President-elect Donald Trump took aim at Canadian Deputy Prime Minister and Finanace Minister Chrystia Freeland following her resignation, calling her “totally toxic.”
What’s New
“The Great State of Canada is stunned as the Finance Minister resigns, or was fired, from her position by Governor Justin Trudeau. Her behavior was totally toxic, and not at all conducive to making deals which are good for the very unhappy citizens of Canada. She will not be missed!!!” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social on Monday night.
Newsweek has contacted Chrystia Freeland for comment via email outside of normal working hours.
Why It Matters
Trump’s remarks come at a time when tensions are high between the Washington and Ottawa after the President-elect threatened to impose a 25 percent tariff on all Canadian products sent to the U.S.
Canada is a major trading partner of the U.S, accounting for almost 15 percent of U.S. trade volume. Canada is highly dependent on international trade, with 75 percent of its exports going to the U.S., so higher tariffs would have a significant effect on Canada’s economy.
Spencer Colby/AP
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau allegedly pleaded with Trump not to implement the new levy during a dinner at Mar-a-Lago in November, warning that it would “kill” Canada’s economy, according to Fox News.
At a news conference before the dinner, Trudeau warned the tariffs would be “harming Canadians” as well as “rasing prices for American citizens.”
“One of the things that is really important to understand is that Donald Trump, when he makes statements like that, he plans on carrying them out. There’s no question about it,” Trudeau said. “Our responsibility is to point out that in this way he would be actually not just be harming Canadians, who work so well with the United States; he’d actually be raising prices for American citizens as well and hurting American industry and businesses.”
But Trudeau’s deputy Freeland was seemingly unimpressed with the Canadian Prime Minister’s appearance at Mar-a-Lago in November, cautioning against “expensive political stunts” after he posted a smiling photo of the himself and Trump. He also told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation he promised Trump that Canada would shore up border security and surveillance.
What To Know
In her resignation letter on Monday, Freeland criticized Trudeau for how he has dealt with the threat of tarriffs.
“For the past number of weeks, you and I have found ourselves at odds about the best path forward for Canada,” Freeland wrote.
“Our country today faces a grave challenge. The incoming administration in the United States is pursuing a policy of aggressive economic nationalism, including a threat of 25% tariffs.
“We need to take that threat extremely seriously.”
Freeland also emphasized that Canada must preserve its “fiscal resources now” to prepare for an impending “tariff war.”
She cautioned Trudeau that “expensive political stunts” must be avoided, as they risk undermining public confidence in the government’s grasp of the “seriousness of the situation.”
“This requires pushing back against ‘America First’ economic nationalism with a focused effort to attract capital, investment, and the jobs that come with them,” Freeland said. “It also means collaborating sincerely and respectfully with provincial and territorial Premiers to develop a unified Team Canada approach.”
Her resignation came just hours before she was due to release Canada’s first economic plan ahead of the change of administration in Washington.
The plan was anticipated to include details of increased enforcement at the U.S.-Canada border, as well as policies to incentivize and keep business development and investment in Canada.
But Freedland and Trudeau had reportedly disagreed over spending, including proposals for temporary tax breaks, which were allegedly intended to shore up political support but would have forced Freeland to miss her spending goals.
As a result, Freeland said Trudeau had asked her to take on a lesser post in his government on Friday, leading to her resignation.
Within hours of Freeland’s announcement, Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc was sworn in as her replacement. LeBlanc, who has been close friends with the prime minister since childhood, is considered one of his loyalist allies.
What people are saying
After Freeland’s resignation, several Liberal MPs made fresh calls for Trudeau to stand down, while Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre repeated his calls for an immediate election, saying: “The government of Canada is itself spiraling out of control.”
“Everything is spiraling out of control. We simply cannot go on like this,” he said, adding that Freedland’s resignation comes “at the very worst time.”
Five sitting Liberal MPs have publicly called on Trudeau to step down.
“Let’s put it this way—firing the minister of finance who has served you extremely well is not what I’d call a trustworthy move,” Helena Jaczek, an MP from Markham-Stouffville in Ontario, told reporters, before saying that Trudeau should resign.
It comes as Trudeau’s party fears a seismic electoral defeat in the federal election scheduled for 2025 amid plummeting popularity for the prime minister.
What happens next
The move may push Trudeau’s already shaky minority government to the brink next year.
Nik Nanos, founder of the Nanos Research polling firm, told Reuters that Freedland’s resignation may trigger a leadership crisis within the Liberal Party.
“This will likely trigger a leadership crisis within the Liberal caucus…[it] is politically and personally devastating for Trudeau,” he said.
