Minister quits amid rift with Trudeau

OTTAWA, Aug 18 (Xinhua): Canadian Finance Minister Bill Morneau announced his resignation Monday night amid an ongoing scandal of accepting gifts from a charity organization and reported rift with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

At a press conference in Ottawa, Morneau said he told Trudeau he was not going to run in the next federal election and that he only ever intended to serve in two governments.

Now is the "right time for a new finance minister" to manage a long and uncertain recovery as Canada rebuilds from the economic downturn brought on by COVID-19, said Morneau, who had been in the role of finance minister since 2015.