Chrystia Freeland mum on her future as Finance Minister after series of meetings with Trudeau

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland declined to say Tuesday whether she has received assurances from the Prime Minister that she will be staying in her cabinet post, despite having a series of in-depth meetings with Justin Trudeau over the last four days.

In her first news conference since The Globe and Mail reported last week about concerns by senior officials in the Prime Minister’s Office about Ms. Freeland, she was careful not to say what would happen next.

“I just consider it a real privilege every day to do my best to serve Canada and Canadians,” Ms. Freeland said.

The Finance Minister, who is also Deputy Prime Minister, said she had a long conversation with Mr. Trudeau on Friday, spent much of Saturday with him at events in the Greater Toronto Area and also travelled to Ottawa on Monday to meet with him again.

She twice avoided answering whether she had received assurances from Mr. Trudeau, saying “he is really capable of speaking for himself.”

“To serve as minister in a cabinet, you do need the support and confidence of the Prime Minister, that is especially true for the deputy prime minister and finance minister,” Ms. Freeland said.

“What I will say to everyone here, speaking for myself, is I do have the confidence that I need to do my job effectively.”

On Thursday, the Globe and Mail reported that senior officials in the Prime Minister’s Office are concerned by her effectiveness in the role and that relationship between the two offices has become tense.

Two sources said the view of some senior officials within the PMO, including chief of staff Katie Telford, is that Ms. Freeland has been ineffective in selling the government’s economic policies, which have come under assault from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre.

Other criticism includes that Ms. Freeland is not doing enough to win over members of the Liberal caucus, the sources said.

The Globe and Mail is not naming the sources because they were not authorized to discuss the matter.

In response to The Globe’s reporting, Mr. Trudeau told a Thursday news conference that he had been trying to recruit former Bank of Canada and Bank of England governor Mark Carney for years. He remained silent on Ms. Freeland’s future in the finance minister post but added that he has “full confidence in her abilities.”

The Globe also reported last week that a cabinet shuffle is increasingly likely this summer.

Political pressure has mounted on Mr. Trudeau to shuffle his cabinet, renew his senior staff and shift policy directions since the Conservatives won Toronto-St. Paul’s, was considered a safe Liberal riding, late last month. Many former Liberal ministers have publicly called for his exit, but only one sitting MP has added his name to those demands.

During Tuesday’s news conference, Ms. Freeland noted that Mr. Carney is her son’s godfather. She said she speaks with Mr. Carney often and welcomed his support for the Liberals and the government but didn’t clarify if she has also tried to recruit him into the government.

Asked if Mr. Trudeau had raised concerns directly with her about her performance, Ms. Freeland again declined to disclose what the Prime Minister told her and expressed her gratitude for the job she has.

“Canada is the best country in the world and Canadians are amazing. And it is a huge privilege for me to serve Canada and Canadians as your Finance Minister and as your Deputy Prime Minister,” Ms. Freeland said.

With a report from Robert Fife