Finance Minister Freeland rocked markets today by submitting her resignation from Cabinet. Trudeau had asked her to take another Cabinet post, but she declined in a scathing letter accusing Trudeau of “costly political gimmicks” like “bribe-us-with-our-own-money cheques for $250 and a two-month GST holiday.
“Inevitably, our time in government will come to an end,” Ms. Freeland said, openly acknowledging what polls have been saying for over a year. “But how we deal with the threat our country currently faces will define us for a generation, and perhaps longer.”
The Federal deficit for 2023-2024 grows from $40 billion to $61.9 billion, partly boosted by a court settlement to pay funds to Indigenous children. The deficit far surpasses Freeland’s guardrail of $40.1 billion for last year’s budget deficit. New spending initiatives were announced amounting to $24 billion over the next six years. The most significant component is accelerated incentives to encourage business investment to improve productivity. This is very similar to a program issued by Finance Minister Frank Morneau years ago.
Dominic LeBlanc has been sworn in as the new Finance Minister.
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