Liberal MP Bill Blair to resign seat and become high commissioner to the U.K.

OTTAWA — Liberal MP Bill Blair will serve as Canada’s next high commissioner to the United Kingdom and is expected to resign from his seat.

Blair was elected to Parliament for the first time in 2015 and has held several cabinet positions, including minister of national defence, president of the King’s Privy Council for Canada and minister of public safety and emergency preparedness and minister of border security and organized crime reduction.

Before entering politics, Blair served for 39 years in the Toronto Police Service and became chief of the police force from 2005 to 2015.

Blair is the second departure from Liberal caucus in recent weeks, after Chrystia Freeland resigned as a member of Parliament to become an adviser on economic development to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Over the weekend, the Liberal party announced Danielle Martin, a family physician, will run as the Liberal candidate in Freeland’s vacated riding of University—Rosedale in the upcoming byelection. Another byelection will take place in Blair’s Toronto riding of Scarborough Southwest.

This would put the Liberals’ seat count to 169 in the House of Commons once Blair officially resigns.

Prime Minister Mark Carney also announced the appointment of Nathalie G. Drouin as Canada’s ambassador to France and Monaco. Drouin has held several senior roles in government, including deputy clerk of the Privy Council and national security and intelligence advisor to the prime minister.

“We are working with France and the United Kingdom to create greater certainty, security, and prosperity on both sides of the Atlantic,” said Carney, in a statement. “Bill Blair and Nathalie G. Drouin, with their deep backgrounds in defence, national security, and public policy, are uniquely qualified to help fulfil these missions with core allies at this vital time.”

Both Drouin and Blair’s appointments are expected to take effect this spring.

National Post

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