Prime Minister Mark Carney said Ontario Liberal MP Chrystia Freeland’s upcoming resignation from the House of Commons is “consistent” with her taking on a role as an unpaid economic development adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
But the Conservatives say Freeland should have resigned by now and Carney should have asked her to do so when she took on the new role.
On Monday, Freeland announced her immediate resignation as Carney’s special representative on the reconstruction of Ukraine and eventual resignation as a member of Parliament.
“My judgment was that taking that role would be consistent with resigning as an MP, and I welcomed her doing that,” Carney said during a press conference Tuesday at the Canadian Embassy in Paris.
Carney, who leads a minority government, said he did not ask Freeland to stay on as a MP. He was in Paris meeting with Ukrainian allies, including the U.S., to discuss security guarantees for the war-torn nation.
Conservative MP Michael Barrett said Tuesday that Freeland could be accessing sensitive information while advising a foreign government at the highest levels.
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“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,” he wrote on social media.
“It’s essential for the Prime Minister to protect the interests of Canada and uphold the highest levels of conduct and integrity. And he shouldn’t wait for someone to tell him to.”
Freeland has said she will not run in the next election. The outgoing MP will become CEO of the Rhodes Trust, a global educational charity in Oxford, England, starting on July 1.
Opposition MPs, including Conservative foreign affairs critic Michael Chong and interim NDP leader Don Davies, said Freeland should have resigned as a MP before taking a job with another nation’s leader.
A byelection will be called in Freeland’s University—Rosedale after she officially leaves the seat.
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