Trudeau takes subtle dig at former deputy prime minister whose shock resignation foretold his downfall
As he announced Monday that he would be stepping down as his party’s leader, outgoing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made a subtle dig at his former deputy prime minister whose shocking resignation foretold his downfall.
Former deputy prime minister and minister of finance Chrystia Freeland threw Trudeau’s government into chaos when she abruptly resigned from the cabinet last month, just hours before she was due to deliver the country’s first economic update since the U.S. election.
And now, a mere few weeks later, Trudeau followed with his resignation citing “internal battles” within his Liberal Party.
Freeland, a long-time ally of Trudeau, said in her resignation letter that she and the prime minister had been at odds over the best path forward for the country, and that the 25 percent tariffs threatened by President-elect Donald Trump posed a “grave challenge” for the economy.
Speaking at a press conference outside his residence at Rideau Cottage on Monday, Trudeau addressed the fallout and initially praised his former deputy.
“Chrystia has been by my side for close to 10 years now,” Trudeau said.
“She has been an incredible political partner through just about everything we have done as a government and as a party over the past decade.”
But then he added: “I had really hoped that she would agree to continue as my deputy prime minister and take on one of the most important files that not just this government, this country is facing, but she chose otherwise.”
Trudeau declined to share further details of what the two said in private. “In regards to what actually happened, I am not someone who’s in the habit of sharing private conversations,” he told reporters.
Following Trudeau’s resignation, Freeland said she wished him “the very best” in a short statement.
“I thank Justin Trudeau for his years of service to Canada and Canadians,” Freeland said in a social media post on X (formerly Twitter). “I wish him and his family the very best.”
Last month, Freeland said in her resignation letter that the government needed to take the Trump tariff threats “extremely seriously,” adding that the party needed to eschew “costly political gimmicks, which we can ill afford and which make Canadians doubt that we recognize the gravity of the moment.”
At Monday’s press conference, when challenged about how the government can protect Canadians from the threat of Trump’s proposed tariffs when the party will be “focused” on a leadership contest, Trudeau insisted the government would be “singularly focused” on “fighting” for its citizens.
“The government will still and the Cabinet will still be very much focused on doing the job the Canadians elected us to do in 2021, which is fight for their interests, stand up for their wellbeing and make sure that they are good and the Canadians are protected and strong,” he said.
