Chrystia Freeland to resign as MP on Friday amid opposition pressure

Amid pressure from the opposition, after saying days ago that she’d resign her seat in the House of Commons within weeks, Chrystia Freeland has announced she’ll now be departing as an MP on Friday.

“Today, I have written to the Speaker to confirm that I will vacate my seat effective this Friday, January 9,” Freeland said in a social media post.

“It has been an immense honour to serve my constituents and all Canadians in Parliament since 2013,” Freeland said. “Going forward I will continue to support and help build Canada in every way I can, while championing the brave fight of the people of Ukraine, a cause I have been committed to my entire life.”

On Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced he’d appointed Freeland as an advisor on economic development.

Within hours, the former deputy prime minister and longtime cabinet minister announced her resignation as Canada’s special representative for the reconstruction of Ukraine. She said she would resign as an MP “in the coming weeks.”

A source close to Freeland said Zelenskyy offered her the new unpaid, part-time position on Dec. 22, and she informed Prime Minister Mark Carney of her decision on Dec. 24.

The timing prompted questions from opposition MPs and ethics critics who said as soon as Freeland agreed to advise another country, she should have resigned her seat in Parliament.

“Beyond the fact that serving Canadians is not a part-time job, the position she has accepted with a foreign government, paid or unpaid, raises the question of whose interests will be prioritized,” said Conservative MP Michael Barrett in a social media post.

In her post on Wednesday, Freeland said she consulted with the federal ethics commissioner and has “followed his advice.”

Freeland revealed late last year that her time in politics was coming to an end, as she’d be moving to the U.K. as of this July to become the CEO of the Rhodes Trust, an educational charity known for its scholarships for students to study at the University of Oxford.

Asked while in Paris if he had asked her not to vacate her seat on account for the very narrow minority government dynamics in Parliament, Carney said “absolutely not.”

“Chrystia has served our country for well over a decade in a formal role as parliamentarian, certainly in a number of ministerial posts, and served with great distinction,” he said.

“My judgment was that taking that role would be consistent with resigning as an MP, and I welcomed her doing that.”

Freeland’s resignation means her longtime seat representing the riding of University-Rosedale in downtown Toronto, will become vacant, triggering a byelection in the Liberal stronghold.

Reviving speculation that Freeland won’t be the only senior Liberal to announce departures for new positions abroad, the prime minister indicated on Tuesday that there will be “a few byelections coming up.”

“We’ll run great candidates, and the people in those ridings will decide who they want to send to Parliament,” Carney said.

With files from CTV News’ Spencer Van Dyk