Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland’s resignation from cabinet sent shockwaves through Ottawa on Monday.

“Chrystia Freeland is a good friend, someone I work very closely with… This news hit me really hard,” Transport Minister and Finance Ministry President Anita Anand said on her way to a Cabinet meeting.

Freeland announced her resignation in a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that she posted on social media. In that letter, Freeland said Trudeau told her last week that she would be removed from the finance portfolio and offered her another cabinet post.

“After thinking about it, I have come to the conclusion that the only honest and viable path for me is to resign from Cabinet,” she wrote.

The news appeared to surprise Housing Minister Sean Fraser when he was asked about it during a press conference where he announced his own resignation from Cabinet.

“This is news to me,” he said. Fraser was Freeland’s parliamentary secretary before being appointed to cabinet.

“Not knowing their own opinion on the reasons for this decision, it is difficult for me to assess what this might mean,” he said.

“But I feel like she was an excellent team member and I continue to consider her a friend.”

Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu said she respected Freeland’s decision to resign.

“I wish her all the best. Look, these are difficult and deeply personal decisions and obviously she made that decision and I respect her for it,” Hajdu told reporters Monday morning.

Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre called for a federal election on Monday, arguing that Freeland’s resignation was a sign that Trudeau had “lost control.”

“The Canadian people deserve to decide who their next prime minister should be,” Poilievre told reporters.

The news seemed to surprise conservatives. Poilievre was scheduled to hold a press conference on Monday morning, but it was postponed until the afternoon.

Freeland’s resignation came as the federal government was due to deliver a much-anticipated economic statement in the fall.

Poilievre said the government should present the economic declaration on Monday and allow it to be voted on.

“The answer is just for them to table (the fall economic statement) and vote…It would be a confidence motion,” he said.

Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet also called for an election and said Trudeau should ask the governor general to dissolve Parliament in the new year.

“Mr Trudeau’s government is over. He must recognize that and act accordingly,” he said.

NDP leader Jagmeet Singh told reporters that Trudeau must resign. However, when asked, he declined to say whether he would be willing to vote to oust the Liberal government, repeatedly reiterating that “all options are on the table.”

“Justin Trudeau has to go, he has to resign and so all options are on the table,” Singh said.

“We will look at each vote and make a decision, but all options are on the table now.”

Freeland’s resignation also comes as Canada prepares for Donald Trump’s return to the White House. Trump has threatened to hit Canada with high tariffs on his first day in office Freeland helped map out the federal government’s possible response.

Canada’s premiers met Monday to discuss Trump’s tariff threat. Ontario Premier Doug Ford was asked if he was concerned about Freeland’s resignation.

“I think we all are. But again, this is the time for premiers to step up – and we will do that to project unity across the country,” he told reporters.

When asked about the timing of Freeland’s resignation, NDP MP Charlie Angus didn’t mince his words.

“What the hell? How does a prime minister, on the eve of a statement we’ve been waiting for months, put his finance minister in his place and believe that everything will go back to normal?’ Angus said.

“We have a missing prime minister on duty and now his deputy prime minister, his finance minister has bailed out. The Prime Minister needs to step up and explain how this gong show can happen.”

More calls for Trudeau to resign

Jody Wilson-Raybould, a former cabinet minister who resigned over the SNC-Lavalin scandal, said Trudeau must resign – especially with tariff threats looming.

“When the general loses his most loyal soldiers on the eve of a (customs) war, the country desperately needs a new general,” Wilson-Raybould said in a post on X.

Francis Drouin, a Liberal backbencher who is not running for re-election, said it was time for Trudeau to go.

“I’ve been a great defender (of Trudeau), but I just don’t see how we’re moving forward,” Drouin told Radio-Canada.

“I don’t see how this helps the prime minister and I don’t see how this helps us talk about Canadians.”

Liberal MP and former cabinet minister Helena Jaczek criticized Trudeau for his attempt to oust Freeland and said the prime minister must resign.

“Let’s put it this way: I wouldn’t call the firing of the finance minister, who gave you excellent service, trustworthy,” she said.

Chad Collins, one of a a few dozen Liberal MPs who tried to pressure Trudeau to resign At the beginning of the fall, he said on Monday that the party needed a new leader.

“I publicly reiterate my demand that the Prime Minister resign and initiate a leadership process to take our country in a new direction,” he said in a statement on X.

Judy Sgro, another Liberal backbencher, said she still supported the prime minister but was sad to see Freeland exit cabinet.

“She has put in a lot of time and effort and I think Canadians owe her a huge debt of gratitude for what she has done,” she told reporters.

Northern Affairs Minister Dan Vandal, who will not stand for re-election, echoed Sgro’s comments.

“I thought she did a very good job and we will do the best for the country,” he said.

Asked if he still had faith in Trudeau, Vandal said: “Of course I do.”