With one week to go until U.S. president-elect Donald Trump is sworn into office at his inauguration on Jan. 20, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has shifted his cabinet in preparation for the new administration. Canada’s new foreign affairs minister, Chrystia Freeland, replacing Stephane Dion, has been tapped by the prime minister to lead the charge in Washington, which will include attendance at the upcoming inauguration.
In an email to CTV News, the prime minister’s press secretary, Andrée-Lyne Hallé, confirmed that Freeland would be headed to Washington next week for “inauguration events.”
In an unconventional move, Trudeau announced on Tuesday that Freeland, the former international trade minister, would hold onto the Canada-U.S. trade file on top of her duties as Canada’s top diplomat and despite Francois-Philippe Champagne being named to replace her in the role. Trudeau pointed to Freeland’s political portfolio, which include the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), as justification for the decision.
“It makes sense for the person who is responsible for foreign relations with the United States to also have the ability and the responsibility to engage with issues such as NAFTA and the broad range of trade issues that we’ll be facing with our friends and neighbours south of the border,” Trudeau said on Tuesday.
For her part, Freeland said Tuesday she has already begun laying the groundwork with officials in the Trump administration during a press conference.
“I think that’s what Canadians expect us to be doing, to be forming relationships, to be getting to know the new U.S. administration,” Freeland said. “Being able to call each other up on the phone, being able to send emails and that is something that is really, really important for a Canadian government to be able to do.”
