Justin Trudeau 'is on brink of resigning' as his government crumbles
Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau is 'considering his options as leader', sources have said, while his Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland revealed she will quit.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is on the brink of resigning as his liberal government crumbles around him, according to CTV News.
Trudeau, 52, is 'considering his options as leader', sources have told the broadcaster, while his Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland revealed she will quit.
Freeland quit on Monday after clashing with Trudeau on issues including how to handle possible U.S. tariffs, dealing a huge blow to an already unpopular government.
In a stinging resignation letter, Freeland dismissed Trudeau's push for increased spending as a political gimmick that could hurt Ottawa's ability to deal with the 25 percent import tariffs U.S. President-elect Donald Trump says he will impose.
The resignation by Freeland, 56, who also served as deputy prime minister, is one of the biggest crises Trudeau has faced since taking power in November 2015.
It also leaves him without a key ally when he is on track to lose the next election to the official opposition Conservatives.
Trudeau quickly came under pressure to go from the New Democrats, the smaller opposition party which earlier this year pulled its unconditional support of the minority Liberal government but has continued to back the prime minister on some legislation through parliament.
'I'm calling on Justin Trudeau to resign. He has to go,' party leader Jagmeet Singh told reporters, the first time he has unequivocally called on the prime minister to quit.
Singh did not respond directly to questions about whether he would continue to prop up Trudeau in parliament, saying that all options were on the table.
Trudeau can be toppled if the opposition parties unite against him on a vote of no confidence, though that cannot happen until late January at the earliest.
Hours earlier Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre said the government was spiraling out of control.
'We cannot accept this kind of chaos, division, weakness, while we're staring down the barrel of a 25% tariff from our biggest trading partner ... we simply cannot go on like this,' he told reporters.
Freeland said she was quitting in the wake of a meeting last Friday with Trudeau, who asked her to take on a lesser post after the two had argued for weeks over spending.
A Liberal source said Trudeau wanted Freeland to serve as minister without portfolio dealing with Canada-U.S. relations in name only - in effect a major demotion.
Her resignation came just hours before she was due to present a fall economic update to parliament, a document widely expected to show the minority Liberal government had run up a much larger 2023/24 budget deficit than predicted.
Officials said the document would be unveiled on Monday as planned.
'This will likely trigger a leadership crisis within the Liberal caucus ... (it) is politically and personally devastating for Trudeau,' said Nik Nanos, founder of the Nanos Research polling firm.
Polls show the Liberals are set to be crushed in an election that must be held by late October 2025.
Freeland, a former journalist, served as trade minister and then foreign minister before taking over the finance portfolio in August 2020. As minister, she oversaw the massive government spending campaign to deal with the damage done by COVID.
Colleagues were clearly stunned. 'This news has hit me really hard and I'll reserve further comment until I have time to process it,' said an emotional Anita Anand, president of the Treasury Board.
Trudeau has been under pressure for months from Liberal legislators alarmed by the party's poor polling numbers, in part due to unhappiness over high prices.
But he is safe for now, since Canadian political leaders are chosen by special conventions.
Canada's 10-year note yields climbed to their highest level since November 28. They were last up 4.2 basis points at 3.2%. The Canadian dollar weakened to a four and a half year low at 1.4268 per U.S. dollar before reversing course.
Domestic media reports said Freeland and Trudeau had clashed over a government proposal for temporary tax breaks and other spending measures.
'For the last number of weeks, you and I have found ourselves at odds over the best path forward for Canada,' Freeland said in a letter to Trudeau posted on X.
