Sometimes you have to wonder if politicians, once elected, forget sone of the basics of human interaction. How else can you explain Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau ‘s latest, self-inflicted crisis, one that pundits are saying could be the nail in his political coffin?

One week ago today Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland resigned, hours before she was supposed to deliver a mini budget. She made her resignation letter public on X, a scathing denunciation of Trudeau and his policies, the same policies she supported wholeheartedly for nine years in cabinet .

The timing of her post had me wondering if Trudeau had had time to read her resignation letter before she went public. Given that he didn’t announce an immediate replacement, and that there was no-one available to make the scheduled 4 p.m. speech, I suspect he never saw it coming. Freeland was the ultimate Trudeau loyalist – until she wasn’t.

Freeland is a smart woman. She knows her fiscal policies were a disaster, but she went along with Trudeau’s desires. Until he told her he wanted to replace her.

Maybe if he had told her in person it might have made a difference. He fired her over Zoom. Did he not understand how insulting that was? Any human resources professional would tell him it is always better to do the hard things like firing people face to face.

It is tough to read body language on Zoom. Trudeau apparently thought she was okay with the demotion, okay to the point where she would still deliver the speech introducing the Fall Economic Statement. That was Friday afternoon. Monday morning his government was in shambles. He has canceled all his year-end media appearances. His caucus is up in arms with many MPs calling for him to step down. His political future is murkier than ever before. All because he didn’t show her the respect and courtesy of meeting face to face.

As crises go, this is certainly self-inflicted. Trudeau has no-one to blame but himself. Freeland has not been a great finance minister, but the blame for the policies she was ordered to implement rests with the prime minister. She just did what she was told.

And when the results weren’t good, she was shuffled aside. No surprise she decided not to go quietly.

Or maybe there is. She stayed silent for so long, I assumed she was in agreement with government policy.

She probably was, until it became obvious that Justin Trudeau has become toxic to voters. By quitting so dramatically Freeland is making a declaration of independence from Justin Trudeau and setting the stage for a campaign to replace him as Liberal leader.

Given the popularity of the Liberal government, I’m not sure that is a prize any sane person would want.

Political intrigue is usually pretty subdued at Christmas, but I expect the drama will continue early in the new year.

And it is all because Justin Trudeau didn’t understand that if you are going to fire someone you need to have the courage to do it face to face.