This week, Parliament in Ottawa was rocked when federal Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland resigned from the government just hours before the fall economic statement.
Freeland’s departure raises more questions about rifts within the People’s Party government.
Moose Jaw–Lake Center–Lanigan Conservative Party MP Fraser Tolmie reacted to the resignation, saying this is not the first time Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has treated his finance minister and female cabinet members poorly. He didn’t let Freeland off the hook, though.
“The mess we’re in – she’s been finance minister throughout this whole process. Their personality clash, whatever you want to call it, has obviously caused a rift. But, again, she signed off on all of this and has been part of the economic mess this country is in, Tolmie said.
When the fall economic statement was released, it showed the federal deficit at $61.9 billion, $20 billion higher than Freeland had targeted.
In her resignation letter, Freeland said she was told by the prime minister that he no longer wanted her as finance minister and had offered her another government post.
“Upon reflection, I have come to the conclusion that the only honest and sustainable course is for me to resign from government,” Freeland wrote in his letter.
Her letter was critical of the prime minister, saying they were “at odds over the best path forward for Canada.”
She added that Canada cannot afford “expensive political maneuvering” amid a looming tariff war with the United States.
See my letter to the Prime Minister below // Veuillez trouver ma lettre au Premier ministre ci-dessous pic.twitter.com/NMMMcXUh7A
— Chrystia Freeland (@cafreeland) December 16, 2024
Tolmie said Freeland’s criticism vindicated the Conservative Party’s claims about the Liberal government.
“It’s something we’ve been talking about on our side of the House, but when it’s finally revealed by the Liberals, people are starting to say, ‘Oh yeah, you were right,’” Tolmie said.
He added that infighting within the Liberal Party will not win them any votes.
“To be completely honest with you, they don’t want to hear about this drama. They want to be able to put food on the table, they want to be able to have a roof over their heads, they want to bring home powerful paychecks and they want to live in a free country. And right now we’re dealing with this — I don’t know — high school drama that the Liberal Party brought to the nation’s capital,” he said.
The Conservative Party has pushed for an early election but has failed in no-confidence votes, mostly due to Jagmeet Singh and the NDP siding with the government.
Since Freeland’s resignation, Singh has called for Trudeau’s resignation but has been noncommittal about joining a no-confidence vote.
Tolmie said he believes the premier won’t let the NDP leader dictate his future, but he hopes this latest upheaval will push the NDP to support an early election.
“The Bloc has seen through this and would like to see an election. My hope is that the Liberals actually see that. If they see that, then maybe the NDP should see that, and this thing of holding out the pensions and staving off an election until they get their war chest built up – I think it’s time,” he said.
As long as the Prime Minister remains in power, the next federal election is scheduled to take place on or before 20 October 2025.
