scrubbedexpat091

Chrystia Freeland has been chosen to replace Bill Morneau as finance minister.

Former Lancastrian

But Harper prorogued Parliament, and Harper lost a bunch of Supreme Court cases and Harper did this and Harper did that? Was Harper ever investigated and found guilty of ethics breaches? But Duffy et al.

Oh look Trudeau has prorogued Parliament. Oh look Trudeau has been found guilty twice of ethics violations and is under investigation for a 3rd time along with his ex Finance Minister. SNC Lavalin & WE Charity et al.

They are all as bent as each other when in power but the sheep keep voting for them and expecting different results. BTW I don't vote as I don't trust politicians full stop.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/lib...ment-1.5690515

caretaker

I think Trudeau's doing ok but Julie Payette should be on the way out.

Former Lancastrian

Thats what 36 Celsius heat does to peoples brains. Found guilty of 2 x ethics violations but he's doing OK. Well yeah I guess he hasn't been found guilty of criminal offences so nothing to see here.

caretaker

Are you calling me out?

Shard

WTF !?!

Oakvillian

Why WTF? Seems a pretty sensible appointment to me. Freeland's early career in journalism included periods as a correspondent for the FT and the Economist, rising to become a section editor for the FT and editor for its Russian and eastern European coverage, then the managing editor for FT's New York bureau. Subsequently she was a senior manager for the Thompson Reuters newswire service. That ought to demonstrate (probably far better than a career in the banking industry, which IMO gave Morneau a rather lopsided view of some of the issues) her economics credentials. She's been a minister since the election in 2015, serving in three departments that have a bearing on the finances of the Federal government - international trade, intergovernmental affairs, and foreign affairs. That seems to me a bit like the career trajectory of a future prime minister.

What's your objection to Freeland's appointment - other than simply that she's an appointee of Trudeau?

Shard

I don't have any issue with Freelander as a politician or even a potential PM. She seems a bright educated woman. Nevertheless, I would expect a finance minister ought, at very least, to have a solid grounding in economics. Journo on the FT doesn't quite cut it.

dbd33

A history of working as a vaguely humorous columnist is apparently a solid enough background for being Prime Minister. Journalism is the new path to the top.

BristolUK

Better than reality tv host.

abner

Oh, c'mon, no serious country would do that...

Or elect an uptight school-marm from Etobicoke, for that matter..

Oakvillian

History would strongly disagree with you. Sure, Bill Morneau has a MSc in economics, but someone like Jim Flaherty, widely seen as a mostly competent minister of finance, had no academic background in economics.

In the UK, it's even more stark: Geoffrey Howe was a lawyer; Nigel Lawson read PPE; John Major left school at 16 with three O levels but still made an averagely competent chancellor. Norman Lamont was an economist (fat lot of good it did him, or the country..). Ken Clarke was another lawyer; Gordon Brown a historian; Alastair Darling yet another lawyer, George Osborne another historian. Philip Hammond was another PPE-ist, so gets some credit (like Lawson). So too does Sajid Javid, who studied politics with economics. So the person with the most "thorough grounding" in economics is Norman Lamont, under whose watch Britain crashed out of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism. Some endorsement, that.

bowler

At last the Conservatives have confirmed what has been known for years,their leader is a Tool.

scrubbedexpat091

scrubbedexpat091

WE no more, at least in Canada. WE Charity is closing up shop in Canada and laying off its employees and selling its property in Canada.