HAMILTON, Canada

Canada’s transport and internal trade minister announced Tuesday that she is leaving the Cabinet to "seek fresh challenges" and taking on a new role as special representative for the reconstruction of Ukraine

"With tremendous gratitude and a little sadness, I have decided to step down from Cabinet today and turn the page on this chapter in my life,” Chrystia Freeland said in a letter posted on US social media company X. She also said she will not seek another term in Parliament.

Expressing gratitude to both Prime Minister Mark Carney and his predecessor Justin Trudeau "for the privilege” of serving in their Cabinets, Freeland described Carney as "a unifier in a time of crisis, and I have absolute confidence in his ability to lead us through it."

"After twelve fulfilling years in public life, I know that now is the right time for me to make way for others and to seek fresh challenges for myself," she said, adding that "public service has been a privilege and not a sacrifice.”

Carney hailed Freeland's "extraordinary service” in the Cabinet over the past decade, applauding her "versatility, raw intelligence, and principled leadership."

"I have asked Chrystia to serve as Canada's new Special Representative for the Reconstruction of Ukraine," he said in his statement, also posted on X.

A former journalist, Freeland is of Ukrainian descent and speaks both Ukrainian and Russian.

As finance minister from 2020 to 2024, "Freeland also helped lead the global response to Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine, including the seizure of frozen Russian Central Bank assets to support Ukraine," according to her website.