NDP Demands Freeland ‘Immediately’ Resign Her MP Seat After Accepting Ukraine Position

The interim leader of the NDP is calling on former deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland to immediately step down as an MP after accepting an unpaid position as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s adviser on economic development.

The former Liberal finance minister announced on Jan. 5 her resignation as the prime minister’s special representative for the reconstruction of Ukraine and said she also plans to step down as an MP in the coming weeks.

NDP interim leader Don Davies said that is not good enough, and called on Freeland to “immediately” resign as the MP for University-Rosedale, the Toronto-area riding she has represented for more than a decade. 

“While I respect Ms. Freeland, one cannot serve Canada and another country at the same time,” Davies said in a Jan. 5 X post. “Taxpayers should not be paying for an absent MP – esp. one working for a foreign government. She must resign as MP immediately.”

Davies punctuated his initial commentary with a second post: “I repeat: immediately.”

The Conservatives had also voiced their disapproval of Freeland accepting the appointment while still serving as an MP.

Tory MP Michael Chong said Freeland cannot be adviser to a foreign government while being a sitting MP. “She must do one or the other,” he said before Freeland had announced her planned resignation.

Fellow Conservative MP Roman Baber also weighed in. “To be clear, Freeland is still a sitting Member of Parliament,” he wrote on X. “Not only did she lack the decency to resign her seat, this is a blatant conflict of interest.”

Freeland announced in a Jan. 5 social media statement that she would be “stepping aside” from her role as the prime minister’s special representative for the reconstruction of Ukraine and would also leave her seat in Parliament “in the coming weeks.”

“I want to thank my constituents for their years of confidence in me,” she said. “I am so grateful to have been your representative.”

The Liberal MP said she accepted the foreign post because Ukraine is “at the forefront of today’s global fight for democracy.”

Zelenskyy made the announcement of Freeland’s appointment early on Jan. 5. He described Freeland as “highly skilled” in the economic development field with “extensive experience in attracting investment” and implementing “transformations.” 

Prime Minister Mark Carney commented on the appointment on social media, thanking Freeland for her “important work” as his special representative to Ukraine, a country to which Canada has given more than $23 billion in aid since 2022.

“You are uniquely qualified for this important new role,” Carney wrote. “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 met with Zelenskyy in Halifax just after Christmas to announce $2.5 billion in financing and loan guarantees. Carney said the money would help Ukraine “unlock” financing from the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, and European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

Freeland stepped down from her duties as the minister of transport and internal trade in September to serve as Carney’s special envoy for Ukraine. She is also a long-time cabinet minister, serving as former deputy prime minister, minister of finance, and foreign affairs minister in the administration of former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Freeland is also slated to take on a new position next summer administering the Rhodes Trust in Oxford, England.