On December 16, Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland announced her resignation from her cabinet role, effectively cutting ties with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). In her resignation letter published on X (formerly Twitter), she decries the “costly political gimmicks” which have exacerbated tensions between Trudeau and her.
On January 6, Justin Trudeau prorogued Parliament and declared he would step down from his role as Prime Minister once the Liberal Party, which he heads, finds a new leader. In doing so, he ended the Parliamentary session, which was supposed to resume in January. It is now set to start again on March 24.
Trudeau and Freeland’s Relationship Evolution
Justin Trudeau first tried to recruit Chrystia Freeland back in 2012. While hesitant at first, she finally agreed, and was elected as a representative to the House of Commons for the riding of Toronto Centre in 2013. At that time, Trudeau still had little credibility in the political arena, and the support of Freeland enhanced his public image as a potential leader in his own right, beyond his association with his father, the former PM Pierre Elliott Trudeau. She stayed by Justin Trudeau’s side when he entered his first term as PM in 2015, and took on the role of Minister of International Trade.
In 2017, as rumoured tension between Justin Trudeau and Minister of Foreign Affairs Stéphane Dion was reported, Chrystia Freeland replaced Dion following a cabinet shuffle. In 2019, with the commencement of Trudeau’s second term, she was given both the role of Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs and Deputy Prime Minister; while the latter was perhaps more of an honorary cabinet role, it denoted her growing influence over government affairs. During this time, she played a significant role in negotiating the United-States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA)—arguably her greatest political achievement thus far. In 2020, following disagreements between then-Minister of Finance Bill Morneau and Justin Trudeau, Freeland replaced Morneau, and kept that position until her resignation on December 16.
“Governing from the Centre”
Donald Savoie, an influential Canadian author, warned Canadians about the dynamic of power centralization around the PMO decades ago. In his magnum opus, Governing From the Centre, he critiques the concentration of power in the PMO at the expense of the authority historically conferred to Parliament members, cabinet Ministers, and public servants, who are crucial to the mediation between the Canadian government and its citizens.
This ever-growing concentration of power around the PM can be explained by high levels of party discipline and an increase in agenda-setting powers. Indeed, in the last few decades, MPs have consistently voted on bills in accordance with their affiliated party’s position. Furthermore, the agenda-setting powers accrued by the government have reduced backbenchers’ ability to introduce and deliberate over their desired bills. This has potentially sapped the Parliament’s authority: the confidence convention demands that the government maintain the confidence of the legislative assembly, and thus defer to its members. Such practices, hence, delegitimize this convention.
Another issue is the constitutionally entrenched power that the Governor General holds in dismissing members from the Privy Council. By convention, the PM, whose advice the Governor General defers to, can indirectly dismiss any member from cabinet, notably through their replacement. Ministers are thus heavily inclined to follow the PM’s resolve given the constant threat of a demotion. The dismissal of Dion under Trudeau’s command illustrates how the PM has been able to create a tight-knit circle through which flows an extreme amount of power. Savoie has warned Canadians once again: “This is not cabinet government. This is presidential government”.
Trudeau-Freeland-Telford Triumvirate?
Freeland arguably had the most power after the PM in this tight-knit circle, characterized as a “triumvirate” between Justin Trudeau, Chrystia Freeland, and Katie Telford, the PM’s Chief of Staff. The heavy centralization of power in their hands manifested itself once again when Freeland and Trudeau announced a tax break and the distribution of $250 cheques to working Canadians without first presenting it to neither the Liberal caucus nor the cabinet.
However, Freeland did not come away damage-free from the PM’s tendency to move Ministers around. Indeed, while she publicly endorsed Trudeau’s tax break plans, behind closed doors, Freeland voiced disapproval of the plan, which will cost around $1.6 billion. Instead, she wanted to set aside a monetary sum in preparation of American President-elect Donald Trump’s tariff threats. This resistance and its ensuing tensions are likely what led Trudeau to inform Freeland he was going to give her role as Minister of Finance to Mark Carney, former Governor of the Bank of Canada.
This fatal move led to Freeland’s resignation, who decided to step down rather than accept her demotion. As power had been so centralized around both individuals, Freeland’s departure led to the fall of Trudeau, and his own resignation. While Freeland was in the running for the Liberal leadership, it is Carney, former governor of the Bank of Canada, who has stepped in as the new leader of the Liberal Party.
Edited by Catriona Hayes Morris
The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and they do not reflect the position of the McGill Journal of Political Science or the Political Science Students’ Association.Featured image by Blair Gable