Freeland stepping down from Carney cabinet for Ukraine envoy role: reports

Federal Transport and Internal Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland is reportedly leaving the Carney government for a new international role.

Multiple media reports say Freeland is leaving her cabinet post to take on a new role as a special international envoy for Ukraine.

The details of the new position are unclear at this point but the announcement could come as soon as later Tuesday. She is expected to remain as a Member of Parliament for the time-being.

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, 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 Prime Minister Mark Carey and his chief of staff on Monday to discuss the new role.

Freeland has been in cabinet since she was first election in 2015 as 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.

With files from The Canadian Press