Chrystia Freeland never became prime minister, but her influence on Canadian politics over the past decade was almost the equivalent of becoming one.

She resigned as transport minister from Prime Minister Mark Carney’s cabinet on Tuesday, but will stay on as a Liberal MP, taking on an additional role as Canada’s new special representative for the reconstruction of Ukraine, until the next election, in which she will not run.

During Justin Trudeau’s third term of office, Freeland, then Canada’s deputy PM and the first female finance minister, was pretty much doing Trudeau’s job after he essentially checked out of doing it himself.

She also made it impossible for Trudeau to continue as PM by resigning as finance minister the day she was to deliver his fall economic statement last December,

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