It was nine months to the day since Chrystia Freeland first resigned from Cabinet, previously under Justin Trudeau, when he told her that he planned to replace her as finance minister with Mark Carney, but would she mind first delivering the fall economic update that had a bigger-than-promised deficit number in it? Carney had not said yes to the position at the time, and things went downhill from there. This time, Freeland says she’s leaving to take up new opportunities—in this case, a position of special envoy related to the reconstruction of Ukraine. Her roles got split up, as the transport portfolio was given to Steve MacKinnon, and the internal trade to Dominic LeBlanc.

https://twitter.com/cafreeland/status/1967994021227401685

I do think that this move solidifies a few narratives that have been floating around, one of which is that Carney is consolidating loyalists. Freeland supporters were pretty much entirely frozen out of Cabinet and other senior roles, and Freeland herself was made a minister as a gesture of unity in the party, but six months later, she’s out. That’s fairly problematic on its face. As well, it’s one more woman out of a senior role, and one who had influence behind the scenes, which again consolidates the bro atmosphere in the PMO, which is not good, and will cause plenty of problems going forward as the blind spots start to grow. For the moment, Freeland is keeping her seat, but will eventually resign it once she has consulted with her riding association and so on. With rumours that Carney plans to offer diplomatic posts to at least two other former ministers, he could be looking to free up a handful of fairly safe seats that he can put more friends or loyalists into (like he did with Evan Solomon).

Alberta carbon price

Danielle Smith is making changes to her province’s industrial carbon price, exempting companies from paying it if they invest in their own emissions reduction projects. You know, which the carbon price incentivised them to do so that they didn’t have to pay as much, because that’s the whole gods damned point of carbon pricing. Absolutely unbelievable stupidity on display here.

About that ovation

There has been a lot of talk about how the House of Commons gave a standing ovation about Charlie Kirk on Monday. That’s not exactly true, and has been torqued by people who may or may not be acting in good faith. The ovation had more to do with standing against political violence rather than Kirk himself. That said, of course it was Rachael Thomas who got up to praise a fascist like Kirk, because this is who Thomas is. She has been marinating in the fever swamps of the American far-right discourse for years, and imports it into Canadian politics all the time, including the very careful creation of an alternate dystopian reality where Justin Trudeau is a “dictator,” and the Liberals are busy censoring tweets on the Internet and are generally being authoritarians, in all defiance of the logic and reality. Thomas absolutely deserves to be called out for venerating a fascist, but I think everyone needs to calm down about the applause that happened afterward because it’s pretty clear the context was about the broader message.

— Effin' Birds (@effinbirds.com) 2025-09-16T21:22:02.480Z

Ukraine Dispatch

President Zelenskyy is calling for a combined European air defence system given that Russia’s attacks are now extending beyond just Ukraine. Here is a look at the struggle for Ukrainian authorities to identify their war dead.

Good reads:

• Mark Carney had a meeting with Scott Moe following Moe’s trade mission to China around the canola tariffs, and Moe recognises there is no easy solution. (Shocking!)
• François-Philippe Champagne says the budget will be tabled on November 4th.
• Sean Fraser says that hate crime legislation will be tabled in the next few days, while a bail and sentencing reform bill will follow.
• Mélanie Joly says that she is not satisfied that a merger between Teck Resources and Anglo American will be of sufficient net benefit to Canada.
• A Global Affairs report shows the problems that the government is having on enforcing its sanctions regime (in part because of a lack of resources).
• The interim Parliamentary Budget Officer had his first committee appearance, and claimed he doesn’t know what this government’s fiscal anchors are.
• Tax Ombudsman François Boileau’s term has been extended for two more years.
• After a year on the market, the government is reducing the asking price of the former consul general’s residence in New York by $2 million.
• AFN national chief Cindy Woodhouse Neepinak says that any cuts will only make it harder for them to help move major projects on their lands forward.
• The AFN also says they weren’t consulted on the Indigenous Advisory Council for the Major Projects Office, which could lead to future conflicts.
• The Trump administration has begun the formal process to begin the review of the New NAFTA.
• The Americans are running a programme for people to snitch on “trade fraud,” which could be used to go after Canadian companies on frivolous grounds.
• Conservative MP James Bezan tabled a bill to extend sanctions to the family members of human rights abusers, and to tackle trans-national repression.
• The NDP plan to table a private member’s bill to repeal Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code after the government has used it to end strikes.
• Elizabeth May is trying to get the Green Party membership let her stay on as leader until a new one is chosen, as a move is underway to oust her early.
• What’s that? Alberta’s plan to put citizenship ID on driver’s licences will lead to privacy breaches and discrimination? You don’t say!
• Patricia Treble points out the lengths that the King and his staff must go to in order to accommodate Starmer’s desire to flatter Trump with a second State Visit.
• Susan Delacourt remarks on Freeland’s departure, and the shift away from the gender lens in the Carney government.
• My column wonders just what lessons the Major Projects Office is supposed to teach the government if their power is to exempt projects from rules.

Odds and ends:

Want more Routine Proceedings? Become a patron and get exclusive new content.