Canadian Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland resigned this morning. Freeland has left the Liberal Caucus but will continue to sit in the House of Commons as a Liberal Member of Parliament. She will definitively not deliver the important Fall economic update that she had been scheduled to give at 4 p.m. before the House on Dec. 16.
Her unexpected resignation as Finance Minister came on the heels of a Dec. 13 discussion with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, at which Trudeau had asked for her resignation, and that he would reassign her to a new ministerial posting.
This morning, Freeland reproduced her letter to the Prime Minister on her social media account: “Our country today faces a grave challenge.… That means keeping our fiscal powder dry today, 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.” She was undoubtedly referring to the government’s suspension of sales taxes for two months, and handing a $250 check to 18 million people, so that they can even afford to have a Christmas, an insult to a population who can increasingly no longer afford housing, food and fuel.
Trudeau´s minority government had to deal with another letter this ‘fall which was signed by 25 Liberal MPs, demanding for Trudeau resign in order to save the Liberal Party! Though Trudeau’s Liberal government has survived three no-confidence votes, their popularity has plummeted, as has the Canadian dollar, and many are eyeing Mark (carbon tax) Carney, former governor of the Bank of Canada and then governor of the Bank of England, and then United Nations Special Envoy for Climate Action, as a new party leader.
The Conservative Party has a comfortable lead in the polls and its “leader” Pierre Poilievre
is now in discussion with the other parties in assessing what will be the most opportune next vote of confidence to get together to bring down the Trudeau government.
Freeland had previously projected a Can$40 billion deficit, but now refuses to give a figure.
