Chrystia Freeland may go down in history as the metaphorical straw that broke the prime minister’s back.
The deputy prime minister and Canada’s first and only female finance minister resigned her post Monday, the day she was scheduled to deliver a highly anticipated fiscal update.
Rumours circulating around Parliament Hill indicated Freeland was expected to confirm the federal Liberal government had overshot its $40-billion deficit target by a substantial amount.
ADRIAN WYLD / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES
Former Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s resignation from cabinet is a devastating blow to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s leadership, Dan Lett writes.
Instead of delivering bad news on behalf of a reeling government — the Liberals are running a $62-billion deficit, 50 per cent higher than forecast — Freeland decided to stand down. In doing so, she knocked another leg out from under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s already wobbly throne.
In a letter posted to social media confirming her resignation, Freeland said Trudeau asked her to step down from finance and take another role in cabinet. It has been widely reported that Trudeau wants to recruit former Bank of Canada and Bank of England governor Mark Carney to serve as a non-elected member of cabinet, and the only job he would take is finance. (Dominic LeBlanc was sworn in as finance minister Monday).
Freeland said by asking her to move on the eve of delivering a difficult fiscal statement, “you made clear that I can no longer credibly enjoy that confidence and possess the authority that comes with it.”
Freeland’s decision could have been dismissed as a non-issue, just another veteran minister stepping away from the politics after 10 years in the meat-grinder that is Ottawa. That was largely how, on the same day that Freeland pulled the plug, the Ottawa chattering class greeted the news that Housing Minister Sean Fraser was not going to run in the next federal election.
However, there were two aspects of Freeland’s announcement that confirmed this was not an exit being planned by another burned-out politician.
First, Freeland made it clear her departure was, in large part, a dispute over policy.
In her letter, Freeland elegantly torpedoed Trudeau’s recent decision to spend billions of dollars the government doesn’t have by removing the GST on a limited range of goods and services and sending $250 affordability cheques to Canadian adults. Freeland never specifically mentioned those two measures, but there was no doubt what she was talking about.
Freeland wrote that at a time when the country is faced with an existential economic threat from an “America First” administration, it was important Canada was focused on “keeping our fiscal powder dry” for the forthcoming tariff wars with Trump.
“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 language in Freeland’s letter was elegantly brutal. So much so that it’s quite likely “costly political gimmicks” will stick to Trudeau throughout his remaining time in government. Hell, it might end being carved on Trudeau’s political gravestone.
The second dagger from Freeland’s letter was found in the last line. “I look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues as a Liberal Member of Parliament, and I am committed to running again for my seat in Toronto in the next federal election.”
The former finance minister did not want anybody to think her resignation was a personal decision to escape the crucible of federal politics. Even though she did not come right out and criticize Trudeau for remaining leader, this was about escaping the PM’s increasingly erratic leadership.
Put another way, Freeland is quitting Trudeau, but not quitting the Liberal party.
“The language in Freeland’s letter was elegantly brutal. So much so that it’s quite likely ‘costly political gimmicks’ will stick to Trudeau throughout his remaining time in government.”
Let’s not mince words: Freeland’s decision to resign from cabinet but remain and run for re-election is a devastating blow to Trudeau’s leadership. Although the beleaguered prime minister no doubt has some militant supporters left in caucus, even they would have to admit that losing Freeland under these circumstances has made Trudeau’s continued leadership impossible to contemplate.
It doesn’t help Trudeau that in addition to being his political lieutenant, Freeland is considered by many to be among the leading candidates to lead the party into the future. Having been freed of the burden of one of the top cabinet posts, Freeland has nothing better to do now but start to organize support for a leadership race that is now a virtual certainty.
There is no question that a leadership race is coming. The only question is whether it is sometime before, or immediately after, next year’s federal election.
The most pathetic aspect of Trudeau’s dilemma now is that it’s not a new or unprecedented political narrative.
Political history is littered with examples of leaders who overstayed their welcome and had to be pushed out of their offices — leaders who started losing the support of the general public and then, inevitably, lost the support of those within their own party.
It doesn’t matter Trudeau is confident in his own abilities; the most capable and articulate people in his own government have lost confidence.
It is uncertain if or when Trudeau will resign this week. But we do know that when he does go — and go he will — he will have lost all opportunity to cast his time as prime minister in a positive light.
From this point on, Trudeau will be seen as the leader who stayed long enough to ruin his party and had to be driven from office.
Always and forever.
dan.lett@freepress.mb.ca
Dan Lett
Columnist
Dan Lett is a columnist for the Free Press, providing opinion and commentary on politics in Winnipeg and beyond. Born and raised in Toronto, Dan joined the Free Press in 1986. Read more about Dan.
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