Canada’s finance minister, Bill Morneau, announced his resignation on August 17, 2020, on the heels of an ethics scandal and amid a reported split with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau over pandemic spending. Canada’s finance minister Bill Morneau announced his resignation Monday, on the heels of an ethics scandal and amid a reported split with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau over pandemic spending.
For the past week, Canadian media have reported on a purported rift emerging between Morneau and Trudeau on how to reboot the Canadian economy weakened by the new coronavirus pandemic, as the government budget deficit soared to more than Can$340 billion . The prime minister apologized last month for the affair, saying he made a mistake in not recusing himself from discussions about awarding the roughly Can$500 million contract to distribute student scholarship funds to WE Charity.Opposition parties had called for Morneau to resign after he revealed that he had only recently paid back more than Can$41,000 in travel expenses to the charity, and that one of his daughters works for WE Charity while a second daughter volunteered for the organization.
The Conservatives and New Democrats on Monday said Morneau’s departure was a sign of a government “in chaos” and that the former businessman was being made a scapegoat. In a statement, Trudeau thanked Morneau for his tireless work to “create a resilient, fair economy that benefits everyone.”