The new minister was sworn in Monday and has been a life-long Trudeau ally
Canada has a new finance minister following the shock decision of Chrystia Freeland to resign from the cabinet after apparently being told by Justin Trudeau that he wanted her to step down from her role.
Newly sworn in as finance minister is Dominic LeBlanc who has been serving as public safety minister and is a close ally of the prime minister with the two having been friends since childhood. It’s understood that LeBlanc will retain his public safety role as well as the finance job in the near term.
Dominic LeBlanc is a New Brunswick MP but started his professional life as a lawyer before entering politics. He is the son of Roméo LeBlanc, a former MP, Senator, and the 25th Governor General of Canada.
The resignation of Freeland just before she was due to table the economic statement is unprecedented and led to the statement being delayed. When it eventually arrived, it revealed a $62 billion deficit for Ottawa’s finances, well above the original $40 billion target. WP will have more on the statement later.
Housing minister Sean Fraser has also announced that he will not seek re-election. He made his statement shortly after Freeland’s resignation.
Freeland, who was also deputy prime minister, issued a scathing letter after resigning including a hard swipe at Trudeau:
“For the past number of weeks, you and I have found ourselves at odds about the best path forward for Canada.
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 per cent tariffs.
We need to take that threat extremely seriously. That means keeping our fiscal powder dry today, so we have the reserves we may need for a coming tariff war. That means eschewing costly political gimmicks, which we can ill afford and which make Canadians doubt that we recognize the gravity of the moment.”
Justin Trudeau is facing growing demands to resign by opposition MPs and some Liberals but has says he intends to continue to lead his party into the next election. However, opponents want the Canadian public to be given the chance to vote before the October 2025 date that is currently set.
