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Canada’s Deputy Prime Minister quits unexpectedly
Chrystia Freeland’s resignation came hours before presenting the Fall Economic Report.
Chrystia Freeland. / X/cafreeland
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and most of his senior Cabinet colleagues decided to stay away from the House of Commons on Dec.16 to avoid jabs by the Opposition parties after Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland put them all in a soup with her resignation hours before she was to present her Fall Economic Report.
Her departure from Trudeau’s front bench reignited calls for Trudeau to step down and call an election. While the House of Commons continues its sitting for another day, there appears to be no vote to express a lack of confidence in the Trudeau government before the House breaks for the holidays.
Freeland’s surprise declaration that she was leaving Cabinet came hours before she was set to introduce the government’s fall economic statement.
Chrystia Freeland, in her letter of resignation, addressed to Justin Trudeau said she felt she had to step down from her position because the prime minister had lost faith in her and wanted to assign her to a new role after she fought back against some of his policy decisions.
In her resignation letter, Freeland said she and Trudeau found themselves at odds for weeks about “the best path forward for Canada.”
She said the country faces a “grave challenge” with the incoming Donald Trump administration and its threat of 25 percent tariffs.
“We need to take that threat extremely seriously. That means keeping our fiscal powder dry, so we have the reserves we may need for a coming tariff war. That means eschewing costly political gimmicks, which we can ill afford and which make Canadians doubt that we recognize the gravity of the moment.”
The Opposition reacts
Only a vote on the Economic Report could trigger the government's fall, and the chances of this seem remote.
As the unexpected started unfolding after the weekend break, the future of the minority Liberal Government was once again landed at the mercy of New Democrats, the fourth largest party in the House of Commons, headed by Jagmeet Singh.
“Who is the Finance Minister?,” quipped Leader of the Opposition, Pierre Poilievre, after the Economic Report was tabled in the House with no one from Treasury Benches to introduce it.
Pierre Poilievre said that he was “flabbergasted” by the developments as the Deputy Prime Minister-cum-Finance Minister lost confidence in her Prime Minister. Calling Prime Minister a “fake feminist", Pierre Poilievre reeled out cases of women Ministers and leaders “harassed” by Justin Trudeau and given unceremonious exit from the positions held by them.
While taking up the Economic Report, Pierre Poilievre said Trudeau has lost control of the government. Repeating his call for a “Carbon tax election”, he said, “The government of Canada itself is spiralling out of control, right before our eyes, and at the very worst time.”
He addressed the media before taking up the Economic Report.
“It is up to NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, whose caucus has supported the minority Liberals in key confidence votes throughout this fall, to force an election,” said Pierre Poilievre.
Jagmeet Singh responded by urging Justin Trudeau to step down as Liberal leader, saying Canadians are struggling with the cost of living and face Donald Trump’s dangerous tariff threats, while the Liberals are “fighting themselves instead of fighting for Canadians.”
He, however, refused to say if he is now ready to bring down the minority government in a House of Commons vote. Without committing anything, he said, “all options are on the table.”
Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet said the prime minister should dissolve Parliament and call an election early in the new year centred on who is best positioned to take on the Trump White House. “Justin Trudeau’s government is over. He must acknowledge that and act accordingly,” Blanchet said.
The Fall Economic Report
The Fall Economic Report shows a much larger deficit than expected for the fiscal year that ended last March because of billions of dollars the government expected to pay for Indigenous legal claims and pandemic-related benefits and loans it doesn’t expect to recover.
The deficit for 2023-24 came in at $61.9 billion, almost $22 billion more than forecast when the government delivered its budget last spring.
The budget shortfall is expected to shrink to $48.3 billion for the current fiscal year.
The measure aims to bolster business investment in Canada as Trump promises tax cuts in the U.S. It is expected to cost the federal government $17.4 billion over six years.
The fiscal update also earmarks $1.3 billion for expanded surveillance of the border as Trump threatens 25 per cent tariffs on all goods coming from Canada and Mexico unless both countries stop the flow of migrants and illegal drugs into the US.
The new Finance Minister takes oath
Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc was on Dec.16 named the new finance minister amidst speculation that a former Governor of the Bank of Canada could fill the vacancy.
After taking oath, Le Blanc told reporters: “The government continues to focus on the work that Canadians want us to focus on, ” saying he spoke with the prime minister and the conversation was “entirely focused on the work that we want to do to support Canadians around affordability.”
“That will be a huge focus in my work as the minister of finance. We need to also be extremely focused on the challenges that the incoming American administration will pose concerning the potential imposition of tariffs,” Le Blanc said.
There have been rumours of a cabinet reshuffle as four cabinet ministers have announced they won’t be running in the next campaign.
Pablo Rodriguez also stepped down as transport minister and quit the Liberal caucus in September to run for the Quebec Liberal leadership.
Randy Boissonnault left his cabinet role as employment minister last month amidst allegations of his “fake” claims of Indigenous identity and his business dealings.
Now with Chrystia Freeland gone and Sean Fraser, Minister of Housing, announcing his intent to quit Cabinet while not seeking a re-election gives credence to the Cabinet reshuffle.
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