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Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau is reportedly considering stepping down following his finance minister’s resignation over disagreements on Donald Trump’s threat of tariffs.
Mr Trudeau conveyed to the cabinet that he is considering either resignation or prorogation – the process of ending the parliamentary session – sources told CTV News. He is planning to address parliament on Tuesday, the report said.
The embattled prime minister, elected in 2015, is facing one of the greatest challenges yet to his power in nearly 10 years. His popularity plummeted due to a number of issues during his tenure, including economic woes, housing shortage, and the issue of immigration.
Mr Trudeau has been facing calls to resign from within his own party as Canada is set to hold federal elections next year, before October.
The anger within his party grew on Tuesday after deputy prime minister and minister of finance, Chrystia Freeland, resigned. Ms Freeland stood down just hours before she was set to release the country’s first economic plan ahead of a change of administration in America, with Mr Trump, the president-elect, promising an “America First” economic nationalism.
Her stinging resignation letter dealt a huge blow to Mr Trudeau’s political future and led to mounting concerns over his ability to deal with the Trump administration.
Mr Trump promised to hit Canada with a 25 per cent tariff on imported goods which economists believe would prove consequential for Canada’s economy which is already reeling under inflation.
The prime minister’s only public comments on Monday came during a holiday party for Liberal donors.
“It’s not been an easy day,” Mr Trudeau said in a room full of party supporters, calling it the Liberal party’s “toughest days”. But he did not say what his next steps would be.
“It’s the absolute privilege of my life to serve as your prime minister,” Mr Trudeau continued.
“Canada is the best country on Earth, but it’s not perfect,” he said. “That’s why I wake up every single day thinking about how to make this nation work better for all Canadians.”
In her scathing letter, Ms Freeland, a former journalist, went public with her opposition over Mr Trudeau’s push for short-term spending on voter-pleasing measures which will expand the budget deficit.
She said Mr Trudeau asked her to take on a lesser post last Friday after the two had been arguing for weeks over spending.
“Our country today faces a grave challenge,” she said, in an apparent reference to Mr Trump’s tariff threat.
“That means keeping our fiscal powder dry today, so we have the reserves we may need for a coming tariff war. That means eschewing costly political gimmicks, which we can ill afford and which make Canadians doubt that we recognize the gravity of the moment.”
She said the “only honest and viable path is for me to resign from the cabinet”.
“To be effective, a minister must speak on behalf of the prime minister and with his full confidence. In making your decision, you made clear that I no longer credibly enjoy that confidence and possess the authority that comes with it,” she added.
Public safety minister Dominic LeBlanc – a member of Mr Trudeau’s inner circle – was quickly named finance minister of the minority Liberal government.
Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre doubled down on his calls for the prime minister to resign and 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 per cent tariff from our biggest trading partner,” he told reporters.
Mr Trudeau, however, accused Mr Poilievre of “actively willing to bet against Canadians and Canada”.
“Pierre Poilievre is uninterested in building homes, delivering vital supports, creating good jobs, or, even as we saw with his opposition towards GST tax break, he’s opposed to even cutting taxes,” Mr Trudeau said.
Mr Trudeau on Monday faced frustrated MPs at a hastily arranged caucus meeting following the finance minister’s shock exit.
Ontario Liberal MP Chad Collins, who was part of the meeting, said the party needs a new leadership.
“I’m not going to breach confidentiality in terms of what happened in the caucus, but I can say we’re not united,” he said. “There’s still a number of our members who feel we need a change in leadership. I’m one of those.”
Mr Trudeau won the 2015 election channeling the star power of his late father and former prime minister, Pierre Trudeau, and promised “sunny ways” after almost a decade of Conservative Party rule.
However, he has faced growing criticism over inflation, cost of living and other issues, including immigration.
Canada’s 10-year note yields climbed to their highest level since 28 November. They were last up 4.2 basis points at 3.2 per cent. The Canadian dollar weakened to a four and a half year low at 1.4268 per US dollar before reversing course.
