From Bay Street to Parliament Hill: Morneau’s Political Career Ends Amid a Financial Crisis

Minister of Finance Bill Morneau leaves a cabinet meeting on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Feb. 20, 2020. The Canadian Press/Sean Kilpatrick

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has handed over the reins of the finance portfolio to trusted Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, as the country grapples with double-digit unemployment and ballooning national debt in the hundreds of billions.

Bill Morneau, a Bay Street veteran and former chair of C.D. Howe Institute who resigned as finance minister on Aug. 18, was praised by Trudeau for developing “a strong economy with one of the best balance sheets in the G7.”