VOA News | Monday, December 16, 2024 
Canada’s finance minister resigns as PM Trudeau deals with declining popularity

TORONTO — Canadian Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, long Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s most powerful and loyal minister, announced Monday she was resigning from the Cabinet in a move that stunned the country and raised questions about how much longer the unpopular Trudeau can stay in his job. Freeland, who was also deputy prime minister, said Trudeau had told her Friday that he no longer wanted her to serve as finance minister and that he offered her another role in the Cabinet. But she said in her resignation letter to the prime minister that the only “honest and viable path” was to leave the Cabinet. “For the past number of weeks, you and I have found ourselves at odds about the best path forward for Canada,” Freeland said. Freeland and Trudeau disagreed about a two-month sales tax holiday and $250 Canadian (US$175) checks to Canadians that were recently announced. Freeland said Canada is dealing with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s threat to impose sweeping 25% tariffs and should eschew “costly political gimmicks” it can “ill afford.” “Our country is facing a grave challenge,” Freeland said…Read more