Winnipeg MP, cabinet minister sorry to see Freeland resign

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This article was published 18/12/2024 (319 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg’s senior member of the federal government was “shocked” when his cabinet colleague, then-deputy prime minister and finance minister Chrystia Freeland, resigned Monday morning.

Northern Affairs Minister Dan Vandal, the Liberal MP for St. Boniface, said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who is facing intense pressure to resign since Monday’s political bombshell, has earned the right to make that decision.

“I’m confident he will make the right decision and, whatever that is, it is one I will respect,” said Vandal, who was first elected federally in 2015, re-elected twice and announced earlier this year he will not be running again.

Freeland, whose resignation was tendered just hours before she was to deliver the government’s fall fiscal statement, learned last week the PM was planning to replace her in the finance portfolio.

“These are tumultuous times,” Vandal told the Free Press, adding he was “extremely surprised” with Freeland’s decision to head to the back bench in the House of Commons after serving in one of the government’s highest-profile roles.

“I actually was shocked,” he said. “I was sad to see her go because I’ve had a great relationship with Chrystia. I think she was an excellent finance minister.

Vandal said he “will forever cherish” Freeland’s decision to announce Manitoba’s participation in the national school food program in October at Marion School, the elementary school he attended.

At the time, Freeland joined Premier Wab Kinew to make the announcement. She said the total $17.2-million commitment in federal funding over three years would save a family with two kids up to $800 annually on groceries.

And she also took the time to talk about Vandal, who had just announced he would not be seeking re-election.

“Dan, I just want to say I’m sad,” she said. “I’m going to miss you. Thank you so much for all your hard work and dedication.”

Noting Vandal was one of three other cabinet ministers to have decided they were not going to run again, Freeland said each of them “is a person I really respect, is a person I have worked with very closely, so it is a personal loss to me.”

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Vandal said this week that Freeland was “very good for Manitoba.”

“The fall economic statement — $150 million for the North End Waste Water Treatment Plant, $44 million for the rail line to Churchill, $3 million for the St. Boniface Museum — so she has listened to our concerns and our priorities,” he said.

“Let’s not forget, she negotiated (a revised North American Free Trade Agreement) head to head with Donald Trump. She has gone up against Putin.

“I’m very sad to see her go, but you know, nobody really knows what happened or what the reasons are.”

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca

Kevin Rollason
Reporter

Kevin Rollason is a general assignment reporter at the Free Press. He graduated from Western University with a Masters of Journalism in 1985 and worked at the Winnipeg Sun until 1988, when he joined the Free Press. He has served as the Free Press’s city hall and law courts reporter and has won several awards, including a National Newspaper Award. Read more about Kevin.

Every piece of reporting Kevin produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.