After a week of leaks about clashes, finance Bill Morneau took to a lectern late in the day on Monday to announce that he had tendered his resignation, and would be resigning both as minister and as MP. Well, first he did some back-patting over his record and couched the decision by saying that he never planned to serve more than two election cycles, and since the economic recovery would take years, it was better for someone else to step in who could carry the work through. The bombshell out of this was the face-saving gesture that he had put his name forward to be the next secretary general of the OECD, and that he had the PM’s full support in doing so – which is either really cute that he thinks he actually has a chance, or a bit pathetic in that he offered up an excuse that beggared credulity. The Q&A portion had very few answers, but this kind of pabulum is what Morneau was so good at – lots of words, not a lot of substance. When asked about the difference that he was apparently clashing with Trudeau over, Morneau mouthed that there was “vigorous discussion and debate,” and that he hoped that work on the green economy could continue and that he would try to help with the OECD (which he won’t get). He denied that he was pressured to resign, said that when it came to WE, he has been involved in philanthropy for many years and that in hindsight he wished that he had one things differently and recused himself – and yet said nothing about the donor trip he didn’t disclose. He insisted that he still wanted to contribute, and said that at the OECD, he would deal with things like international taxation and digital transformation, and use the expertise he gained as the finance minister of a G7 country to help, but, well, that’s not going to happen and we all know it.

I worked at the @OECD under a Canadian SG. He got the job because of US support. The Europeans saw him as the US candidate. This seems like a big ask from Trump. It seems unlikely to me the Europeans will adopt him as one of their own (as was the case for Carney at @IMFNews).

— Mark Warner (@MAAWLAW) August 17, 2020

Liberal Sources™ are saying that there won’t be an interim finance minister, though the Orders in Council say that Mona Fortier is already the Acting Minister since Morneau is out of the picture. The leading contenders for the job appear to be Jean-Yves Duclos, Chrystia Freeland, and François-Philippe Champagne.

A Liberal government source tells me there will be no interim Finance Minister and that a new Minister will be sworn into cabinet “soon. The source added the new Finance Minister will NOT be Mark Carney but outside of that, wouldn’t speculate who will get the job #cdnpoli

— Mackenzie Gray (@Gray_Mackenzie) August 18, 2020

Meanwhile, Paul Wells describes the strange circumstances that surrounded Morneau’s departure – particularly the leaks to the media about fights that Morneau lost and was gracious about, with added snark about how the departure went down. Heather Scoffield notes the good work Morneau did before agreeing that it was time for him to go. (Look for my own column on Morneau’s departure later today on Loonie Politics).

Good reads:

• The Rideau Hall stories continue, this time with Julie Payette clashing with her security detail and costing thousands of additional dollars in costs as a result.
• Dr. Theresa Tam says that they are preparing for an autumn “peak” of new COVID cases that could overwhelm the healthcare system.
• François-Philippe Champagne has denounced the “fraudulent” elections in Belarus.
• The CRA has temporarily disabled online services after a series of cyber-attacks.
• The CFL has had to cancel their 2020 season after the federal government didn’t give them any funds.
• Questions have been raised about Senator Lynn Beyak’s anti-racism “training” as the person who did the training suddenly was removed from his position.
• As the Conservative leadership race concludes this week, the Star has profiles on Peter MacKay, Erin O’Toole, Leslyn Lewis, and Derek Sloan.
• Conservatives from Alberta are demanding that the new leader not take them for granted (you know, like Stephen Harper did repeatedly).
• Blaine Higgs has called an election in New Brunswick after the other party leaders wouldn’t give him a blank cheque to hold power for the next two years.
• Jamie Carroll recounts his experiences being (wrongly) charged under the Lobby Act while the WE organization’s retroactive lobbying filings are getting a free pass.

Odds and ends:

Colin Horgan delves into the Q-Anon conspiracy theory and what it has to do with America’s conception of themselves.

Want more Routine Proceedings? Become a patron and get exclusive new content.