Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau faced the biggest test of his politics after Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, long one of his most powerful and trusted ministers, announced Monday that she was resigning from the Cabinet.
The surprise move has raised questions about how long the prime minister of nearly 10 years can continue in his role as his administration tries to deal with US President-elect Donald Trump. Trudeau’s popularity has plummeted amid concerns over inflation and immigration.
Opposition Leader Jagmeet Singh, whose ruling party Trudeau, the Liberals, is counting on to stay in power, called on Trudeau to resign. The main opposition Conservatives are calling for an election.
Freeland, who was also deputy prime minister, said Trudeau told him on Friday that he no longer wanted him to serve as finance minister and that he had offered him another role in the Cabinet. But he said in his resignation letter to the prime minister that the only “honest and effective” option was to leave the Cabinet.
CANADA’S PRIME MINISTER THREATS TO KILL OUR POWER SUPPLY IF TRUMP IMPROVES THE COUNTRY.
“For the past few weeks, you and I have found ourselves at odds over the best route to Canada,” Freeland said.
Freeland and Trudeau are at odds over the two-month sales tax holiday and the recently announced $250 Canadian ($175) checks for Canadians. Freeland said Canada is dealing with US President-elect Donald Trump’s threat to impose 25% tariffs.
“Our country is facing a great challenge,” Freeland said in the letter. “That means keeping our powder dry today, so we have the funds we may need in the coming tax fight.”
A Liberal party official said Freeland was given the position of minister in charge of Canada-US relations without a portfolio and without a department. This official, who did not want to be named because they are not authorized to speak publicly on this matter, said that this position would be in name only and would not come with the tools that Freeland had before when he was negotiating with the management of the organization. In the US
The resignation comes as Freeland, who chaired the cabinet’s US relations committee, was set to deliver a fall economic statement and is likely to announce border security measures designed to help Canada avoid Trump’s tariffs. The US president-elect has threatened to impose a 25% tariff on all products entering the US from Canada and Mexico unless he curbs immigration and drug trafficking.
Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland delivers remarks on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario, Wednesday, December 11, 2024. (Spencer Colby/The Canadian Press via AP)
Trudeau said he plans to lead the Liberal Party in the next election, but some members of the party said they do not want him to run for a fourth term, and Freeland’s departure had a big impact on Trudeau’s administration.
“This news hit me hard,” said Transport Minister Anita Anand, adding that she must process the news before commenting further.
Opposition leader Pierre Poilievre said the government is losing control at the worst time.
“Justin Trudeau has lost control, but he is still in power,” Poilievre said. “All this chaos, all this division, all this weakness is happening as our biggest neighbor and closest ally puts prices 25% under Trump who has just been elected with strong authority, a man who knows how to see weaknesses.”
No Canadian prime minister in over a century has won four straight terms.
The federal election must be held before October. The Liberals must rely on the support of at least one other major party in Parliament, because they have no real value themselves. If the opposition New Democratic Party, or NDP, pulls in support, an election could be held at any time.
“I’m asking Justin Trudeau to resign. He has to go,” said NDP leader Jagmeet Singh.
Trudeau’s Liberal Party needs the support of the NDP to stay in power. Singh did not say whether he would face a no-confidence vote in the government but said all options were on the table.
“Mr. Trudeau’s government is over,” said Opposition Bloc Quebecois leader Yves-François Blanchet. “He must accept what he has done properly. The departure of his most important colleague, his finance minister, is the end of this government.”
Trudeau channeled his father’s star power in 2015, when he reaffirmed the identity of the free country after nearly a decade of Conservative Party rule. But the son of late Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau is now in deep trouble. Canadians are frustrated by the rising cost of living and other issues such as increased immigration following the country’s emergence from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“As a country we have to generate energy,” said Ontario Premier Doug Ford. “It’s chaos right now in Ottawa.”
Trudeau’s legacy includes opening the doors wide to immigration. He also legalized marijuana and introduced a carbon tax aimed at fighting climate change.
Freeland said in his resignation letter that Canadians “know when we are working for them, and they know equally well when we are focusing on ourselves. Inevitably, our time in government will come to an end.”
Freeland’s resignation comes as Trudeau tries to recruit Mark Carney to join his government. Carney is a former head of the Bank of England and the Bank of Canada.
He was so honored after helping Canada avoid the world’s worst recession that the UK named him the first immigrant to become governor of the Bank of England since it was founded in 1694.
Carney has long been interested in entering politics and becoming leader of the Liberal Party. It was not immediately clear whether Carney agreed to join Trudeau’s Cabinet.
“This is quite a bombshell,” said Nelson Wiseman, a senior professor at the University of Toronto. “Freeland was not only the finance minister but also the deputy prime minister, until a few years ago, he was seen as Trudeau’s successor as Liberal leader and prime minister.”
Wiseman said the leaks from the prime minister’s office indicated he was an outspoken person and cast doubt on Freeland’s status.
“There was talk of him becoming foreign minister again and that would have suited him, but the stabbing in the prime minister’s office brought him down,” said Wiseman.
Daniel Béland, professor of political science at McGill University in Montreal, also called it a political earthquake not only because Freeland was the second most powerful official in the government.
“And because of the way he resigned: by publishing a letter on social media openly criticizing the prime minister a few hours before he presented the government’s statement on the economic collapse,” said Béland.
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“This is clearly a minority government responsible for health services but, so far, the (opposition) NDP has resisted calls to pull the plug on it. It’s hard to know if the resignation will force the NDP to rethink its strategy.”
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