Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said on Monday she was “not going anywhere” as she was pressed by the Conservatives over her future as finance minister.
On the first day of Parliament’s fall session, the Conservatives repeatedly pushed for last week’s appointment of former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney as the Liberal Party’s economic adviser.
In a speech in the House of Commons, Conservative deputy leader Melissa Lantsman claimed that Carney had been “installed as de facto finance minister” and that Freeland had been “demoted”.
“She has lost responsibility for her job. She has lost her credibility. How long will the phantom finance minister endure this humiliation,” Lantsman said on Monday.
In response, Freeland made it clear that her position in the Trudeau government was not in jeopardy, saying, “I’m not going anywhere.”
“I can understand why conservatives would rather focus on personal mudslinging and attacks rather than actually talking about the economy,” Freeland responded to Lantsman on Monday.
“They don’t want to talk about inflation because it has been in the target range for seven months in a row. They don’t want to talk about interest rates that have fallen three times in a row. You can only offend people.”
At the beginning of this summer The globe and the mail reported that there was tension between Freeland and the Prime Minister’s Office. There was also speculation that Carney could be brought in to replace her.
But Freeland has since maintained she feels she has the support of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, calling Carney “a real asset to the team” last week.
“He is someone I speak to often and have discussed economic policy with often since I became finance minister,” Freeland said on September 10.
Freeland also once again dismissed speculation about her future as finance minister in a press conference on Monday.
Asked if she had discussions with Trudeau this summer about a replacement or a change to her portfolio, Freeland replied: “I haven’t.”
With files from Spencer Van Dyk of CTV News
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