Oh Canada!

Is the Trudeau government in meltdown? With once deputy PM Freeland resigning and Sean Fraser leaving hours earlier, it seems to be on life support
Can Mark Carney rescue them from this mess?

This page is a permanent link to the reply below and its nested replies. See all post replies »

swirlie · 31-35

It's much about nothing. The only thing that really happened with Freeland, was that she got re-assigned to another posting and LaBlanc took over from where she had left off as Minister of Finance.

Sean Fraser's portfolio was a meaningless make-work project anyway, so no loss there.

Freeland resigning as Deputy Prime Minister on the same day, was also a non-event because the position doesn't actually exist in the parliamentary system anyway. The position of Deputy PM is not required in Canada, but was started as a temporary position by PM Pierre Trudeau in 1977 to serve a specific need at the time, but then was carried on as an unofficial and pretty much meaningless old Canadian parliamentary tradition.

MrGrumpy · M

@swirlie Fraser was seen as a rising star. And Freeland resigned as Finance minister. She was Deputy PM few years ago and as you rightly pointed out, it’s an unnecessary position which isn’t currently filled

swirlie · 31-35

@MrGrumpy
Freeland did not resign as Finance Minister, she was demoted by Trudeau to another portfolio the day before this all happened, followed with the announcement that LaBlanc would be taking over from her as Finance Minister.

Freeland was also the Deputy PM up until yesterday, which meant that prior to December 16th, she was both the Minister of Finance AND the Deputy Prime Minister, which is not common but has occurred at least two other times since 1977. Therefore, on December 16th, she resigned from Trudeau's Cabinet and then she resigned as Deputy Prime Minister on the same day.

MrGrumpy · M

@swirlie She was offered a smaller role which is why she resigned. Either way her departure is a loss for liberals

It’s definitely not nothing

swirlie · 31-35

@MrGrumpy
She wasn't offered a "smaller role", she was offered an entirely different government portfolio, which she viewed as being a demotion from what she had been doing since 2016 as Finance Minister. She didn't resign from being Finance Minister, she was re-assigned in her job description.

She could have resigned from cabinet which she did after refusing to accept her new portfolio offered by Trudeau, then held NO cabinet position whatsoever while still maintaining her role as Deputy Prime Minister indefinitely, but instead she chose to resign not only from Trudeau's cabinet, but from her position as Deputy Prime Minister as well.... two resignations from her in one day, which means she resigned from the Federal Government.

It definitely IS nothing because LaBlanc will take her place as Finance Minister and therefore, that position is filled by a very competent person, just as she was and nothing changes.

The position of Deputy PM is quite irrelevant and therefore totally unnecessary because it's an un-official government assignment and could go vacant for years if the PM decided to leave it vacant.

MrGrumpy · M

@swirlie Departure of a seasoned high ranking cabinet member is a big blow. But you are entitled to your view

swirlie · 31-35

@MrGrumpy
LaBlanc is her equal, not as smart academically, but is her equal as Finance Minister. We have no worries about him here in Canada!

MrGrumpy · M

@swirlie Not a commentary on LeBlanc. Loss of Freeland is a big loss. Not just cause she was smart and well respected but also because she was so close to PM

swirlie · 31-35

@MrGrumpy
She was close to PM until she suddenly wasn't, then all bets were off and they didn't even walk beside each other anymore! Truth is, she would make a better PM than Trudeau and she should make a run for PM in 2025 election.

MrGrumpy · M

@swirlie She needs to convince enough of them to choose her as their leader

swirlie · 31-35

@MrGrumpy
She doesn't need to convince anyone really, her past performance speaks for itself.

MrGrumpy · M

@swirlie She needs to be elected as the leader of the party

swirlie · 31-35

@MrGrumpy
I fully agree and I think a Leadership convention will be occurring sooner than later because I honestly feel that Trudeau's political career has run it's course.