Chrystia Freeland is angling to succeed Trudeau as Prime Minister

In recent weeks, Freeland has been in regular communication with Gerald Butts, formerly Trudeau's chief political operative. In recent strategy discussions, Butts has been willing to 'think beyond' Trudeau's tenure.

Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland has been regularly engaging in private conversations with Stephen Bronfman — the Liberal Party’s treasurer — in recent weeks, a staffer inside her office tells The Chronicle.  The Bronfmans have been the principal financiers of the Liberal Party of Canada for more than one hundred years.

Worried about the stability of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau‘s government, Mr. Bronfman initiated at least one of those conversations in a private phone call in February, during which Freeland offered Bronfman reassurances that — in the event Trudeau is forced to resign — Cabinet would be prepared to act swiftly to ensure the party would have a ‘robust message’ heading into October elections.

Freeland even named herself as a ‘suitable and likely’ successor to Trudeau, noting by name that Ministers Carolyn Bennett, Bill Morneau, and Catherine McKenna are ‘solidly’ in her camp, should the situation necessitate a battle for the leadership post.  Joyce Murray, Ralph Goodale, and Carla Qualthrough were identified as being obstacles to her succession.

trudeau_and_murray
The tension between the newly named Treasury Board President Joyce Murray and Chrystia Freeland has complicated recent Cabinet meetings. Trudeau, a more junior MP, had challenged Murray for the Liberal Party’s leadership in 2013. She nearly defeated the less experienced ‘golden boy’. Many see Murray as a more worthy successor to Trudeau than Freeland, who continues to endure criticism for her handling of NAFTA and is less popular in the Western region of the country.

Not long after that call, Freeland had a ‘serendipitous’ encounter with Charles Bronfman, the 87-year-old brother of the late Edgar Bronfman, Sr, who encouraged her to ‘keep quiet’, having seen her name mentioned as Trudeau’s likely successor and noting the appearance of several editorials encouraging her to seek the post.

Freeland, with the reflexes of a diplomat, hurriedly denied that she would position herself to succeed Trudeau publicly and blamed the talk on ‘political speculators’, a term that created some awkwardness in the conversation.  Neither wanted to ask the other whether Bronfman was the ‘political speculator’ to whom she, perhaps unknowingly, referenced.

The same source tells The Chronicle that Freeland has been heard in her office ‘reciting grandiose political rhetoric’ by herself — as if she were rehearsing for a pivotal speech.

Jody-Wilson-Raybould-1
Former Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould is the most popular political figure in Canada — at a time when the Prime Minister’s approval rating is lower than Donald Trump’s.  She was expelled from the Liberal Party caucus this afternoon, largely for her refusal to end what has been called “the most important public corruption trial in Canadian history”.

 

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32 Comments

  1. So the Bronfmans are going to pick our next PM – think again the Liberals are gone gone gone – for good this time – too much corruption and far too much un-Canadian behavior – arrogance, elitism, cronyism and money – Canadians just want a government to do right by the people all the people and Trudeau and his gang blew it.

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    • And the carbon tax has hit the one province whose bad side no candidate without a death wish wants to be on.

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    • This article is hogwash and Trudeau is going nowhere, lol, except back to Parliament as the Prime Minister.

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      • Hey Patttyy
        Can you please give us an idea how low Jr will go to retain the highest office in the land.
        Some say he is very close to his most favoured nation. That being China. Apparently achieving at depth with in weeks

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        • I would be surprised if this was true, as for Trudeau “going”, I certainly hope so but any minute now he is going to start spraying goodies around in hopes of hitting everyone and causing them to once again vote Liberal, I hope and pray that I am wrong. If the Libs were paying attention they would realize that assurance of re-election would come with a leadership convention, I believe that a Border Collie in a three piece suit could beat the current loser.

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      • You’re dreaming Patsy ….Trudeau is the most hated Politician Canada ever put forward he and his 40 Robbers are history coming October 2019 !!!!

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      • Patsy O’Brian, we can’t afford that bloody idiot any more, he has destroyed this ONCE great country

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    • Gone for good until we get tired of Conservative corruption. Then we are back to corruption Liberal flavor. 🙄

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    • Who are you trying to kid … Jody Wilson-Raybould is one of the most honest women in politics and most likely you are liberal that is why you posted what you did ….She stood up for what is right and is being throw under the bus for it … Chrystia Freeland is just a sheep in the herd belonging to Trudeau ….

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      • She’s a fukn rat liberal that got off the boat before it sank,she voted with all the other rats to destroy Canada.

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    • Having now been ejected from caucus and denied the right to run as a Liberal in the upcoming election she’d have to be brought back in the fold against the vociferous opposition of the more corrupt members of the Librano caucus and in order to have any hope of winning an election as the new leader of the LPC she’d have to purge most of cabinet and a significant number of the current caucus despite which she’d still have a herculean task in restoring Canadian’s confidence in the LPC ……. then again there’s the party’s current regressive ideology and four years of divisive and destructive policies to scrap and start over again. Therefore I doubt the “hail mary wet dream” is possible.

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      • Ahhh…I so agree with you. The whole affair is a nightmare! This arrogant pretty boy’s win was a blunder,a backlash to Harper’s rule.Watching a caucus being reined in,threatened into subservience yesterday,was a thousand-times worse! 🙁

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  5. In his arrogance and stubbornness Captain Trudeau seems to be going down with the ship as he can’t relinquish control of the wheel!

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    • Now that’s an April fools joke suggesting Freeland as the next prime minister of Canada. We all saw how she tried to deal with NAFTA and made a mess of that. Thanks Buffalo Chronically for reporting that the Canadian news will not.

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    • Time to get the Catholic clergy back in power like God intended.. Hide your kids Canada, Deacon Scheer is here

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  10. Not fake news, it would appear as she gets Deputy PM post today. No matter, the government is not run by cabinet, but rather JT’s “political praetorian guard” (John Ivison) financed by Bronfman’s and the like.

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