Acadian Minister Dominic LeBlanc replaces at short notice the position of Minister of Finance of Canada, left vacant the same morning by the resounding resignation of Justin Trudeau’s former right-hand woman, Chrystia Freeland, when she was due to submit her economic statement of autumn.
Already Minister of Public Safety, Democratic Institutions and Intergovernmental Affairs, the New Brunswick politician was given a new portfolio two days after his 57th birthday. He was sworn in at Rideau Hall, the residence of the Governor General of Canada, late Monday afternoon.
This appointment comes in the midst of a leadership crisis for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. His deputy prime minister, Chrystia Freeland, declared Monday morning on social networks that she “disagreed” with the prime minister “on the best path forward for Canada.” She left her post as minister immediately, and did not present her fall economic statement herself.
Minister LeBlanc therefore inherits the task of defending Ottawa’s latest economic plan, which now includes a larger deficit than expected at $48.3 billion at a time when the next President of the United States, Donald Trump, threatens the country with customs tariffs of 25%.
This mission will be further complicated by the fact that the very survival of the Trudeau government seems to be hanging by a thread. The Conservatives and Bloc members who demand new elections were joined on Monday by the New Democratic Party, its former ally in Parliament, whose leader, Jagmeet Singh, officially requested the resignation.
Close to Justin Trudeau and first elected in 2000, Mr. LeBlanc has held the important position of Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs since 2020. The Prime Minister, however, gave him the additional responsibility of Minister of Public Safety, in 2023, to turn the page on a controversy which stuck to the skin of the previous minister Marco Mendicino.
– With Sandrine Vieira
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