Former longtime cabinet minister and deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland says she will resign from Parliament, just hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced he’d appointed her as an advisor on economic development.
In September, Freeland was tapped to be Canada’s special representative for the reconstruction of Ukraine. At the time, she stepped down from her cabinet position of transport and internal trade minister to take on the new role, but said she’d stay on as an MP.
In light of Freeland’s appointment I think I understand why the Libs are diddling the Foreign Agents Registry – it’ll provide cover
Minister proposes to weaken foreign registry mandated by Parliament 19 months ago. Draft regulations disclosed Saturday suggest penalties as modest as $50 fine and cash payments to foreign agents remain hidden: “Regulations would allow certain information not to be published.”… pic.twitter.com/499MvriXFb
— Holly Doan (@hollyanndoan) January 5, 2026
Guess it’s best if she’s working without Canadian scrutiny … h/t Mauser
Good column from Urback – What’s a Canadian MP doing as an adviser for a foreign government?
Chrystia Freeland became the “minister of everything” in Justin Trudeau’s government because of her ostensible good judgment. This never made much sense to observers of her actual performance, which routinely showcased her poor political instincts against a backdrop of poor policy decisions.
Maybe the Chrystia Freeland that emerged at the end of Mr. Trudeau’s tenure – the one that decried “political gimmicks” and urged fiscal restraint – was there all along, hiding behind an obligatory façade of unyielding partisanship. Or perhaps, and what seems more likely, Ms. Freeland’s instincts actually aren’t that great.
