Recent loser Saks pulls a Freeland, landing a lobbying gig outside of the mandatory cooling-off period

A defeated cabinet minister resurfaces at Sussex Strategy Group months after leaving office, raising fresh questions about Ottawa’s five-year cooling-off rules and the revolving-door pathway recently exemplified by Chrystia Freeland.

Sheila Gunn Reid
  |   January 23, 2026   |   News Analysis   |   3 Comments

Former Liberal cabinet minister Ya’ara Saks is now working for Sussex Strategy Group.

She was in cabinet.

She lost her seat less than a year ago.

Now she’s inside a lobbying firm.

Under the Federal Accountability Act, former cabinet ministers aren’t supposed to lobby — directly or indirectly — for five years. Not five months. Five years.

That law exists because Canadians are tired of politicians turning public office into a private business plan. And Saks isn’t some forgettable backbencher.

She’s the junior cabinet minister who posed for an official government photo holding hands with Mahmoud Abbas — a man with a long record of Holocaust denial. Ottawa released that photo. On purpose.

People were rightly furious. Jewish Canadians especially. Saks didn’t apologize. She got defensive.

So we made sure it wasn’t forgotten.

We drove a billboard truck through her riding with that photo.

We pamphleted her constituents with it. Because voters deserved to know who was representing them.

Then voters made their call.

Now she’s popped up at Sussex Strategy Group, skating right up to the edge of the very law Liberals claim to care about.

And she’s following a familiar path — the Chrystia Freeland path.

Chrystia Freeland went from Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister with access to everything straight into an advisory role with the Government of Ukraine. Good luck to them. We know what she did to the economy here.

Ukraine, by the way, is one of the largest recipients of Canadian foreign aid. Billions in military aid. Billions in financial assistance.

And Freeland took that job either right before or right after another massive Canadian handout to Ukraine.

Which was it? Hard to say. The timeline is murky at best.

But here’s what is clear: she went from controlling the taps to advising one of the biggest recipients of Canadian taxpayer money with no real cooling-off period and no accountability.

Liberals will say, “It’s not lobbying.” It's not a conflict of interest or influence peddling. They always do.

But Canadians know what this is.

It’s insiders looking after insiders.

Lose the seat.

Lose the title.

Keep the access.

That’s the Liberal way.

And they’re always shocked when Canadians remember.

But we do...

Sheila Gunn Reid

Chief Reporter

Sheila Gunn Reid is the Alberta Bureau Chief for Rebel News and host of the weekly The Gunn Show with Sheila Gunn Reid. She's a mother of three, conservative activist, and the author of best-selling books including Stop Notley.

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  • Gerald Brown
    commented 2026-01-24 13:25:34 -0500
    all of this government wrong doing no one is ever held to account, fired, or locked up so therefore it will never stop
  • Bernhard Jatzeck
    commented 2026-01-23 23:09:32 -0500
    We should know by now that laws don’t apply to Liberals. Then again, anyone who equates “Honk! Honk!” with being code for “Heil Hitler!” isn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer. Aside from possibly providing back-door access to key government officials, her employer doesn’t seem to be getting value for its money.
  • Bruce Atchison
    commented 2026-01-23 19:32:15 -0500
    How typically Liberal of Sakhs! Other Liberal grifters will follow as sure as I’m sitting here.