OTTAWA - Canada's Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland unexpectedly resigned on Monday, saying she was no longer on the same page with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau about the best path forward for Canada. Following is the full text of her resignation letter.It has been the honour of my life to serve in government, working for Canada and Canadians. We have accomplished a lot together.
To be effective, a Minister must speak on behalf of the Prime Minister and with his full confidence. In making your decision, you made clear that I no longer credibly enjoy that confidence and possess the authority that comes with it. 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.
It is this conviction which has driven my strenuous efforts this fall to manage our spending in ways that will give us the flexibility we will need to meet the serious challenges presented by the United States.