This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.

When Chrystia Freeland decided to resign as deputy prime minister and finance minister on the day of the fall economic statement, which is the halfway point teeing up the budget for next spring, it really shook the government. She's one of the original ministers that came in with Justin Trudeau in 2015 and her departure now is both bad for economic stability, but it's also bad for the prime minister, who's lost a lot of his high profile ministers. He's the head of a minority government in Canada, doesn't have enough seats to command a majority, and he has to face an election no later than October 20th, 2025. 

So with all of that in the mix, I think this may hasten the end of the Trudeau government. Chrystia Freeland is among those who, in the Canadian government, feel that the best approach is to stand firm against Donald Trump. She's proposed a more confrontational approach, something similar to the approach taken by Claudia Sheinbaum, Mexico's president, in her response to the 25% tariff. So in this way, the division on how to respond to the US is front and center in the rationale that Chrystia Freeland had to leave, but also it will be the front and center question, not only for the next election, but also for Pierre Poilievre, the conservative leader. He is expected to win the election, but which would he choose? Compromise and negotiation or confrontation with Donald Trump? And we don't really have an answer about that from him or from any of the other political parties. Suddenly that question is at the center of Canadian politics. And of Canada-US relations. 

It's worth remembering, too, that the conservatives are 20 to 22 points ahead of the liberals in most polls. So there's been a sense that this government was a sinking ship for months now. That that's a situation that has been going on through most of 2024. And I think this will also hasten that, that date, when we'll see an election and very possibly a new Canadian government.