On the day she was to present the federal government’s economic forecast, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland has announced she is stepping down from that position and from the Cabinet.

Freeland posted her letter to the Prime Minister on social media stating that on Friday, Justin Trudeau had said he wanted her to move into a different Cabinet position. She suggests that to be effective, a Minister must speak on behalf of the Prime Minister with his full confidence and Freeland doesn’t believe she has that anymore. She notes that the two have been at odds in the past weeks about the best path forward for Canada.

Freeland also touched on the grave challenge of the United States and the threat of 25 per cent tariffs, saying the government needs to take this extremely seriously, and to do that, the government needs to disregard political gimmicks that the country can’t afford and push back against “America First” economic nationalism.

Freeland says she will continue to work as an MP and is committed to running again in the next federal election. (Her letter to Trudeau is below.)

This news came as the Federal Housing Minister Sean Fraser was announcing he won’t be running in the next election. He stresses this is not about transitioning to another political post. Instead, he wants to spend more time with his family, because he is acutely aware of the finite nature we have with the people we love. Fraser adds that it has been an extraordinary privelege to be an MP and a Cabinet Minister.