Prime Minister Justin Trudeau refused to confirm or deny rumours that he plans to replace Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland with former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney.
Trudeau did confirm that he’s been trying to get Carney to join his Liberal Party, though, which is currently getting smoked in public opinion polls by the Conservatives.
The reporter’s question to Trudeau comes just hours after Robert Fife of the Globe and Mail reported that Trudeau plans to shuffle Freeland out of the Finance Minister role, and bring in former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney.
“I have been talking with Mark Carney for years now about getting him to join federal politics,” Trudeau responded, speaking in Washington, D.C., on the final day of the 2024 NATO summit. He added, “I think he would be an outstanding addition at a time when Canadians need good people to step up in politics.”
Trudeau went on to say: “In regards to Chrystia, she has been a close friend and ally and partner in doing really big things for Canada and will continue to be.”
Notably, Trudeau didn’t say she will continue to be the Finance Minister.
Trudeau has a lengthy history of throwing women under the bus to save himself, though Freeland hasn’t done herself any favours, with the cost-of-living crisis many Canadians are experiencing. From 2019—one year before Freeland took over as Finance Minister— until 2023, there was an explosive 78.5% spike in food bank visitors across Canada.
Freeland is recognized internationally mostly for freezing the bank accounts of Canadians who donated to the Freedom Convoy.
The Prime Minister further said on Thursday that he has “full confidence” in Freeland’s “abilities,” and that he’s excited about the “work we’re going to be doing together.” But again, Trudeau danced around the topic as to whether this work would be in her current role as the Finance Minister, or another one.
Freeland sued by Freedom Convoy protesters
In February, a number of Freedom Convoy protesters who had their bank accounts frozen by the Trudeau Government’s invocation of Emergencies Act have sued the Prime Minister and Finance Minister, Chrystia Freeland.
The development came just weeks after a Federal Court judge ruled that Trudeau’s decision to invoke the Emergencies Act, which gave the government unprecedented power, was a violation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
