It’s the end of the line one way or another for Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. He won’t survive this. 
Trudeau’s Top Lieutenant Resigns Over Differences on Trump
The Washington Post reports Trudeau’s Top Lieutenant Resigns Over Differences on Trump
Justin Trudeau’s chief lieutenant throughout his tenure as Canada’s prime minister resigned from his cabinet on Monday, citing differences over how to confront President-elect Donald Trump’s “America First” economic nationalism, threatened tariffs and a possible trade war.
The abrupt resignation of Chrystia Freeland, who served the past four years as both finance minister and deputy prime minister, is the latest blow to the embattled Trudeau, whose popularity has nosedived over the past year. If federal elections were held today, polls project a wipeout for his Liberal Party.
In her resignation letter, posted on Freeland’s X account Monday morning, shortly before she was scheduled to deliver a fallfiscal and economicupdate to Parliament, Freeland said Trudeau told her that he no longer wanted her to serve as his finance minister and offered her another cabinet role.
“Upon reflection, I have concluded that the only honest and viable path is for me to resign from the Cabinet,” she said. “To be effective, a Minister must speak on behalf of the Prime Minister and with his full confidence. In making your decision, you made clear that I no longer credibly enjoy that confidence and possess the authority that comes with it.”
Freeland — a former journalist whom Trudeau named foreign minister in 2017 as part of a cabinet shuffle designed to prepare the government for the first Trump administration — said that for several weeks, she and Trudeau had been “at odds about the best path forward for Canada,” including on how best to respond to the “grave challenge” posed by the U.S. president-elect’s threatened tariffs of 25 percent on Canadian imports. Canada sends three-quarters of its exports to the United States, and economists project that such levies could plunge Canada into a recession.
“We need to take that threat extremely seriously,” Freeland said in her statement. “That means keeping our fiscal powder dry today, so we have the reserves we may need for a coming tariff war. That means eschewing costly political gimmicks, which we can ill afford and which make Canadians doubt that we recognize the gravity of the moment.”
Several lawmakers on Monday appeared shocked by the resignation.
Freeland’s resignation injected fresh turmoil into Trudeau’s government. Several cabinet ministers have stepped down from their roles in recent weeks, saying that they do not plan to run in federal elections that must take place by next October. Housing Minister Sean Fraser also announced his resignation on Monday.
But few cabinet ministers have wielded as much influence or power in Trudeau’s government as Freeland, whom he entrusted with so many portfolios that commentators here nicknamed her the “Minister of Everything.” Some considered her Trudeau’s heir apparent.
She played a key role in the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement during the first Trump administration, drawing the ire of the then president — “we don’t like their representative very much,” Trump once said of her — but earning the respect of then-U.S. Trade Representative Robert E. Lighthizer.
Finance Minister Shocks Canada by Quitting
Bloomberg reports Finance Minister Shocks Canada by Quitting Amid Rift Over Fiscal Policy and Trump
Freeland has been the most powerful person serving under Trudeau for years and also held the title of deputy prime minister. After Donald Trump won the US presidential election, the prime minister appointed her to lead a cabinet group developing a strategy on how to respond to US policies.
She announced her exit in a social media post on Monday morning, saying in a letter to the prime minister that the two are “at odds about the best path forward for Canada.” She released it just hours before she was due to deliver a fiscal and economic update in parliament.
Trudeau has yet to name a replacement, but the Finance Department announced on Tuesday afternoon that the fiscal update would proceed. It was expected to be unveiled at approximately 4 p.m. Ottawa time, though it was not immediately clear who would introduce it in the House of Commons.
The Canadian dollar fell as low as C$1.4271 per US dollar, while bond yields jumped, taking the benchmark two-year note to 3.05% as of 11:58 a.m. Ottawa time. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre called for an election.
“This is a serious moment. It’s time for the government’s mandate to come to an end. This cannot go on,” Poilievre said.
The sudden departure of one of Trudeau’s most loyal ministers — someone who has held senior cabinet posts during the entire nine years of this government — is a staggering blow for a prime minister who has lost a number of senior officials in recent months. His Liberal Party is trailing the Conservative Party by about 20 points in recent public opinion polls, with an election due next year.
Freeland’s resignation letter talked about Trump’s “aggressive economic nationalism,” including his threat to impose 25% tariffs against goods from Canada and Mexico — a move that would be extremely harmful to Canada’s economy.
“Our country today faces a grave challenge,” Freeland wrote. “We need to take that threat extremely seriously. That means keeping our fiscal powder dry today, so we have the reserves we may need for a coming tariff war. That means eschewing costly political gimmicks, which we can ill afford and which make Canadians doubt that we recognize the gravity of the moment.”
The phrase “political gimmicks” is likely a reference to the government’s announcement last month that it plans to implement a two-month sales-tax holiday on certain items, such as toys and Christmas trees, and send C$250 checks to millions of Canadians.
Canadian Polls
CTVNews reports Conservatives Still in Majority Territory
Nearly three weeks after the Liberals first announced their “tax break for all Canadians,” Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives remain in comfortable majority territory, according to latest ballot tracking by Nanos Research. It shows the Conservatives at 42 per cent nationally, while the Liberals and the NDP are within the margin of error of each other at 23 per cent and 21 per cent, respectively.
The Liberals introduced their economic measures “thinking maybe it would change the numbers; however, the reality is that the Liberals have tried everything,” Nik Nanos, CTV News pollster and Nanos Research Chair said on the latest episode of Trend Line. “This is the latest thing and it’s obviously not working, and Pierre Poilievre and the Conservatives are just hammering away (at the Liberals) over and over again and probably just can’t wait for an election.”
If an election were to be held today, those projections show Poilievre would become prime minister with a majority Conservative government.
Five Reasons Why I’m Not Taking 25 Percent Tariffs Seriously
- For starters, tariffs would tend to strengthen the US dollar over the Canadian dollar. This would make US exports to Canada more expensive.
- Second, much US framing lumber comes from Canada. Tariffs would increase the cost of building a home in the US.
- Third, how much Fentanyl is really coming into the US from Canada? More likely it’s the other way around.
- Fourth, Canada is an ally and the United States’ third largest trading partner. It cannot do the US a damn bit of good to harm it’s third largest trading partner.
- Fifth, USMCA is a signed deal. It would take an act of Congress to break the deal. Trump could act alone, but that would damage faith in making any deals with the US.
Canada may be taking Trump seriously on tariff threats, but I am not.
Good Riddance to Trudeau
Canada cannot possibly get rid of Trudeau fast enough. The damage Trudeau has done to Canada is lasting and immense.
Those looking for a 5D chess play vs economic foolishness may wish to consider the possibility that Trump’s real goal all along was to hasten the demise of Trudeau.
If that was Trump’s real game, not tariff nonsense, then Trump may have succeeded.
Regardless, whatever goal Trump really had in mind, getting rid of Trudeau faster was either a success or a side benefit.
Collapse After Collapse
- The Canadian government won’t survive.
- The German government collapsed today.
- The French government collapsed earlier this year.
I did not expect to be writing about two government collapses today. But here we are.
German Government Collapses
Earlier today I commented The German Government Collapses, Early Elections Are Coming up
Chancellor Olaf Scholz lost a confidence vote on Monday leaving a deeply fragmented Germany in his wake.
Battle With Trump Looms
The German and French governments are both nonfunctional. This is a disaster on deck for the EU.
Because the US is the fastest growing economy, the dollar keeps getting stronger.
Currency wars are coming over spending, investments, and trade.
All these governments are collapsing because of the Eurodollar drought, the debt and demographics crisis putting pressure on profits and jobs, the unwanted mass immigration putting pressure on the citizens, the synthetic price-rises used to hide deflation and the contraction of credit (there is no and has not been any real or significant actual inflation over recent years) this is all the long playing out of the GFC, and it has much further to run… more national governments under pressure in Asia as well as the EU and Anglosphere, and interest rates continuing to fall as global trade dries up and prompts protectionism, as is seen in Asia trying to fend off dumping of cheap tat from China. The EU itself is in a long slow existential crisis too.
That Trudeau “lead” a country for so many years is frightening. My only hope is that the damage he has done can be reversed. It likely cannot.
How is this a collapse? The Assad regime collapsed. Canada still has a government.
“Collapse After Collapse”
Tis the season of the cycle.
“Canada cannot possibly get rid of Trudeau fast enough. The damage Trudeau has done to Canada is lasting and immense.”
I read the other day that Jordan Peterson is leaving Canada for the U.S.
Follow the money I guess.
There is no difference between Freeland and Trudeau.
Freeland is the one driving all this gross financial theft and parasitism for globalist causes.
And a Soros pal all the way–she was going to write his biography!
The whole Canadian Cabinet and bureaucracy should not be allowed to step down and go away without consequences and accountability.
A Trucker 2.0 on a national scale is needed lasting a decade. Canada is horrendous now.
Wolf on the Canadian real estate bubble – when you get the top of a graph, just don’t look down.
The Most Splendid Housing Bubbles in Canada, Nov. 2024: Condo Prices Drop to New 3-Year Low, Single-Family Prices Stable at -17% from Peak in March 2022 | Wolf Street
Canada collapsed the day Trudeau first took office.
Is southern South America (Chile and Argentina) the only place not in an uproar at the moment?
It’s all fake… all orchestrated
Could be, what isn’t orchestrated is how pissed off most of the public in most countries feel.
All analysis is USELESS.
Garbage in.. garbage out…
https://www.zerohedge.com/economics/biden-lied-about-everything-philly-fed-finds-all-jobs-created-q2-were-fake
Then there are those skyrocketing excess death and disabilities due to the covid vaccines that are creating enormous amounts of job openings — that is not being factored into the numbers….
Juncker – when things get really bad — you have to LIE
Things are REALLY bad… but we know that … the middle and lower classes have been hammered
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I’m very sorry for Zalensky.
Your loyal supporters are in deep trouble and
your troubles are deeper and deeper.
I’m not. It’s time to throw in the towel while there are still some Ukrainians left. Move to Florida or wherever his mansion is and relax.
From a fellow that knew a bit about change: “There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen.”
Vladimir Lenin
How soon can we get Trudeau out?
He’s just another domino.
When the chief exec officer of company sells shares or resigns, there are big internal problems. How bad are Canada’s finances that Trudeau’s leadership will bring severe economic times to Canada?
Is Trump still going to make a deal to acquire Greenland?
He should make an offer for Western Canada and the Maritimes. Canada can be Ontario. Quebec, and Nunavut.
who needs “None of it”? Quebec can apply to join the EU as part of France, which they’d love. Newfoundland can come back to the UK… in fact all of it can… along with the USA, Australia, NZ, all is forgiven, extend the US constitution across the Anglo-Celtic Federal Empire, Trump is half-Scottish anyway, so he is eligible to be Prime Minister as well as President, and keep King Charlie as a decoration for the tourists to enjoy.
I think the Canada deal nullifies the need for Greenland. Canada is much more important geographically and strategically. Trump was generous to offer statehood to Canada. Can probably get a much better deal now that Canada’s government is on the verge of collapsing.
Yeah, no thanks. We don’t need another socialist state. Canada can have ours.
Greenland is ostensibly Danish, not Canadian.
The Greenlanders might not agree, if given a choice between being a dependency of an EU state outside the EU, and being a state of the US, they might need some persuasion as to where their economic interests lie.
Fun facts. When Trump was campaigning for his fist term, he visited Pacific North-West just across the border with Canada. Apparently, many Canadians crossed the border to attend. This time around, Turdhole ruining the country for eight years, the crowds would have been ten times bigger.
The US is 36 trillion in debt. That’s 36 thousand billions. We can’t afford anything much less Greenland. Sadly the reverse is probably true and our territory will decrease. But our situation was totally avoidable. Our officials have allowed our country to be looted.
How’s that work? global sea level rise? If the country is in debt and one state, e.g.: Texas Republic or Kingdom of Hawai’i decide to resume their nationhood, do they have to get lumbered with a share of DC debt?
With all these collapsing Governments everywhere, and I do mean everywhere, are they therefore more portable? Or perhaps they can be conveniently tucked away out of sight? Inquiring minds want to know.
You forgot to mention the South Korea government collapse.
What is wrong with democracy?
They say its perfect.
Say the wolves to the sheep
Socialism apparently.
This is called democracy in action.
And Syrian. That collapse might have serious complications as thousands of ISIS members have been released.
that one is a bit different, it’s a function of America’s war in The Ukraine.
China too… UK gov is hanging by a thread. The Dutch can’t form a gov. The Austrians and Romanians let their respective presidents refuse to let the winner of their elections be the winner. Spain’s government is under threat of collapse by Catalans. Portugal was having problems earlier this year along the lines of Belgium, who can’t form a government after 2 years!!! the list goes on…
Second, much US framing lumber comes from Canada. Tariffs would increase the cost of building a home in the US.Everyone in US government wants higher home prices and less affordability. This is a godsend for them, not a detriment. If you think government is “concerned” about housing affordability, you haven’t been paying attention to their actions.
This was a quote from the article that was bulleted in my version of this web page’s comment editor, but apparently the bullet was deleted:
“Second, much US framing lumber comes from Canada. Tariffs would increase the cost of building a home in the US.”
Why the down vote? The US is very clearly doing everything in its power to push up home prices, from every direction imaginable!!
You’re not wrong.
What a despicable person! Freezing the bank accounts of protesting truckers. It’s almost as if she descended from Nazis.
which she did, well a ukrainian quisling, but that is splitting hairs ….
Canada has been for twenty year, by far the largest foreign supply of crude oil and gas to the USA, something like 4 million barrels per day……Trump is not going to put a tariff on that……
There has even been talk lately of Alberta and Saskatchewan seceding from Canada and becoming the 51st and 52nd states of the USA ….my own opinion is that the USA should offer them California in trade……
It’s all about getting Turdo deposed and giving the Canucks the purging relief of a general election to finally give a verdict on the hellscape that’s been inflicted on them over recent years.
Will Trudeau’s government continue in a nonfunctional limbo for the coming year until scheduled elections or will early elections be called sooner? What is the likely outcome of this?
With the Conservatives poised to win a landslide in the next election, there is little appetite for the other opposition parties to bring down the current government. In the present minority government, those other parties can actually have some influence. With a Conservative majority government, they would have no influence. So I wouldn’t anticipate an election soon. Even though I look forward to a Conservative majority. It would be good for my Canadian energy stocks.
And yet the NDP has responded to the pressure to not lash themselves to the Liberals’ mast, and has openly asked Turdo to resign – but given, they just want the turd flushed, not cosy coalition.
Freeland said her strategy for a Trump Tariff war was — “That means keeping our Fiscal powder dry today, so we have the Reserves we may need for a coming tariff war.” But I wonder what Fiscal Powder she is talking about ? Talcum Powder is about all Canada has left Fiscally — in any dust off with Trump. So, Freeland after that reflection decided to jump ship.
2024 numbers
Population
US 346 million vs Canada 41 million
Federal Deficit
US $1.6 Trillion vs Canada $60 billion
Federal Debt
US $36 Trillion vs Canada $2.3 Trillion
Federal Unfunded Liabilities
US $220 Trillion vs Canada $1.2 Trillion
US – GDP 27361
Canada – GDP 2140
USD is major reserve currency.
CAD is minor.
US Bond Market:
Canadian Bond Market:
Good info. Thanks for adding it.
Question: Is it a net positive for the US to have such a large debt market?
They say – Yuan can’t be major reserve currency because of small debt market. ( One of the reasons )
My understanding –
Big debt market means you can borrow more and spend more. US can make the stock market and economy big artificially and can justify big debt by debt to GDP ratio.
More billionaires.
Less inflation by absorbing extra dollars in bonds.
Shhhhhhh don’t tell anybody – more debt leads to unsustainable.
I expect a Conservative Majority government in Canada, once an election is held. Which is a positive for Canada’s oil and gas sector.
The Canadian Government has released their Economic outlook, in spite of Freeland’s resignation.
The main news is the Canadian Federal Deficit came in at $60 billion C$ vs the original estimate of $40 billion. Doesn’t sound too bad compared to the US $1.6 trillion.
Who’s going to wear the blackface and dance like a fairy?
And grope some women while claiming to be a feminist.
Baby Castro is fried. Like an egg.
The people of Canada kept him in power for 9 years a immatture total loser.
Hopefully they elect someone competent if there are any
An immature total loser? Interesting take. He won a seat in the 5 elections he ran in: 2008, 2011, 2015, 2019, and 2021
He became Liberal leader in 2013, and was elected Prime Minister three times, in 2015, 2019, and 2021.
What would have made him a winner in your eyes?
They are going to elect Pierre Poilievre, who is leader of the Conservative Party, in the next election. What is your expert opinion on him?
He speaks French with a weird accent.
And why would I care about that?
All Canadians do.
He was essentially elected because he’s good looking. He’s the Canadian Warren Harding.
Without those looks he never could have survived the Blackface scandal, groping women scandal etc.
More useless drivel. Is that all people here do?
You must be new here.
Immature total loser in terms of his attitude and aptitude, and a beneficiary of a very unrepresentative system. Much like the UK where 9m votes gets you 500 seats and 4.5m votes gets you 5 seats, and yes, “Starmer is winner”, isn’t he… with barely 20% of the electorate actually voting for the extremist socialist moron.
Who wore ‘it’ better – Justin Trudeau or Ralph Northam?
How about Eddie Murphy in that movie where he wore a mask of a different ethnic group, oh wait, that doesn’t count.
Time for Canada to switch to a Muslim Caliphate government? That would be fun!
No kidding! The UK, France, Canada, the Nordics – all with massive Muslim immigration, and surprise!!! There’s problems, and just maybe citizens aren’t liking what they see with these progressive crazies…
The people voted to invade themselves !!
You can break down the vote on gender and age lines to give you the true picture. The elections are a study in sociology, only no scholar would risk salary to publish such study.
Congratulation!
You found the scapegoat.
Yes, the entire population is eager for the sex offending gangs and black markets and ending of free speech and replacing of liberal democracy with developing world ideologies and culture, it’s so positive for the future.
Trump would build another wall.
Just before budget update, which thus didn’t happen, but was expected to be bad.
Mish might pay more attention to Canada, just as a case study of collapsing Ponzi scheme.
Admittedly, there are plenty of other candidates.
“Mish might pay more attention to Canada, just as a case study of collapsing Ponzi scheme.”
For a case study of a collapsing Ponzi scheme, all Mish has to do is look out the window.
The next 2028-32 president will be presiding over a nation in which government revenues are not even sufficient to pay interest on the debt. Social security and medicare will be insolvent.
U.S. National Debt Clock 2027
Didn’t Mish visit Banff a few years ago and take some amazing photos?
Please post, Mish!
Don’t worry. They are just the numbers.
Elon and Vivek are waiting with erasers.
The people are inspired and jealous because we elected Trump. The woke woke commie creeps are running scared.
Congratulation!
Right or wrong you chose Trump and friends and foes, the whole world is scrambling.
Funny and interesting.
2025 will be drama.
Let’s not forget the US government which collapsed on November 5th.
We haven’t heard the last of Kamala before 1/20/2025.
Two OECD and NATO members’ governments collapse and GLD only up marginally. Don’t know what to make of gold anymore. BTW Mish, are you still sticking with your recession call?
No justice for the truckers. She was the worst.
Like the Jan 6th people here in the US, they deserve a full pardon.
Their trial and sentencing was a simply punishment for embarrassing the Trudeau government.
Without punishment of those in government who perpetrated this, a pardon is of limited satisfaction.