In tumultuous history of finance minister resignations, Freeland’s exit stands out

Having a finance minister openly condemn the prime minister’s policies on her way out is a fresh level of acrimony in Canadian political history, longtime observers of the country’s politics say.

Chrystia Freeland’s exit from the finance portfolio isn’t a first in Canadian politics, but departing on the eve of an economic update with a stinging rebuke to the Liberal leader is “unprecedented,” political historian Raymond Blake said in an interview Monday.

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“This is really poking both fingers into the eyes of Justin Trudeau,” said Blake, a University of Regina professor whose book Canada’s Prime Ministers and the Shaping of National Identity was published in June.

In her resignation letter made public Monday, Freeland wrote that the government should be “eschewing costly political gimmicks,” and “keeping our fiscal powder dry,” adding that she and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have been “at odds about the best path forward for Canada.”

Blake notes there have been multiple finance ministers in postwar Canadian history who disagreed with the prime minister and then quit. This usually occurs due to the natural tension between the prime minister’s goal of re-electing the government and the finance minister’s role of keeping spending in check, he said.

He cites the example of John Turner, who in 1975 dominated national headlines when he left cabinet. The Canadian Encyclopedia notes that former prime minister Pierre Trudeau’s supporters presented Turner’s resignation as an act of disloyalty. It says the consensus was that he had resigned because he could not convince his colleagues to reduce government spending.

There was also the departure in 2002 of Paul Martin as finance minister from former prime minister Jean Chrétien’s government, as Martin prepared to challenge the first minister’s leadership.

Freeland potentially contributing to defeat

But Blake said Freeland’s departure differs in her open disagreement with the party leader as she is leaving office, potentially contributing to her own government’s future defeat.

“She’s obviously preparing for what comes after Justin Trudeau, or if anything does come after Mr. Trudeau …. That’s quite unusual for someone in the Liberal party, where they don’t like to air their dirty laundry in public,” he said.

Blake said he sees a similarity with Lucien Bouchard quitting Brian Mulroney’s cabinet in 1990, as the Progressive Conservative prime minister struggled to salvage the Meech Lake constitutional accord. Bouchard declared himself in favour of Quebec sovereignty, and his departure fractured their long friendship.

“I think that’s a very good analogy,” said Blake, noting that while Trudeau isn’t a close friend of Freeland’s, “he really prepared her, giving her high-profile positions, and now she’s storming out the door.”

“She was sort of a protégé and that seems to clearly have fallen apart.”

Damage to government ‘severe’

The damage to the Liberal government’s credibility is severe, said Peter Woolstencroft, a professor emeritus of politics at the University of Waterloo.

“It undercuts the message the Liberal team is in charge, because the Liberal team is shooting at each other …. The prime minister is being maladroit in handling the finance minister and so she resigns and leaves him hanging. Now, the government is in turmoil,” he said in an interview Monday.

Woolstencroft said the Freeland departure also stands out in that “it’s happening right on our screens, and we’re watching it as it happens.”

Daniel Béland, director of the Institute for the Study of Canada at McGill University, said in an email Monday that while Freeland is not the first high-profile cabinet minister to slam the door, her departure is a “dramatic episode” that weakens Trudeau’s already damaged leadership.

And there are significant differences from the departures of past finance ministers such as Turner and Martin. Those two, he noted, “didn’t resign the day they were supposed to deliver a major economic and financial statement on the behalf of the government. This is truly unprecedented, and it adds drama to an already dramatic situation.”

The sting is greater because Freeland was second in command in the Trudeau government for years, and she goes out with guns blazing.

“Who she is, the way she left, and the content of the letter all matter here,” Béland said.

Read more:

• Ottawa promises $1.3 billion for border security as U.S. tariff threat looms
• Canadian business leaders say Freeland’s resignation adds uncertainty to trade talks
• Pierre Poilievre is The Canadian Press Newsmaker of the Year for second year in a row