Ottawa:
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reshuffled his cabinet on Friday, replacing a third of his team as political turmoil threatens his leadership and tensions with incoming U.S. President Donald Trump break out.
The reshuffle comes at the end of a tumultuous week in Ottawa that saw Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland unexpectedly resign over disagreements with her bosses over Trump’s threat to impose sweeping tariffs on Canadian imports. It sparked chaos in Ottawa.
After nearly a decade at Trudeau’s side, her exit marks the first public opposition to the prime minister within the cabinet and has emboldened critics.
Trudeau has since stayed with advisers and is reportedly pondering his political future, amid calls for him to step down ahead of an election scheduled for October 2025, but expected to take place sooner.
In Friday’s realignment, eight new ministers were appointed to replace those in the 35-member cabinet who have said they will not seek re-election, and other ministers were relieved of double or triple duties in the government.
Four current ministers have also been given new responsibilities.
Freeland also resigned as finance minister and said she would seek re-election next year.
Trailing in the polls
Hours after Freeland resigned, Trudeau’s childhood friend and ally Dominic James was sworn in as the new finance minister.
He also took over from her the authority to negotiate with the incoming Trump administration.
Several new cabinet members expressed confidence in Trudeau as they attended a swearing-in ceremony on Friday.
But some members of his caucus have urged him to resign, fearing voter fatigue with his leadership would hamper the Liberal Party’s growth at the next election.
Trudeau swept into power in 2015 and led the Liberals to two more ballot box victories in 2019 and 2021.
But now he trails his main rival, conservative Pierre Pliyev, by 20 percentage points in the polls. His Liberal Party has lost four by-elections this year.
To make matters worse, Trudeau faces the possibility that Trump will impose 25% tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico in January, accusing the two countries of allowing the United States to be flooded with illegal drugs such as fentanyl and undocumented immigrants.
More than 75% of Canada’s exports are sold to the United States, and nearly 2 million Canadian jobs depend on trade.
In his resignation letter, Freeland warned that this could lead to a “tariff war” with the United States and urged Ottawa to stay “fiscally dry” while denouncing Trudeau’s profligate policies.
Trudeau traveled to Florida last month to meet with Trump at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida to try to stop the trade war.
Trump called the dinner talks “very productive.”
But the president-elect has since launched a humiliating attack on Trudeau on social media, repeatedly calling him Canada’s “governor” and declaring that it would be a “good thing” for America’s northern neighbor to become the 51st state. idea”.
Political analysts and officials said the taunts appeared aimed at putting Trudeau at a disadvantage in bilateral negotiations.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)