OTTAWA - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appointed his close ally and deputy Chrystia Freeland as the country's new finance minister on Tuesday amid plans to outline a revamped agenda and pandemic recovery plan.
Freeland, who is considered Trudeau's most likely successor as Liberal Party leader, spearheaded negotiations of the United States-Mexico-Canada trade pact in 2017 and 2018 as Canada's foreign minister. After the Liberals won an election last year, Freeland was named deputy prime minister, a position she will keep, and took over as intergovernmental affairs minister, charged with improving relations with the 10 provinces.Trudeau is scheduled to give a news conference at 3.30pm ET .
Freeland now will be tasked with reviving an economy crippled by the Covid-19 pandemic, with the budget deficit this fiscal year forecast to hit C$343.2 billion ."Freeland does not have the business background of her predecessor, but she managed the ministry of foreign affairs file remarkably well, including dealing with the difficult renegotiation of free trade with the United States," said Craig Alexander, chief economist with Deloitte Canada.
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