After removing Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland from her role, the Liberal government under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau released its fall economic statement on Monday, revealing a deficit far exceeding what they previously promised.
This economic update, which was tabled by Government House Leader Karina Gould rather than the usual Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, who “resigned” from cabinet after getting booted from her role by Trudeau, reveals a staggering deficit of $61.9 billion for the 2023-24 fiscal year, a figure well above the $40.1 billion cap the Liberals had committed to maintaining.
The absence of a traditional presentation by the Finance Minister was notable amid the current turmoil within the Liberal Party, as the statement was dropped off in Parliament with no accompanying speech or opportunity for questions.
Moreover, the timing of their admission of failure comes one day before Parliament is set to close for the year.
Conservative MPs, including figures like Mel Arnold and Dan Albas, have lambasted the Liberals for what they see as an abdication of democratic responsibility, with Albas calling it “stupefying arrogance” and “not democratic.”
On Monday, Deputy Prime Minister Freeland and Housing Minister Sean Fraser both announced they were leaving cabinet on Monday, along with a number of other Liberal MPs openly calling for the Prime Minister to step down.
This all came after Chrystia Freeland announced that Trudeau removed her from her role, and she refused to accept a demotion to stay within cabinet, and fired shots at Trudeau in her resignation letter. Freeland said Trudeau was guilty of deploying “costly political gimmicks.”
Dominic LeBlanc, the former Public Safety Minister, has been sworn in as the new Finance Minister.
