There is a danger that outgoing Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland comes to be seen as some sort of folk hero or avenging angel after she dramatically resigned from the Liberal Cabinet this past Monday. Let's not get too carried away here, though.
Sure, she stood up to an increasingly tyrannical Justin Trudeau, by resigning and refusing to push through the latest of his "costly political gimmicks" (the GST holiday, which will be implemented anyway, and a planned $200 per head cash rebate, which probably won't).
But Ms. Freeland has been in the country's driver's seat economically for the last four or five years, and she has presided over an unprecedented government spending spree, culminating in the latest budget deficit of $61.9 billion (over 50% more than her forecast of $40 billion). It's a bit rich for her to suddenly have qualms about an additional $3 billion.
Sure, some of that unprecedented spending was necessary, and some of it was desirable, but some of does seem to be bloat. And no, it doesn't substantially worsen Canada's debt to GDP ratio, which remains the best in the G7, and certainly multiples better than the USA's.
But has Ms. Freeland been a paragon of a Finance Minister, struggling to rein in the worst of Mr. Trudeau's spendthrift tendencies? Not really. She has been right there with him.
Was she, as Minister of International Affairs and Foreign Affairs, even instrumental in saving Canada from Donald Trump's worst instincts during the renegotiation of the Canada-US-Mexico free trade deal in 2018, and the catalyst for the Canada-EU trade deal signed in 2016, as I have been reading recently? Hard to say, and there are those who say her contribution has been overstated.
Whether Ms. Freeland will use this break with Trudeau as a platform to launch a Liberal leadership bid remains to be seen. Personally, I don't think I can stomach her slow-motion, explaining-to-a-five-year-old public speaking technique, however smart she may be.
Ms. Freeland is currently riding a wave of approbation and acclaim, not least due to the judicious early publication of a flattering biography (Chrystia: From Peace River to Parliament Hill). But I think that her reinvention as a feminist icon may be be premature, or at least hyperbolic. Rather, I see her as a loyal Trudeau acolyte, a high-level functionary, but not really a dynamic live-wire and visionary.
Granted, she has managed to avoid significant scandals, despite being at the forefront of the Liberal government for the best part of a decade, which is probably a feat worthy of celebration. But she doesn't inspire me, and I think the Liberals need a clean break with the old guard if they want to be taken seriously in a few years time.
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