Bill Morneau, the finance minister of Canada announced his resignation on Monday, August 17, 2020, on the heels of an ethics scandal and amid a reported split with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau over pandemic spending.
“As we move to the next phase of our fight against the pandemic and pave the road towards economic recovery, we must recognize that this process will take many years, it’s the right time for a new finance minister to deliver on that plan for the long and challenging road ahead,” Morneau told a news conference.
“That’s why I’ll be stepping down as finance minister, and as member of Parliament,” he said.
Morneau said he would now run for the job of secretary-general of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, OECD.
For the past week, Canadian media have reported on a purported rift emerging between Morneau and Trudeau on how to reboot the Canadian economy weakened by the new coronavirus pandemic, as the government budget deficit soared to more than Can$340 billion (US$257 billion).
Canada’s ethics commissioner also launched an investigation into the minister’s ties to a charity tapped by Ottawa to distribute pandemic aid to young Canadians.
Trudeau is also being probed over his family ties to the WE Charity, which paid his wife, brother and mother nearly Can$300,000 for speaking engagements in recent years.
The prime minister apologized last month for the affair, saying he made a mistake in not recusing himself from discussions about awarding the roughly Can$500 million contract to distribute student scholarship funds to WE Charity.
The program has been canceled but the controversy remains.
Source: New Straits Times
