Canadian Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland is resigning as the unpopular Justin Trudeau faces the biggest test of his political career

TORONTO
AP
—

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau faces the biggest test of his political career after Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, long one of his most powerful and loyal ministers, announced her resignation from Cabinet on Monday.

It was a move that stunned the country and raised questions about how long the unpopular Trudeau can stay in his job.

Freeland, who was also deputy prime minister, said that Trudeau told her on Friday that he no longer wanted her as finance minister and that he had offered her another role in Cabinet.

However, in her resignation letter to the prime minister, she said the only “honest and viable path” was to leave the cabinet.

“Over the past few weeks, you and I have been at odds about the best path forward for Canada,” Freeland said.

Freeland and Trudeau disagreed over a two-month sales tax holiday and checks for $250 Canadian ($175) that were recently announced.

Freeland said Canada is grappling with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s threat to impose blanket 25% tariffs and that Canada should avoid “costly political games” that it “cannot afford.”

“Our country faces a great challenge,” Freeland said in the letter. “That means we need to keep our fiscal powder dry today so we have the reserves we may need for a coming tariff war.”

The resignation comes as Freeland, who chaired a Cabinet committee on U.S. relations, was due to deliver the fall economic statement and likely announce border security measures to help Canada avoid Trump’s tariffs. The US president-elect has threatened to impose a 25% tax on all products entering the US from Canada and Mexico unless it curbs migrant and drug flows.

Trudeau has said he plans to lead the Liberal Party into the next election, but there are some party members who don’t want him to run for a fourth term. It was not immediately clear what Freeland’s resignation from Cabinet means for Trudeau’s immediate future.

“This news really hit me hard,” said shocked Transport Minister Anita Anand. She added that she needed to digest it before making any further comments.

Conservative opposition leader Pierre Poilievre said the government was losing control at the worst possible time.

“Justin Trudeau has lost control, but he retains power,” Poilievre said.

“All this chaos, all this division, all this weakness is happening while our biggest neighbor and closest ally is imposing 25% tariffs under a recently elected Trump with a strong mandate, a man who knows how to spot weakness. “

No Canadian prime minister has won four consecutive terms in more than a century.

The federal election must take place before October. The Liberals must rely on the support of at least one major party in parliament, as they themselves do not have an absolute majority. If the opposition New Democratic Party (NDP) loses support, an election could be held at any time.

Trudeau harnessed his father’s star power in 2015 when he reasserted the country’s liberal identity after nearly a decade of Conservative Party rule. But the son of the late Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau is now in big trouble. Canadians are frustrated by the rising cost of living and other issues such as increased immigration as the country emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic.

“As a country, we need to show strength,” said Ontario Prime Minister Doug Ford. “There is chaos in Ottawa right now.”

Trudeau’s legacy includes opening the doors wide to immigration. He also legalized cannabis and introduced a carbon tax to combat climate change.

Freeland said in the resignation letter that Canadians “know when we are working for them, and they also know when we are focusing on ourselves. “Our reign will inevitably come to an end.”

Freeland’s resignation comes as Trudeau has tried to recruit Mark Carney to join his government. Carney is the former head of the Bank of England and the Bank of Canada.

He was so well respected after helping Canada emerge from the worst of the Great Depression that the United Kingdom made him the first foreigner to be appointed Governor of the Bank of England since its founding in 1694.

Carney has long been interested in entering politics and becoming leader of the Liberal Party. It was not immediately clear whether Carney has agreed to join Trudeau’s Cabinet.

“This is quite a bombshell,” said Nelson Wiseman, professor emeritus at the University of Toronto. “In addition to being finance minister, Freeland was also deputy prime minister and, until a few years ago, was considered Trudeau’s heir apparent as Liberal leader and prime minister.”

Wiseman said leaks from the prime minister’s office suggested she was a poor communicator and made Freeland’s status questionable.

“There was talk of her becoming foreign minister again and that would have suited her well, but the stab in the back from the prime minister’s office was the deciding factor,” Wiseman said.

Daniel Béland, a political science professor at McGill University in Montreal, also spoke of a political earthquake, and not just because Freeland was the second most powerful government official.

“Also because of the way she resigned: by publishing a letter on social media that clearly criticized the prime minister just hours before she was due to present the government’s autumn economic statement,” Béland said.

“This is clearly a minority government on life support, but so far the (opposition) NDP has rejected calls to pull the plug on it. It is difficult to say whether this resignation will force the NDP to rethink its strategy.”

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh released a statement but did not say whether his party would vote to oust the government.

“As the Liberals fight with each other, I believe we should fight for the jobs of Canadians at risk from Donald Trump’s tariffs,” Singh said in a statement.

“The people deserve a government that fights for them for a change.”