OTTAWA — Liberal MP Chrystia Freeland said Monday she is stepping down as the prime minister’s special representative for the reconstruction of Ukraine and will leave Parliament in the coming weeks — hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appointed her as an unpaid adviser on economic development in his country.
“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 adviser to President Zelensky,” Freeland said in the post.
Prime Minister Mark Carney thanked Freeland for her work as special representative in his own post.
“You are uniquely qualified for this important new role. It is a further credit to Canada’s steadfast support for Ukraine that a Canadian is taking on this role at this crucial moment for Ukraine’s future,” Carney said.
But some critics said Freeland should have resigned as a member of Parliament before accepting the new position advising a foreign government.
Laryssa Waler, CEO of Toronto-based Henley Strategies and a staunch Ukraine supporter, said Freeland’s decision to take this position while still an MP crossed a clear line.
The self-described Conservative partisan said that while she “100 per cent supports” Ottawa’s contributions to Ukraine, the timing of this announcement gives Ukraine’s critics a new angle of attack on the government’s motives.
“They’re giving fodder to people on the extreme left and the extreme right to take shots at Ukraine and to question the intentions of our government, and to question why are we helping Ukraine. Now, it looks like we did it to get Chrystia Freeland a job,” she said.
Waler, who has been sanctioned by Russia, said Freeland should have waited until after her retirement from politics to accept this position.
Freeland, who has Ukrainian ancestry, has been an MP since 2013. She served in multiple roles in former prime minister Justin Trudeau’s cabinet after 2015 and was Canada’s first female minister of finance. She was named transport minister by Mark Carney when he was sworn in as prime minister last year.
In September, she announced she would leave cabinet and was named Canada’s special representative for the reconstruction of Ukraine, a role designated as a parliamentary secretary.
Duff Conacher, co-founder of Democracy Watch, said in an emailed statement Freeland should have resigned before accepting this role.
“While it is technically legal to serve another government while being an MP because of loopholes in Canada’s official oaths and foreign interference laws, it is a conflict of interest that clearly violates the federal government ethics law, and so Chrystia Freeland should have resigned as an MP before taking on this position,” Conacher said.
While Canada’s Conflict of Interest Act cites several things cabinet ministers and parliamentary secretaries are not allowed to do — such as engaging in outside professions or employment — it does not include specific language about advising a foreign head of government. MPs are not covered by this act, but Freeland would be covered in her role as a parliamentary secretary.
Conacher argued this position goes against wording in the act that bars cabinet members and parliamentary secretaries from using their power to advance another person or organization’s private interests.
Freeland has long expressed her support for Ukraine during its war with Russia, and has said the country could become an economic juggernaut by taking up the opportunities it missed after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
In a post on social media Monday, Zelenskyy said Ukraine needs to strengthen what he called its “internal resilience.”
“Chrystia is highly skilled in these matters and has extensive experience in attracting investment and implementing economic transformations,” he said.
“Right now, Ukraine needs to strengthen its internal resilience — both for the sake of Ukraine’s recovery if diplomacy delivers results as swiftly as possible, and to reinforce our defence if, because of delays by our partners, it takes longer to bring this war to an end.”
The Canadian Press reached out to Freeland’s MP office but did not receive a response.
A source close to Freeland, but is not working for her in an official capacity, confirmed on her behalf that Zelenskyy offered her the unpaid role on Dec. 22 while she was in Kyiv, and that Freeland told Prime Minister Mark Carney about the offer on Dec. 24.
The source said Freeland has been in touch with the conflict of interest and ethics commissioner about the job and described those conversations as “positive.”
A spokesperson for the conflict of interest and ethics commissioner’s office said they cannot talk about individual cases due to confidentiality restrictions. The spokesperson added that any information the office is authorized to share is added to its public registry.
Freeland’s appointment comes as Carney meets in Paris with other allies of Ukraine in a bid to end Russia’s war on the country.
Canada has contributed more than $23.5 billion to Ukraine in military, economic and humanitarian support since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022.
Prior to Freeland’s announcement on social media, other Conservative MPs, including Ontario’s Roman Baber and B.C.’s Todd Doherty, said Freeland’s acceptance of this position put her in a conflict of interest.
“To be clear, (Freeland) is still a sitting member of Parliament. Not only did she lack the decency to resign her seat, this is a blatant conflict of interest. Liberals get away with everything!” Baber wrote in a post on X.
This latest appointment comes after Freeland was named the incoming CEO of the Rhodes Trust, an Oxford, England-based educational charity.
The charity is famous for the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship that offers students from around the world a chance to study at the University of Oxford.
Freeland is relocating to Oxford for the new position, with a start date of July 1.
She has been seen only seldom in the House of Commons since leaving cabinet, but has continued to take part in votes remotely. Her departure will leave Carney’s government down an MP and two seats shy of a majority.
Freeland’s social media shows she spent much of the fall and early winter travelling between Toronto, Ukraine and other European nations as part of her duties as Canada’s representative on the reconstruction of Ukraine.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 5, 2026.
— With files from Kyle Duggan and Anja Karadeglija
David Baxter, The Canadian Press
