Hello, welcome to Politics Insider. Let’s look at what happened today.
Former Liberal cabinet minister Chrystia Freeland is stepping down from her role as Prime Minister Mark Carney’s special representative for reconstruction of Ukraine.
Freeland said today she is leaving the position in light of her appointment as an economic adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, announced earlier in the day.
Stephanie Levitz reports that Freeland also said she’ll be resigning as a member of Parliament in the coming weeks. Freeland was first elected in the riding of Toronto Centre in a 2013 byelection and subsequently ran in and represented the riding of University-Rosedale as of 2015.
“Ukraine is at the forefront of today’s global fight for democracy, and I welcome this chance to contribute on an unpaid basis as an economic advisor to President Zelensky,” she wrote on social media late this afternoon.
Earlier in the day, critics had argued Ms. Freeland must resign immediately as the appointment to assist Zelensky placed her in a conflict of interest.
“One cannot be a Canadian MP and an adviser to a foreign government. She must do one or the other,” Conservative foreign affairs critic Michael Chong said on social media. “She should resign as adviser or as MP for University-Rosedale.”
Former Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland speaks to the media in Montreal in February, 2025.Evan Buhler/Reuters
What else is going on
Canada could see more Venezuelan refugees: Toronto immigration lawyer Randy Hahn urged Ottawa to prepare for a possible influx of refugees, saying “political, economic or humanitarian crises throughout the world can translate to a stress to Canada’s immigration system.”
Venezuelans across Canada react to Maduro ouster: The 2021 Canadian census recorded 28,395 people in this country with Venezuelan roots, but the number has surged in recent years as people have fled the Maduro regime.
Ottawa launches insurance-sector consultation on earthquake costs: Benoit Sabourin, a spokesperson for federal Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne, said the timeline and scope of the consultation will be “forthcoming in due course.”
Former ambassador McNaughton to advise CIBC: The bank says newly hired David McNaughton, a former Canadian ambassador to the United States, will serve as a strategic adviser, working alongside its group of vice-chairs to offer his expertise and insight to CIBC’s clients.
On our radar
Prime Minister’s Day: Mark Carney travelled to Paris for a Coalition of the Willing meeting on Ukraine. He will be there until Tuesday.
Party Leaders: No schedules released for party leaders.
Quote of the Day
“We learned the rules with President Trump. There are no rules with President Trump.” - Ontario Premier Doug Ford, at a news conference in Toronto today.
Question period
Who is the only Canadian prime minister who was interred outside the country?
Scroll to the bottom of this newsletter for the answer.
Perspectives
The Conservative and Liberal responses to Venezuela reflect vastly different foreign-policy outlooks
The Liberal government is anxious to do or say nothing that will offend the Trump administration, as Ottawa prepares to defend the vital Canada-United States-Mexico trade agreement. Rightly or wrongly, in responding to the American strike on Venezuela, Mr. Carney spoke softly and carried no stick. Rightly or wrongly, Conservatives cheered Mr. Trump on.
— John Ibbitson is a media fellow at the Fraser Institute and a senior fellow at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy.
A Venezuelan oil reset is an economic risk Canada cannot ignore
Canada’s role as the largest energy supplier to the U.S. market is unlikely to be threatened in the short to medium term by the events now unfolding in Venezuela. But the potential for those events to reshape U.S. oil markets in the long term is real. For a trading nation like Canada, protecting our economic security means this is a risk we cannot ignore.
— Shawn Barber is a retired foreign-service officer and ambassador. He is the former head of the economic security task force at Public Safety Canada.
We need to prepare for the possibility that the U.S. uses military coercion against Canada
Connecting these dots, a plausible scenario for U.S. application of military force against Canada to seize our oil resources goes something like this. An independence referendum in Alberta – during which separatists receive a huge infusion of grey MAGA money – sees a majority vote to remain part of Canada, but with 30 per cent or more voting for separation. Mr. Trump declares the result is “fake” and that actual support for separation was “well over” 50 per cent.
— Thomas Homer-Dixon is executive director of the Cascade Institute at Royal Roads University and professor emeritus at the University of Waterloo. Adam Gordon served as the senior legal and policy adviser to Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and is currently an affiliated researcher at the Cascade Institute.
Go deeper
- Follow along for our stories on Canada-U.S. relations as news develops
- Get the latest insight and analysis from our political opinion writers
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The answer to today’s question: R.B. Bennett, prime minister between 1930 and 1935, who retired to Britain after leaving politics. He died in 1947 and was buried in St. Michael’s churchyard in the south-east English village of Mickleham.