Canadian Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, long Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s most powerful and loyal minister, said on Monday she was resigning from the cabinet as Trudeau struggles with declining popularity.
The move stunned the country and raised questions about how much longer Trudeau can stay in his job.
Freeland, who was also deputy prime minister, said Trudeau had told her on Friday that he no longer wanted her to serve as finance minister and that he offered her another role in the cabinet.
But she said in her resignation letter to the prime minister that the only “honest and viable path” was to leave the cabinet.
“For the past number of weeks, you and I have found ourselves at odds about the best path forward for Canada,” Freeland said.
Freeland and Trudeau disagreed about a two-month sales tax holiday and C$250 (US$175) cheques to Canadians that were recently announced.
