With Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland being sworn in as the new federal Finance Minister and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau proroguing parliament for the next month, one political watcher believes this is a way for the party to hit the reset button on their image.

Tim Powers of Abacus Data says Freeland has received praise and her appointment and it is something to celebrate, but it is clouded by the politics of the day, namely Bill Morneau resigning the day before. He says government wants us to believe Morneau’s exit is par for the course, but the backdrop of the WE scandal and the coronavirus pandemic make that more of a fable rather than the true story.

Powers believes Trudeau threw Morneau under the bus, calling him the “latest ministerial casualty.”

According to Powers, the hope with Freeland’s appointment, the messages she and the Prime Minister tried to drive home, and the prorogation of government is to take focus off of the WE scandal.

He calls this a “major attempt at rebranding” of the Liberal government to so people will forget about the “self-inclficted wound of WE.”