latest:
- At a caucus, some Liberal MPs told the prime minister he must resign following Chrystia Freeland’s shock resignation.
- Sources say Trudeau will take time to consider the caucus’ concerns.
- At least seven Liberal MPs, including former cabinet ministers, have publicly said Trudeau should resign.
- Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc has been sworn in as Canada’s new finance minister.
- Despite the drama, the fall economic report was filed and showed a huge deficit of more than $60 billion.
- Freeland said the prime minister told her on Friday that he no longer wanted her job as finance minister.
- Freeland resigned on Monday rather than accept a job change.
- In a letter to Trudeau announcing his resignation, Freeland accused him of “expensive political maneuvering.”
- Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poièvre said Prime Minister Trudeau should call a general election immediately.
- NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said Trudeau should resign.
- NDP House of Commons Leader Peter Julian told CBC News that his party intends to vote on a no-confidence motion against the Liberal government if Trudeau remains in office in the new year.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke to MPs at a hastily convened caucus meeting late Monday following Chrystia Freeland’s shocking decision to resign from her cabinet just days before releasing the government’s long-awaited fall economic statement. faced the dissatisfaction of
At the meeting, about 15 MPs took to the microphone to address Trudeau, according to one Liberal MP who was in attendance.
He said most of the speakers had to resign because they had misjudged their once important relationship with outgoing deputy prime minister Freeland.
Liberal sources told CBC News that Trudeau has heard their concerns and will take time over the next few days to think about his future.
Trudeau said much the same thing earlier this fall after nearly 20 MPs called on him to resign. In the end, he rejected the call to leave the next day.
But sources say Trudeau has not yet decided what to do this time.
“I can tell you that we are not united. There are still many members, including myself, who think we need a change in leadership,” Ontario Liberal MP Chad Collins told reporters after the caucus meeting. spoke.
Collins said the best way to stop what he called Conservative Leader Pierre Poièvre’s “Make Canada Great Again” policy is to oust Trudeau.
“I think the only way forward for us is to elect a new leader and present Canadians with a new plan with a different vision.”
Trudeau’s only public comments Monday came during a holiday party for Liberal Party donors. The prime minister said it had “not been an easy day” but otherwise made no mention of Freeland’s resignation or the caucus meeting.
Mr. Freeland’s abrupt resignation, followed by the appointment of Dominic LeBlanc as finance minister, comes as Mr. Trudeau struggles to rebuild his unstable government and restore some measure of stability. It was an obvious attempt to do so.
Mr. LeBlanc has been friends with the prime minister since childhood and is one of Mr. Trudeau’s most trusted lieutenants.
The New Brunswick lawmaker and minister recently joined Prime Minister Trudeau for dinner with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago. He was tasked with drafting the administration’s multibillion-dollar border plan to allay American concerns about drugs and immigrants flowing into the United States from Canada.
After taking up his new role, LeBlanc told reporters that while he also serves as finance minister, he will temporarily continue to serve in public security and intergovernmental affairs, which is a huge workload.
Despite serious questions about Trudeau’s future given today’s events with Freeland, LeBlanc said the prime minister will address persistent price and cost of living concerns and address the incoming Trump administration. He said he is focusing on
But Trudeau’s immediate challenge is appeasing an increasingly restive Liberal caucus and fringe MPs who want someone else to take the top job.
Liberal MP Wayne Long, who was part of the initial efforts to oust Prime Minister Trudeau, said roughly one-third of the 153 sitting Liberal MPs wanted him to step down immediately, while the remaining one-third wanted him to step down immediately. said they are resisting, and the remaining third are avowed Trudeau supporters. .
Long said Trudeau must immediately resign and a leadership election be held to replace him.
“He’s ruined his legacy and it’s time to move on,” Long told CBC News. “Canadians are screaming, the caucus is speaking out. The time is now, come on.”
Freeland’s resignation is a disastrous development for the government. With the Liberal Party’s support collapsing in opinion polls, economic policy has stalled, leaving a wide gap in Prime Minister Trudeau’s front-runner position.
Mr. Freeland’s surprising move to leave just before the release of the economic report is unprecedented. The statement is supposed to be the government’s fiscal roadmap at a time of great uncertainty as Canada stares down President Trump’s tariff threats.
In a letter to Trudeau later posted on Trudeau’s social media accounts, the outgoing deputy prime minister said he had no choice but to resign because Trudeau approached him about moving to another cabinet position on Friday. said. Relations between Canada and the United States.
“On Friday, you told me you no longer wanted to serve as Minister of Finance and offered me another position in your Cabinet,” Freeland wrote to Trudeau. “After much consideration, I have come to the conclusion that the only honest and viable course for me is to resign from the Cabinet.”
Freeland also criticized Prime Minister Trudeau’s handling of the domestic economy, decrying what he called the government’s “expensive political maneuvering” and working with prime ministers to counter President Trump’s tariffs. I begged him to do so.
She acknowledged that she has been at “conflict” with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in recent weeks.
A senior government official told CBC News that Freeland’s announcement today was not expected.
Just last week, at an event celebrating women in politics, Trudeau described herself as a “proud feminist” and cited her appointment as Canada’s first female finance minister.
“I’ve been touting the adage, ‘Add women and you change politics,’ and that means more to us than just words,” he said.
Two days later, Prime Minister Trudeau asked Ms. Freeland to resign from her position, effectively ousting the most senior woman in government.
The resignation derailed the fall economic statement, leaving officials surrounded by reporters at a loss as to what to do after the person they were supposed to deliver suddenly resigned.
After a delay of several hours, the embargo was read out to reporters and the document was quietly introduced to Congress without the usual fanfare.
The statement revealed that Canada’s finances are worse than expected. The deficit for 2023-24 will be $61.9 billion, billions more than the roughly $40 billion Freeland had promised.
Turbulent times for Prime Minister Trudeau
This is just the latest challenge for Trudeau, who has endured an extremely turbulent six months.
The party lost two federal by-elections to the once-solid Liberal Party in Toronto and Montreal this summer.
He also faced a caucus revolt earlier this fall, with about 25 of his MPs writing to Trudeau demanding he resign to save himself from electoral disaster.
Prime Minister Trudeau has shrugged off the blow and has repeatedly said he will continue to lead his party into the next election campaign.
Freeland’s resignation has renewed questions about his viability as a leader and his decision-making.
Former Liberal Party official Karlene Vallyan said it was disturbing that Trudeau would try to remove Freeland from his role as treasurer just days before releasing an economic statement.
“There’s a level of delusion that’s difficult to understand,” Varyan said. “In what universe?”
Varyan said that even if Trudeau has lost faith in Freeland, there is a better “strategy” to follow than to oust her so close to a critical moment for the government.
“I can’t see the exit”
Poièvre said the government is “spinning out of control right before our eyes.” He said Freeland’s resignation comes at “the worst possible time” as Canada faces a series of economic challenges.
Poièvre said Freeland, who was scouted by Trudeau to run for the Liberal Party in 2013, “knew Trudeau better than anyone and she knew he was out of control.” “I’m working on it,” he said.
“Everything is out of control. It can’t go on like this. It’s up to Jagmeet Singh to realize that,” Poièvre said, urging the NDP leader to bring down the government with a vote of no confidence. called for cooperation. .
Conservative leader Pierre Poièvre, speaking after Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s sudden resignation from cabinet, called on the Liberals to release an autumn economic statement and allow a vote in the House of Commons.
Poièvre said Canadians should get to the polls as soon as possible, even if it means interrupting their Christmas holidays.
NDP Leader Singh said Trudeau should resign, telling reporters: “Justin Trudeau has to resign.”
Asked if he would overthrow the government at the earliest opportunity, he said: “All options are on the table. All options are there.”
As he later told CBC, power and politics, NDP House of Commons Leader Peter Julian said his party intends to vote on a no-confidence motion in the government if Trudeau remains leader in the new year.
He said if this “Liberal fiasco” continued into February or March, the NDP would withdraw support from the government once and for all.
The House of Representatives is expected to sit for a six-week Christmas break on Tuesday.
Watch | After Freeland resigns from cabinet, Blanchett says, “The Trudeau government is over.”
