OTTAWA: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will tap Chrystia Freeland to be Canada's first female finance minister on Tuesday as an ethics scandal that clipped her predecessor's wings reverberates through his government.
Broadcasters CBC and CTV said Freeland's appointment will be announced in a cabinet shuffle that a government source told AFP is scheduled this afternoon.
Trudeau will also suspend parliament until October, with a new federal budget to follow its return to work, said the source.
Freeland, 52, has held key posts in the Liberal government including her current role as deputy prime minister and previously as foreign minister, as well as leading free trade talks with the US and Mexico.
The former journalist, first elected in 2015 and well-respected by her peers, is to take on the job as Canada goes through its worst economic crisis since the Second World War.
After five years in the post, Bill Morneau - under pressure from opposition parties - announced his surprise resignation from politics late Monday.
He told a news conference he was leaving to pursue the job of secretary-general of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
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