MPs React to Surprise Resignation of Deputy Prime Minister Freeland

President of the Treasury Board Anita Anand, left, looks on as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland speaks to reporters during the Liberal cabinet retreat in Charlottetown on Aug. 22, 2023. Darren Calabrese/The Canadian Press

With Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland announcing her resignation the same day as she was set to present the Fall Economic Statement, MPs from all parties are reacting to the unprecedented news.

“Chrystia Freeland is a good friend, someone I work with very, very, closely as president of the Treasury Board and Minister of Transport,”  Minister Anita Anand told reporters in Ottawa on Dec. 16.

“This news has hit me really hard, and I'll reserve further comment until I have time to process.”

Freeland announced Dec. 16 that she was resigning from cabinet. In a letter sent to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, she detailed how Trudeau had told her last week that he didn’t want her to serve as finance minister anymore. While Trudeau had offered her a different position in cabinet, Freeland said the only “honest and viable path” was for her to resign.

The deputy prime minister added that she had been “at odds” with Trudeau for weeks over the best economic path forward for Canada, with her wanting to keep Canada’s “fiscal powder dry” to have the reserves needed in the case of a trade war with the United States. The incoming administration under Donald Trump has threatened to impose 25 percent tariffs on Canada if it does not take more action on illegal immigration and drug smuggling.

Freeland also criticized the Liberal government’s “costly political gimmicks,” which she did not define. The unveiling of the Fall Economic Statement was pushed back following the announcement of Freeland’s resignation. It is not year clear when it will be tabled, and by whom.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said at press conference the Liberal government was “spiralling out of control” at the “very worst time” given the incoming U.S. administration has threatened to impose tariffs on Canada. He called for the Fall Economic Statement to be presented as a confidence motion on the same day, which would bring about an early election if it failed.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh told reporters that the Liberals are “fighting themselves instead of fighting for Canadians,” and that because of this Trudeau needs to resign. When asked if that meant his party would vote in favour of a non-confidence motion, Singh said “all options are on the table.”

Housing Minister Sean Fraser, who also announced his resignation from cabinet on the same day, said he could not speak to Freeland’s motivations for resigning.

“I had the opportunity to work alongside Minister Freeland ... I found her to be professional, supportive of me as a member of parliament, and I consider her a friend,” he said.

Liberal MP Anthony Housefather reacted to the news on social media by saying he was sending Freeland his “strength and support,” and that she had “more than earned” his trust and friendship. Indigenous Services Services Minister Patty Hajdu told reporters that she respected Freeland’s decision to resign well wishing her well, and said these were “difficult and deeply personal decisions” to make.

Former Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould said on the social media platform X that when a “general is losing his most loyal soldiers on the eve of a war, the country desperately needs a new general.“ She said it was ”long past time” for Trudeau to go.

Former Environment Minister Catherine McKenna reacted to the news on the social media site BlueSky, saying it was “Well worth reading every word of Chrystia Freeland’s letter of resignation to the Prime Minister.”

“I’m not sure if the PM gets to call himself a feminist,” she added. “The test isn’t what you say, it’s what you do.”

“I understand some partisans don’t like when people in a party speak up. But a political party isn’t a cult,” she added in a later post. “If people who care greatly about the party don’t speak up when things are really off the rails, then we’re doing a disservice to the country and to ourselves.”

National Revenue Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau said the news of Freeland’s resignation was a “hard knock,” but that this was “not our first rodeo.” Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault, meanwhile, told reporters that the Liberals would have “more to say later,” but he had “nothing else to add.”

Conservative MP and House Leader Andrew Scheer said on X that Freeland’s announcement signalled that “this government is in shambles” and that “even [Freeland] has lost confidence in Trudeau.”

Several Conservative MPs urged Trudeau to call an early election, including Michelle Rempel Garner, Michael Barrett, Larry Brock, and Raquel Dancho.