News broke across the wires throughout the country this morning, that on the day Finance Minister, and Canada’s sitting Deputy Prime Minister, Chrystia Freeland, was to announce her fall economic statement, she has instead announced her resignation from Cabinet in dramatic form

The announcement together along with posting her letter to the Prime Minister on X (formerly known as Twitter), has only confirmed a rupture between the two most powerful ministers in Canada’s parliament. 

In a press conference Friday, December 13th, Freeland was asked about the tension between her office and the PMO over fiscal policy, and the Prime Minister’s effort to replace her.  Freehand responded by saying, “For me, it is a huge privilege that I do not take for granted to serve Canada and Canadians every single day. I’m grateful to serve in the cabinet of the Prime Minister, in what is a truly challenging time for our country.”  

 “It is possible that the domino effect Freeland’s sudden resignation could trigger could not come at a worse time”

 

 

She also responded to tariff questions and the split perspective and narrative from premiers voicing their own remedies to the trade threat, a threat that many feel Ottawa’s messaging should be more on point with.  

Freeland defended her position with respect to the premiers and Canada/U.S. trade relations. 

“The Premiers are a key component of Team Canada when it comes to responding to the challenge from the United States. And the Prime Minister will continue to have many more meetings because, it remains clear that Canada is, by far, the largest market for the United States. That gives us significant leverage. But, having said that, it’s in our best interest to plan for the best and prepare for the worst. Therefore, if the U.S. does impose unjustified tariffs on Canada, our response would be robust.” 

She went on to say she’s confident that the outcome would be positive for Canada as it was when counter trade tariff responses were levied during the aluminum and Country of Origin labelling (COOL) disputes during Trump’s first presidency.  

But the tone of all that unity sounded very different in her letter to the Prime Minister published on social media over the weekend. “For the past number of weeks, you and I have found ourselves at odds about the best plan forward for Canada,” she wrote. “Our country faces a grave challenge with the incoming administration in the United States pursuing a policy of aggressive economic nationalism, including a threat of 25% tariffs. We need to take that threat seriously. That means working in good faith and humility with the Premiers of the provinces and territories and building a true Team Canada response.” 

As Canada remains one of the strongest trade export countries globally, we are also the only G7 country with a free trade agreement with every other G7 country. That was pointed out during the same press conference by Canadian Trade Minister, Mary Ng. In the wake of a possible trade war, it is unsettling that our trade and economic profile is teetering at a time where our agriculture trade integrity and sustainability is under direct financial threat from the White House’s president-elect. 

With that, it is possible that the domino effect Freeland’s sudden resignation could trigger could not come at a worse time. 

“I can’t envision what Justin Trudeau can do right now to fix this.”