Good morning. It’s been a week of whispers concerning Trudeau loyalist Chrystia Freeland – more on that below, along with a B.C. coroner’s second thoughts on drug decriminalization and the successful clean-up of the Seine. But first:
Today’s headlines
- J.D. Vance makes a pitch to working-class voters in his first primetime speech as Donald Trump’s running mate
- Prominent Democrat Adam Schiff calls for President Joe Biden to withdraw as Democrats aim to nominate before the national convention
- An Alberta conservationist has fought fiercely to protect wild places – and now he’s preparing for his final journey
Chrystia Freeland at a news conference last month.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press
Politics
Freeland, Carney and the Finance dilemma
The complaints about Chrystia Freeland started last week, when sources within the Prime Minister’s Office told The Globe and Mail they felt the Finance Minister wasn’t quite selling an upbeat economic message. Perhaps it was time to replace the messenger: One source said that Mark Carney, former governor of both the Bank of Canada and Bank of England, had been floated as a potential replacement.
Justin Trudeau didn’t exactly quell those rumours at a news conference – he declined to say whether he wanted Freeland to stay on the job but did note that he’d been trying for years to recruit Carney to federal politics. At her own news conference on Tuesday, Freeland opted not to weigh in on her future in the role. Then, in a Globe report last night, more sources popped up to say that Trudeau met with Carney over the weekend but hadn’t offered him a cabinet post, while Freeland had been assured her position was currently safe.
So is Canada in store for a finance minister switch-up? And would Carney even want the gig? And why do these rumours sound awfully familiar? I asked Globe columnist John Ibbitson to break it all down.
Is this reportedly chilly relationship between Freeland and Trudeau new, or is it historic?
The chill is new and must be extremely disheartening for Freeland. The Deputy Prime Minister has been the Prime Minister’s most able and loyal cabinet minister, sealing the deal on the European Union and North American free-trade agreements, then replacing Bill Morneau when he resigned as finance minister in August, 2020.
But The Globe reports that there is dissatisfaction with her performance. Trudeau is having conversations both with her and with Mark Carney. Freeland has every reason to be alarmed that Trudeau could replace her as finance minister with Carney.
Speaking of Morneau, some of the details in The Globe’s reporting about Freeland echo his last days in Finance – the whispers about tensions, the vague assurances of the PM’s “full confidence,” even the Carney cameo.
In his memoir, Morneau said that a Globe story reporting dissatisfaction within the PMO over his performance helped convince him he had lost Trudeau’s confidence and must resign. That The Globe is now reporting similar dissatisfaction with Freeland could be history repeating itself.
Sources within the PMO said that Freeland has been ineffective in selling the government’s economic policies. Is that fair, or is she getting thrown under the bus?
To my mind, whenever a government maintains it is having trouble communicating its policies, the problem is with the policies, not with the communications. For example, Freeland isn’t failing to sell the government’s decision to increase the capital gains tax. The increase just isn’t popular.
Mark Carney at Wimbledon last week.Kirsty Wigglesworth/The Associated Press
What would a change at the top of Finance do?
The deep unpopularity of this government, reflected in the polls and in the recent by-election loss in Toronto-St. Paul’s, stems in part from a lack of popular support for the Liberals’ policies in these difficult times. Carney himself criticized the May, 2024, budget, saying: “It was a budget about fairness, as we know, and it wasn’t necessarily a budget about growth and resilience – and we need both.” Replacing Freeland with Carney would signal Trudeau agreed with that criticism. It would signal a new determination to get the government’s fiscal house in order and to pivot from expanding social programs to improving productivity.
What do you think will happen next for Freeland? Not long ago, people were saying she could be next in line for the Liberal leadership.
Freeland was touted as Trudeau’s successor because of her achievements in foreign affairs and international trade. In Finance, however, she has been less sure-footed, continuing to rack up deficits in the tens of billions of dollars and trying – but so far failing – to ease the shortage of affordable housing for younger workers. And she has an unfortunate and no doubt unintended tendency to appear to talk down to people. My guess is she will not remain in her current portfolio after a cabinet shuffle expected later this summer, whatever happens with Carney.
Okay, so what’s in it for Carney? Why might he consider taking over this portfolio?
The all-important questions are whether Carney wants the job of finance minister in a government that must go to the electorate in the fall of 2025, or wants to lead a post-Trudeau Liberal Party that could be consigned to years in opposition.
Should he want either of those things?
Only Carney knows the answer to that.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
The Image
‘It was magnificent – the water is very, very good.’
Seems okay?Abdul Saboor/Reuters
Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo finally made good on her promise to hop in the Seine, which city officials have deemed safe for swimming – just in time for the Olympics next week. Read more here.
The Wrap
What else we’re following
At home: B.C.’s former chief coroner Larry Campbell spent decades fighting for drug decriminalization. Now he’s having second thoughts.
Abroad: After fewer than 25 days in operation, a U.S.-built pier meant to bring humanitarian aid into Gaza is being dismantled and shipped back home.
Mopping up: A day after record-breaking rain deluged Toronto, crews worked to restore power and subway service while homeowners tended to soggy basements.
Checking out: Here’s how a naturopath specializing in women’s health fills her grocery cart.