FILE: Canada government adrift after finance minister resigns as Trump tariffs loom

Record ID: 1889563

  • Title: FILE: Canada government adrift after finance minister resigns as Trump tariffs loom
  • Date: 17th December 2024
  • Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (FILE - DECEMBER 3, 2019) (HOST POOL) VARIOUS OF TRUDEAU, THEN-BRITISH PRIME MINISTER BORIS JOHNSON, FRENCH PRESIDENT EMMANUEL MACRON, THEN-DUTCH PRIME MINISTER MARK RUTTE AND BRITAIN'S PRINCESS ANNE SPEAKING AMONGST EACH OTHER AT BUCKINGHAM PALACE RECEPTION (SOUNDBITE) (English) CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER JUSTIN TRUDEAU, SAYING: "The relations
  • Embargoed: 31st December 2024 11:24
  • Keywords: Canada Justin Trudeau Prime Minister Trudeau
  • Location: VARIOUS
  • City: VARIOUS
  • Country: Canada
  • Topics: North America,Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA00M994928082024RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: The abrupt resignation of Canada's finance minister leaves the government adrift less a month before the inauguration of a new U.S. administration that could impose crippling sanctions on Canadian exports.
    Chrystia Freeland quit on Monday (December 16) after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau offered her a lesser position. She said his wish to increase spending could endanger Canada's ability to withstand the damage done by the tariffs that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is threatening to impose.
    Freeland had headed a special cabinet committee on Canada-U.S. relations and was working closely with the 10 provinces to ensure a united response.
    An unimpressed Alberta premier, Danielle Smith, one of Trudeau's biggest domestic critics, said the provincial leaders had only learned halfway through their call that the point person on Canada-U.S. relations had quit.
    Unhappy legislators from the ruling Liberal Party, some of whom have been calling on Trudeau to quit for months, met on Monday in Ottawa to vent their frustration.
    The Liberals are trailing badly in the polls ahead of an election that must be held by late October 2025. Trudeau has until now ruled out the idea of resigning but if pressure on him mounts significantly, the results could be unpredictable.
    When Trump came to power in 2017 he vowed to tear up the trilateral free trade treaty with Canada and Mexico. Freeland, who was then foreign minister, played a large role in helping renegotiate the pact and saving Canada's economy, which is heavily reliant on the United States.
    REUTERS / CBC / UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SERVICE / UKRAINIAN PARLIAMENT TV / U.S. NETWORK POOL / ANI / HOST TV / SOCIAL MEDIA WEBSITE / EU POOL / HOST POOL / NBC / AGENCY POOL / UK POOL / CANADIAN POOL / CANADIAN POOL VIA CBC / REUTERS FOR AGENCY POOL / HOST BROADCASTER / PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE / IRIB / SOMOS CONSULTING / VETERANS AFFAIRS CANADA / CTV / CBC &ndash
  • Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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