Canadian finance minister quits after clash with Trudeau

Canadian Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland announced Monday that she was quitting her job and resigning from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s cabinet.

She said she differed with Trudeau over charting the best path forward for the country on questions of addressing US President-elect Donald Trump‘s tariff threats against Canadian goods.

“Our country today faces a grave challenge,” Freeland said in her resignation letter to Trudeau, pointing to Trump‘s planned 25% tariffs on imports from Canada.

“For the past number of weeks, you and I have found ourselves at odds about the best path forward for Canada,” she added.

What caused Trudeau and Freeland to clash?

Freeland and Trudeau have clashed in recent weeks.

The Trudeau government recently announced plans to temporarily lift federal sales tax off a number of items and send checks to millions of Canadians who are dealing with rising costs and as a federal election looms.

Since Canada is preparing a transition to deal with threats of greater tariffs, the country should avoid “costly political gimmicks” that it “can ill afford,” the ex-minister wrote in her letter.

Trudeau named longtime ally Dominic LeBlanc as the next finance minister of the minority Liberal government.

The political earthquake that shook the country also came on the day the government announced its fall economic statement — a deficit of 62 billion Canadian dollars, which was some 22 billion Canadian dollars more than projected.

What does Freeland’s exit mean for the government?

Trudeau’s ruling Liberals need the support of at least one other major party in parliament, since they don’t have an outright majority.

Jagmeet Singh, leader of the opposition New Democratic Party (NDP), called for Trudeu’s resignation early Monday.

A federal election should be held before October, but if the NDP withdraws its support, an election could be called at any time.

Trudeau flew to Florida last month to dine with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort in an attempt to head off the tariff threat, but there’s nothing as yet that suggests the US President-elect will be changing his mind.

Canada’s top trading partner is the US — 75% of Canada’s exports go to its southern neighbour each year.