Chrystia Freeland, the deputy prime minister who led Canada’s response to the first Trump administration, resigned abruptly on Monday from her cabinet role in a stinging rebuke to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau marking the first open dissent from any cabinet member and raising questions about his hold on power.
The revelation, in a letter of resignation, came hours before Ms. Freeland, who had been the finance minister, was scheduled to outline the government’s commitments to improve border security with the United States.
Mr. Trudeau’s cabinet, which was meeting in Ottawa soon after the letter was made public, seemed stunned by the development.
“Chrystia Freeland is a good friend, someone I work with very, very closely,” Anita Ananda, the transport minister told reporters in Ottawa. “This news has hit me really hard.”
The high-profile departure comes amid a treacherous moment for Canada: President-elect Trump has warned that he would impose 25 percent tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico unless those two countries did more to curb the flow of undocumented migrants and drugs across their borders with the United States.
In her resignation letter, Ms. Freeland indicated that Mr. Trudeau attempted to force her out of the position on Friday. Ms. Freeland had been playing a prominent role in formulating Canada’s response to the incoming Trump administration, leading a team of government officials preparing for the transition to a new president.
She had successfully renegotiated the North American Free Trade Agreement with the first Trump White House.
“For the last number of weeks, you and I have found ourselves at odds about the best path forward for Canada,” Ms. Freeland wrote to the prime minister.
She also described Mr. Trump’s threatened tariffs “a grave challenge.”
“How we deal with the threat our country currently faces will define us for a generation, and perhaps longer,’’ Ms. Freeland said.
Ms. Freeland is married to a New York Times reporter who works for the Culture desk.
Recent spending decisions by Mr. Trudeau apparently made to boost the Liberal Party’s popularity, including a sales tax holiday and sending checks to taxpayers, Ms. Freeland said, would undermine Canada’s economic ability to deal with the Trump threat.
Mr. Trudeau is deeply unpopular at home, according to polls, and will need to call an election by October. His unpopularity and imminent federal election have given rise to speculation about a leadership contest to replace him, but he has so far insisted that he will lead his Liberal Party to elections.
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