OTTAWA, Dec 17 (Reuters) – Canada’s finance minister resigned abruptly on Monday, leaving the government in a precarious position less than a month before the inauguration of a new U.S. administration that may impose severe sanctions on Canadian exports.
Chrystia Freeland stepped down after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau offered her a less significant role. She explained that Trudeau’s desire to increase government spending could jeopardize Canada’s ability to cope with the damage caused by tariffs that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has threatened to impose.
Freeland had been leading a special cabinet committee focused on Canada-U.S. relations and was working closely with the country’s 10 provinces to ensure a unified response.
“As a country, we have to project strength and unity, and it’s chaos right now up in Ottawa,” Ontario Premier Doug Ford said after a scheduled online conference call of provincial premiers on Monday to discuss the U.S. threat.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, a staunch critic of Prime Minister Trudeau, expressed her dissatisfaction, noting that the provincial leaders were only informed halfway through their call that the point person on Canada-U.S. relations had resigned.
“It’s chaos. I’d be looking at this wondering who the next leader is… are they going to be able to bring forward a coherent plan? Is there going to be a team that can execute a Team Canada approach?” Smith said.
“It’s not the greatest time to have a vacuum,” she added, calling for a national election to help restore stability.
Unhappy legislators from the ruling Liberal Party, some of whom have been calling for Prime Minister Trudeau’s resignation for months, gathered on Monday in Ottawa to express their frustration.
The Liberals are facing a significant decline in the polls ahead of an election that must be held by late October 2025. While Trudeau has so far ruled out resigning, mounting pressure could lead to unpredictable outcomes.
“Trump will be inaugurated in 34 days. Canada must have a stable government,” former Trudeau foreign policy advisor Roland Paris wrote in a post on X.
When Trump took office in 2017, he pledged to scrap the trilateral free trade agreement with Canada and Mexico. Freeland, who was then foreign minister, played a key role in renegotiating the pact and helping to save Canada’s economy, which is heavily dependent on the United States.
Vincent Rigby, a former national security and intelligence adviser to Trudeau, said that Freeland’s departure leaves Canada’s stance with Trump uncertain.
“This is going to be quite problematic for the prime minister from a political perspective, but it’s now also going to be problematic in terms of how the Canadian government deals with an incoming Trump presidency,” Rigby said on the sidelines of an event in Washington.
The role of chief federal coordinator on U.S. relations now passes to Dominic LeBlanc, the new finance minister, who traveled with Trudeau to Florida late last month to meet Trump.
“The one thing I think the American administration will respect is a government that’s focused on our common priorities, on shared issues,” LeBlanc told reporters after being appointed.
Freeland was not invited to the meeting. Trump, who had made it clear during trade talks in September 2018 that he disliked Freeland, welcomed her departure late Monday.
“Her behavior was totally toxic, and not at all conducive to making deals that are good for the very unhappy citizens of Canada. She will not be missed!!!” Trump wrote on his social media platform.
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