Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland says she feels that she has the confidence she needs to carry on in her role as finance minister, but won’t say whether Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has offered her any specific assurances.
“To serve as minister in a cabinet you do need the support and confidence of the prime minister… in order to do my job effectively… I do have to feel that I have that confidence,” Freeland told reporters in Markham, Ont. on Tuesday.
“What I will say to everyone here, speaking for myself, is I do have the confidence that I need to do my job effectively.”
Last week, citing unnamed sources, The Globe and Mail reported that senior officials in Trudeau’s office were concerned about Freeland’s economic communications chops, citing a rising tension between the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and Freeland’s office.
Speaking for the first time since the reporting surfaced, Freeland largely deferred comment to Trudeau, who she called “a very eloquent guy,” who is capable of speaking for himself.
Trudeau has said he continues to have “full confidence” in Freeland, who he’s called “a close friend, an ally, and partner in doing really big things for Canada.”
The two top Canadian officials have spent considerable time together over the last few days – both at events over the weekend in the Greater Toronto Area, as well as in Ottawa on Monday – where Freeland said the pair had time to speak at length.
Freeland was repeatedly asked to say if she received any assurances in these interactions that her job was safe, and would only say that she thinks Canada, while facing challenges, is “amazing” and that she considers it a “real privilege” to serve in both her cabinet portfolios.
The reporting has given many political observers déjà vu to when Bill Morneau resigned, back in 2020. At the time – amid the WE Charity controversy – leaks from the prime minister’s office said there were growing rifts with Trudeau over massive COVID-19 spending programs.
Back then – just as he affirmed last week – Trudeau was in talks with former central banker and much-speculated leadership contender Mark Carney about playing a key economic role with the Liberal government.
While some have suggested this smacks of a clear pattern, the PMO has tried to clear the air, asserting there’s no validity to what’s been reported.
Freeland was asked Tuesday if she’s also spoken to Carney to encourage him to run. The deputy prime minister said she’s known Carney for a long time and speaks to him “often,” noting he is her son’s godfather.
“I think Mark is a great Canadian. I am really glad that he has come out as a Liberal, and I’m grateful for any support he can offer our party, our government, and our country,” she said.
The Conservatives have been quick to pounce on the internal Liberal drama, blasting supporters with a fundraising email last Friday, accusing the government of being “desperate,” and “turning against each other.”
“He [Trudeau] refuses to take responsibility himself, so now he’s once again throwing his own ministers under the bus,” the Conservative email read.
Asked what it’s been like to be the centre of this public scrutiny Freeland said she spends “very little time feeling sorry” for herself.
“I know that there are millions, and millions and millions of Canadians who work much harder than any of the dignitaries standing behind this podium, and who do it for less money and less acclaim. Those are the Canadians I think about every single day,” she said.