Prime Minister Mark Carney has appointed Chrystia Freeland as Canada’s new special envoy for the reconstruction of Ukraine.
Freeland announced Tuesday she has resigned from her role as transport minister in Carney’s cabinet, but will stay on as a sitting MP. She also said she won’t be running in the next federal election.
“With tremendous gratitude and a little sadness, I have decided to step down from Cabinet today and turn the page on this chapter in my life. I do not intend to run in the next federal election,” Freeland said in an online statement.
“I am forever grateful to my constituents for trusting me and electing me five times, and I would like to thank Prime Minister Carney and Prime Minister Trudeau for the privilege of serving in their cabinets over the past decade.”
Earlier in the day, media reports indicated Freeland would be taking on a new role as a special envoy for Ukraine.
Freeland did not say anything to reporters on her way to a cabinet meeting on Tuesday morning.
While Defence Minister David McGuinty didn’t confirm the reports of her new role, he did have this to say: “She’s an extraordinary person and if Minister Freeland wants to serve in that capacity, I think she would do a wonderful job.”
Freeland was in Kyiv over the weekend, and The Globe and Mail reports Freeland met with Carney and his chief of staff on Monday to discuss the new role.
Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc will reportedly take over the internal trade aspect of Freeland’s portfolio, while House Leader Steven MacKinnon will add transport to his responsibilities.
Freeland was first elected in 2013 and has been in cabinet since 2015 when the Liberals swept to power under former prime minister Justin Trudeau.
She was seen as the top minister in Trudeau’s government, who was relied on to negotiate the new North American trade deal during the first term of U.S. President Donald Trump. She then rose to the role of deputy prime minister and later finance minister.
Freeland then made shockwaves in December 2024 by resigning as finance minister and deputy prime minister on the day the fall economic statement was set to be introduced. When Trudeau stepped down in January of this year, she ran for the Liberal leadership the following year but lost to Carney in March.