Parliament Heads for Holiday Break Amid Rising Deficit and Turmoil
With Freeland’s exit and a soaring deficit, Parliament’s holiday break arrives after a chaotic fall session filled with political strife
Ottawa, Canada, Chrystia Freeland, Justin Trudeau, Dominic LeBlanc, NDP, Deficit
Ottawa: So, Parliament is about to kick off its holiday break today. It’s been a wild fall session, full of drama like non-confidence votes and all sorts of delays. And let’s not forget the finance minister’s surprising resignation.
After Chrystia Freeland stepped down from her cabinet role on Monday, some Liberal MPs are now calling for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to consider stepping down too.
Ontario MP Chad Collins mentioned that the Liberal caucus is pretty split right now. He thinks it’s time for a leadership race to shake things up.
Right after the government released its fall economic statement, Dominic LeBlanc was sworn in as the new finance minister. Talk about a quick transition!
The economic update revealed that the deficit has shot up to nearly $62 billion, which is way over the $40 billion target Freeland had set earlier this year.
They’ve also included $1.3 billion in new spending to strengthen border measures, especially with the incoming U.S. president threatening hefty tariffs on Canadian goods.
LeBlanc, who’s also handling intergovernmental affairs, says his top priority will be tackling affordability issues for Canadians.
He’ll keep an eye on public safety and the new border measures until Trudeau reshuffles the cabinet, which is expected soon since some ministers aren’t running for re-election.
Parliament is set to reconvene on January 27, right after Trump’s inauguration.
When they return, the Liberals might find it tough to count on the NDP’s support for confidence votes.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has called for Trudeau to resign, but he hasn’t said if his party would actually vote to bring down the government. So far, they’ve supported the Liberals on non-confidence motions this fall, keeping the minority government afloat.
This fall session has been largely consumed by a filibuster over a Conservative motion about some questionable spending at a now-closed green tech fund, which has held up most legislation since late September.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on December 17, 2024.
David Baxter, The Canadian Press