OTTAWA, Canada (Diya TV) —Canada’s Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, unexpectedly resigned from the Cabinet Monday, citing sharp policy divides over fiscal issues and response to the newly inaugurated Trump administration.
Freeland, who held the position of Deputy Prime Minister, announced her departure in a letter to the Prime Minister, saying they are “at odds over the best way forward for Canada.” Her resignation would occur just hours before she had planned to present a fiscal and economic update in Parliament.
Freeland’s leaving is a heavy loss for Trudeau’s government, which had been grappling with a myriad of setbacks, including its falling popularity and the approaching general election in next year. The resignation letter showed that her reasons were for the pressing need to grapple with the “grave challenge” posed by the “aggressive economic nationalism” of Trump, with the 25% tariff threat against Canadian goods which would heavily weigh on the economy of Canada.
“Our country today faces a grave challenge,” Freeland wrote. “We need to take that threat extremely seriously. That means keeping our fiscal powder dry today, so we have the reserves we may need for a coming tariff war.”
Freeland, who was appointed to her role as Finance Minister in 2020 after a falling out between Trudeau and former Finance Minister Bill Morneau, had been a key figure in Trudeau’s cabinet. Her exit marks the second time in just over four years that Trudeau has seen a finance minister resign. Freeland, the first woman to hold the finance post in Canada, also confirmed that she plans to run for re-election in her Toronto district.
Her resignation letter was said to be scathing over the government’s recent decisions on fiscal policies, citing a plan for a proposed sales-tax holiday and rebates for Canadians as being “costly political gimmicks.” Estimated to have cost over $6 billion (Canadian), it has met with criticism in terms of its potential effects on fiscal stability in Canada.
The Canadian dollar dropped as soon as Freeland announced, with bond yields spiking sharply. In response, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre called for an election, stating, “It’s time for the government’s mandate to come to an end. This cannot go on.”
Truede has not named a successor to Freeland yet. Even so, the Finance Department confirmed that the fiscal update would go ahead as previously planned. It remains undetermined who will present this in the House of Commons.
Freeland leaves as there is speculation over Trudeau trying to lure back former Governor of the Bank of Canada Mark Carney who recently accepted a role with the Liberal Party to help with advice on economic matters. Carney served as Governor for the Bank of England also and today chairs Brookfield Asset Management.
Freeland’s resignation comes on the heels of Housing Minister Sean Fraser’s resignation, which only adds to the turmoil plaguing Trudeau’s cabinet ahead of what promises to be a tumultuous period under the new U.S. administration.
