Bill Morneau to resign as finance minister, MP following breakdown in relations with Trudeau over COVID policy, WE scandal

Over the weekend, multiple media outlets reported that Morneau and Trudeau were scheduled to meet on Monday following a week where tensions between the two men burst into the public’s eye.

Early last week, Bloomberg News revealed that the prime minister had tapped the former governor of both the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England, Mark Carney, as an “informal advisor” for the COVID-19 pandemic economic recovery plan. That fuelled rumours that Carney is eventually aiming to run for the Liberal Party of Canada.

Tuesday, The Globe and Mail quoted anonymous PMO sources saying that Morneau’s job could be in jeopardy, since the prime minister was not committed to keeping him on board for the next phases of the COVID-19 pandemic economic recovery.

The newspaper reported that PMO is displeased with Morneau over how his department crafted some policies in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, such as the federal wage subsidy. Sources were also quoted as saying there were issues over Morneau’s testimony at the finance committee studying the WE charity scandal.

The story prompted Trudeau’s office to release a statement the following day in support of Morneau.

“Of course the prime minister has full confidence in Minister Morneau and any statement to the contrary is false. The prime minister knows that Minister Morneau and the entire team of cabinet ministers will keep doing the work that Canadians rely on to get them through this pandemic,” PMO spokesperson Alex Wellstead said.