Prime Minister Justin Trudeau meets with Bank of England governor Mark Carney at the G20 Summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina in November, 2018.Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has publicly called on former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney to join the government while declining to say whether he wants Chrystia Freeland to stay as Finance Minister.
The Globe and Mail reported Thursday that senior officials in the Prime Minister’s Office, including chief of staff Katie Telford, are concerned about Ms. Freeland’s effectiveness in selling the government’s economic message at a time when the Liberal government is seeking to revive its political fortunes. The PMO officials discussed recruiting Mr. Carney to serve as finance minister.
Asked about The Globe report during a news conference in Washington, Mr. Trudeau confirmed that he held discussions with the former governor of the Bank of Canada and Bank of England, who is now chair of Brookfield Asset Management.
“I have been talking with Mark Carney for years now about getting him to join federal politics,” Mr. Trudeau said. “He would be an outstanding addition at a time when Canadians need good people to step up in politics.”
Mr. Trudeau added he had full confidence in Ms. Freeland, who is also Deputy Prime Minister, but did not say whether he wanted her to remain as Finance Minister.
“In regards to Chrystia, she has been a close friend and ally and partner in doing really big things for Canada,” he said, adding she will continue to deliver on the government’s agenda. “I have full confidence in her abilities and the work we have been doing together.”
The Globe reported Thursday that officials in the PMO had talked about bringing Mr. Carney on board in the top finance portfolio and moving Ms. Freeland to foreign affairs, the post she held before she was promoted to finance in August, 2020, after the resignation of Bill Morneau.
Mr. Carney did not reply to a request for comment. Ms. Freeland was in New York meeting privately with business executives, but her office said she has no plans to leave her job.
“Ms. Freeland is committed to serving Canadians as their Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance and she remains dedicated to public service,” deputy communications director Katherine Cuplinskas said in a statement.
Two senior Liberals said Thursday that a cabinet shuffle is likely coming this summer, but that it would be held in part to replace ministers who aren’t seeking re-election in 2025.
Several Liberals suggested Energy Minister Jonathan Wilkinson or Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne could take the finance post if Ms. Freeland departed and Mr. Carney sits it out. The Globe is not identifying the sources because they were not permitted to disclose private conversations and internal deliberations.
Political pressure has mounted on Mr. Trudeau to shuffle his cabinet, renew his senior staff and shift policy directions since the Conservatives won the safe Liberal riding of Toronto-St. Paul’s late last month. Many former Liberal ministers have publicly called for his exit, but only one sitting MP has added his name to those demands.
The Globe reported Thursday senior PMO officials, including Ms. Telford, view Ms. Freeland as ineffective in selling the government’s economic policies that have come under assault from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre. Other criticisms include that Ms. Freeland is not doing enough to win over members of the Liberal caucus.
Pollster Nik Nanos said the outreach to Mr. Carney shows the Prime Minister and his inner circle are in full political survival mood.
“The Trudeau Liberals are grasping at straws to hold on to power,” he said. “Adding Carney to the mix, especially if he becomes minister of finance, would be seen as a major change and potential change in priorities and direction because he brings credibility and is a centrist when it comes to fiscal issues.”
But Mr. Nanos, president of Nanos Research, said Mr. Trudeau seems willing to set aside “one of his most loyal and strongest supporters in the person of Chrystia Freeland” to improve the government’s standing.
Mr. Morneau resigned in the summer of 2020 after a series of stories reported by The Globe indicated Mr. Trudeau wanted him out. The comparison between Mr. Morneau’s treatment and Ms. Freeland’s was frequently pointed out among Liberals and political analysts on Thursday.
“What we are seeing is unfortunately all too familiar to those of us who worked with Minister Morneau in 2020,” said Sharan Kaur, his former deputy chief of staff and director of operations.
She said that in 2020, Mr. Trudeau and Mr. Morneau disagreed on spending levels and economic management, while this time it’s about whether the current Finance Minister is communicating Ottawa’s economic messaging effectively.
“This style of politics is extremely unprofessional,” Ms. Kaur told The Globe. “The real issue at hand is that the PM’s personal popularity is at an all-time low.”
Scott Reid, who was director of communications to former prime minister Paul Martin, said Mr. Trudeau’s comments in Washington could be interpreted either as prepositioning a cabinet shuffle, as clear support for Ms. Freeland, or as an attempt to clarify publicly that Mr. Carney can be in the government if he wants to be.
“I don’t know which is their intended message,” Mr. Reid said, “That’s a bad thing. Clarity is king, and clarity is in rare supply at present when it comes to their communications.”
Mr. Poilievre posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, about Mr. Trudeau’s treatment of his Finance Minister: “It’s not just humiliating for Freeland, it begs the question: If Trudeau doesn’t have confidence in his Finance Minister, why should anyone else?”
Former justice minister Jody Wilson-Raybould, who was forced out of cabinet and the Liberal caucus when she refused the Prime Minister’s urgings to interfere in a criminal prosecution of SNC-Lavalin, issued a scathing comment on X.
“The Liberals being willing to sacrifice anyone, even the most blindly loyal, to try to protect and save a leader, make it clear it is no longer a healthy or functioning political party, not to mention government,” she wrote.