On the day the House of Commons adjourned for the holidays, hundreds of Liberals packed the annual caucus party to hear what could be Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s last public speech until the new year — but many partygoers left the event talking about another star guest.
Wearing Liberal red, the now-former finance minister Chrystia Freeland strode into the gathering in Ottawa’s Rogers Centre with her son and husband.
The ballroom was already full of party members, staff members and ministers when she arrived. Many noted Freeland walked in with a large entourage of staffers from her former ministry.
It was her first public appearance since she quit cabinet on Monday, having accused the prime minister of seeking to replace her as finance minister and demote her to a lesser role, reportedly one involved with handling Canada-U.S. relations.
Her letter also accused the government of dabbling in “costly political gimmicks” instead of serving the country’s best interests — a reference to the Trudeau government’s GST/HST holiday.
Following Freeland’s resignation, Liberal MPs called for a national caucus meeting. Some of them reportedly asked the prime minister to step down at that meeting. More than a dozen Liberal MPs have called publicly for Trudeau to resign so far this week; the party is entering the holiday season of peace facing a new wave of strife and infighting.
In the early part of Trudeau’s 15-minute speech, he cited the growing rift in the party.
“It’s hard not to feel happy when we’re like this, with Liberals, among family. Because that’s what we really are. A big family,” he said.
“Like most families, sometimes we have fights around the holidays. But of course, like most families, we find our way through it.”
Trudeau paused for applause, which arrived a second and a half later.
Freeland applauded Trudeau throughout his speech. Her husband, seated next to her, did not.
She sat in the front row at the event, to the right of the stage. Others at her table included Flavio Volpe, president of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association, and Liberal MP Ryan Turnbull.
Many cabinet ministers were also present at the event, including Dominic LeBlanc, Marc Miller, Jean-Yves Duclos, François-Philippe Champagne, Patty Hajdu and Ginette Petitpas Taylor.
Some were seen working the room. Transport Minister and Treasury Board President Anita Anand spent the minutes before Trudeau’s speech in the back of the room, alone and on her phone.
Anand, who has been rumoured to be interested in the Liberal leadership in the past, was visibly upset on Monday after learning about Freeland’s resignation.
Liberals dressed to the nines chatted among themselves, largely talking over the week’s news. They drank Canadian wines that ranged in price from $48 to $61 per bottle. The bottom of the wine list noted the GST/HST holiday, which temporarily takes sales tax off wine.
Guests speculated about what might come next — a cabinet shuffle (no consensus on when) or Trudeau’s resignation (the room seemed split on whether that’s likely to happen). They also traded rumours on who’s organizing for a leadership run.
On Tuesday, before the party, Freeland wrote a letter to her supporters thanking them. She ended the letter with a message — “this will not be the end of the road” — that ramped up speculation about her own leadership ambitions.
Some Liberals say her blunt resignation letter, published online, was the starting gun for her own leadership bid.
Author Catherine Tsalikis was set to publish her biography of Freeland in February. That release date has now been pushed up to Friday.
When the biography was announced, the Globe and Mail speculated that it could be tied to a leadership run.
Freeland’s office denies involvement in the book but an excerpt posted online shows Tsalikis spoke to people close to her. A source not authorized to speak publicly confirmed that her office had “awareness” of how the book was progressing in early 2023.
Freeland was asked about her leadership ambitions in early December. She dodged the question and said she was planning to run as an MP in the next election.
Soon after his speech, Trudeau stood for pictures with party members. To the right of the room, a line also started forming for pictures with Freeland.
When Trudeau’s time for photos ended, the line for photos with Freeland was still going strong.