Carney about it on Dec. 24. The Globe and Mail is not naming the source as they are not authorized to publicly disclose her private conversations.
Mr. Carney said she decided she would be more useful working directly with Ukraine.
“My judgment was that taking that role would be consistent with resigning as an MP and I welcomed her doing that,” he told reporters in Paris Tuesday.
“I’m pleased for Ukraine.”
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After Mr. Zelensky’s announcement, Conservative MPs and ethics watchdogs argued that she could not be a sitting MP and work on behalf of a foreign government at the same time, so must resign right away.
Conservative ethics critic Michael Barrett said her response was insufficient.
“Ms. Freeland’s signal that she will resign at some point weeks or months down the road is not acceptable. This conflict exists today and it is serious. She should fully resign as a member of Parliament today,” he said in a statement Tuesday.
“And because Ms. Freeland did not do the right thing and resign immediately it does not absolve Prime Minister Carney of his responsibility to ask her to.”
Neither she nor Mr. Carney have directly addressed the conflict of interest criticisms. The source close to Ms. Freeland said she did consult with the ethics commissioner, but that office declined to discuss the nature of their conversation.
Ms. Freeland’s decision to leave elected life and assist the Ukrainian President came as little surprise to several residents of her downtown Toronto riding of University-Rosedale on Tuesday.
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Standing under an umbrella on busy Bloor Street West, which runs through the riding, Owen Quenneville said he had been wondering for a while whether Ms. Freeland would resign, noting her clashes with former prime minister Justin Trudeau. She quit as Mr. Trudeau’s deputy and finance minister in December, 2024.
“She didn’t seem happy with Trudeau’s government and now Carney’s government, so it seemed like a matter of time,” he said.
Mr. Quenneville, an elementary teacher, said Ms. Freeland’s decision puts the Liberal minority government “in a bit of a precarious position,” but said he couldn’t imagine the Conservatives or NDP winning a by-election in the riding.
Ms. Freeland won with 63 per cent of the vote.
Her resignation will trigger a by-election. Until her replacement is elected, there will be a vacancy in the House of Commons, and one vote less for the minority Liberals to count on when they need to pass measures through the Commons. They are currently one seat shy of a majority.
Mr. Carney answered “no” when asked whether he’d asked her to stay on as an MP because of the minority Parliament.
“We’ll have a by-election,” Mr. Carney said.
“There’ll be a few by-elections coming up, and we will run great candidates, and the people in those ridings will decide who they want to send to Parliament.”
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The Globe has previously reported that Mr. Carney is considering appointing sitting Liberal MPs to diplomatic posts, a move that would trigger other by-elections.
Conservative MP Matt Jeneroux had also said he will resign at some point in 2026.
Ms. Freeland, who was first elected in 2013 and served in multiple cabinet positions under Mr. Trudeau, ran for Liberal leadership last year but lost to Mr. Carney.
Riding resident Andrew Kaufman said Ms. Freeland’s decision to leave government now was emblematic of the Liberal Party’s difficulty passing the leadership torch to heirs apparent, citing the case of former prime minister Jean Chrétien and his finance minister, Paul Martin.
“I think she kind of got screwed over,” Mr. Kaufman said. “What is she going to do? Stay here and be second banana for the rest of her career?”
Mr. Kaufman said he saw no reason for Ms. Freeland to stay.
“I think the party didn’t give her any loyalty, why should she give any loyalty back?”