Canadian Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said on Monday that she is going to resign, citing differences with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau over major spending decisions.
“On Friday, you told me you no longer want me to serve as your Finance Minister and offered me another position in the Cabinet. Upon reflection, I have concluded that the honest and viable path is for me to resign from the Cabinet,” Freeland said in a letter to Trudeau.
Freeland admitted that she and Trudeau have been “at odds” for the past number of weeks about the best path forward for Canada.
In her resignation letter, she described the incoming Trump administration’s policy of “aggressive economic nationalism,” including a threat of 25% tariffs, as a “grave challenge.”
“We need to take this threat extremely seriously. That means keeping our fiscal powder dry today,” Freeland stated.
She also defended her “strenuous efforts” this fall to manage Canada’s spending in ways that gives the nation the flexibility it will need to meet the “serious challenges presented by the United States.”
