“An absolute mess”: Canadians react to Chrystia Freeland’s cabinet resignation

Posted on

Canadians are sounding off after Chrystia Freeland shocked the nation, announcing her resignation as finance minister from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s cabinet.

In a statement shared on X Monday morning, Freeland said Trudeau had told her last Friday that he no longer wanted her to serve as his finance minister and offered her another position in the cabinet.

“Upon reflection, I have concluded that the only honest and viable path is for me to resign from the cabinet,” stated the deputy prime Minister.

This comes hours before the federal government is expected to announce its fall economic statement. Daily Hive has asked Canada’s Department of Finance if Freeland will still deliver it in the House of Commons.

“To be effective, a minister must speak on behalf of the prime minister and with his full confidence,” reads the resignation letter. “In making your decision, you made clear that I no longer credibly enjoy that confidence and possess the authority that comes with it.”

Freeland continued to reveal that she and Trudeau have been at odds for weeks about how to govern the country.

She highlighted US President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration “pursuing a policy of aggressive economic nationalism” is a major issue, such as the threat of a 25% tariff on Canadian products.

Canadians took to social media to react to her cabinet resignation.

The deputy prime minister’s colleague and minister of transport, Anita Anand, said the news hit her “really hard.”

Shortly after the announcement, she told reporters, “I’ll reserve further comment until I have time to process it. ”

Many Canadians thanked Freeland and were sad to see her leave.

“Shocked but I agree we need to get ourselves positioned to fight against Trump. So sorry to see you leave. I thought you would make a great PM,” reads one post.

“Thank you for your service! Canada is doing very well economically on the world stage. You contributed to that and you should be very proud 🇨🇦💫,” added another.

Political journalists were stunned.

“Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland quits cabinet an hour before her fall economic statement is provided to journalists. What an absolute mess,” posted City News federal politics reporter Glen McGregor.

“This resignation letter is savage,” added journalist John Ivison. “From a finance minister whose seat is still warm.”

Others stressed how big of a loss this is for the Canadian government.

“Canada’s critical successes at very tough NAFTA negotiations with the Trump administration were led by a hard-working and strategically-minded Chrystia Freeland,” posted Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association president Flavio Volpe. “Big loss on our way into round two with a weaker hand. Huge.”

“If you are proud of Canada’s support for Ukraine over the last three years, Chrystia Freeland is the person to thank for that,” shared another X user. “I am not sure we would have seen the magnitude of response to Russia’s illegal assault on Ukraine without her in the Trudeau government.”

One Canadian said they disagree with Freeland making her resignation about Trump.

And other Canadians are wondering what this means for them.

And, in true internet fashion, someone had to land a joke. One X user called back to the deputy prime minister, suggesting Canadians cut Disney+ to tackle the cost of living crisis.

That wasn’t the last time she was called out for being “out of touch.” Most recently, the politician received backlash for saying Canada’s in a “vibecession.”

Freeland concluded her resignation letter by saying she’ll continue to work as a Liberal Member of Parliament and is committed to running again for her seat in Toronto in the next federal election.

She became the first female finance minister in 2020 after Bill Morneau resigned.

Source

Related Posts