Minister Champagne did not want Finance

Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne turned his back on the possibility of becoming Finance Minister on Monday, according to information obtained by - and CBC.

Following the resounding departure of Chrystia Freeland a few hours before the tabling of her economic statement on Monday, conversations took place behind the scenes to quickly find a successor to the resigning minister.

According to our sources, François-Philippe Champagne was tipped to replace Ms. Freeland, in particular because he was next on the succession list pre-established by a routine decree from the Council of Ministers.

A source in the Prime Minister’s office indicates that there was no formal offer presented to Mr. Champagne. The minister would have quickly made it known, proactively, that he did not wish to replace Minister Freeland, who was preparing to table an economic statement which contained a deficit of $62 billion for 2023-2034 and $48 billion for 2024 -2025.

Minister Champagne would have instead expressed his preference to remain in his position in Industry, indicating that he still had a lot of work to accomplish.

It was ultimately the Minister of Public Safety, Dominic LeBlanc, who inherited the position of Minister of Finance. According to our information, he will retain responsibility for the border file, but his functions as Minister of Public Security will soon be entrusted to someone else.

A cabinet reshuffle is expected in Ottawa and could happen as early as this week.

Calls for resignation

The Prime Minister and his close guard were in closed retreat all day Wednesday. Justin Trudeau has held conversations with several of his ministers as he considers his future course of action.

Meanwhile, new liberal voices rose to demand his resignation. Yukon Liberal MP Brendan Hanley believes Justin Trudeau must leave his post as prime minister. I don’t see how he can hold on as leaderdropped Mr. Hanley.

The MP for Fredericton, Jenica Atwin, also calls for the departure of Justin Trudeau. She has made it known that she will not be a Liberal candidate in the next election if he remains leader.

These new voices are added to that of Jean Chrétien’s former chief of staff, Eddie Goldenberg, who insists that Justin Trudeau must leave, for the good of his party and that of the country.

Rightly or wrongly, Canadians want a new prime minister. Not necessarily a new party, but a new prime minister.

In his eyes, the Liberal party executive can give MPs the mandate to choose a new emergency leader, rather than having a leadership race, where the new leader would be chosen by party members.

I find it important, with the arrival of Donald Trump, to have a new prime minister in place by the end of January who will be able to stand up to the presidentbelieves Mr. Goldenberg, emphasizing that Chrystia Freeland would be best placed to play this role.

However, in the Liberal ranks, there are still elected officials who defend Justin Trudeau. The Liberal MP for Sudbury, Marc Serré, reiterated his confidence in the Prime Minister. Same story for his colleague from Ottawa Centre, Yasir Naqvi. For my community, it is important to have a very strong Government of Canada.

He still has the sacred fireadded the Minister of Immigration, Marc Miller. The Prime Minister considers the next two months to be critical for our country. My feeling is that he will stay. But first he has to digest what happened this weekhe argued.

The next few days will be crucial for Justin Trudeau. He must weigh his personal future and that of his party as he prepares to form a new council of ministers ready to face Donald Trump.

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