Monday’s media lockup for the Fall Economic Statement (FES) will go down in history as one of the weirdest events in Canadian political history.
The doors to the policy briefing in Ottawa opened at 9 a.m. Chrystia Freeland resigned as finance minister seven minutes later, kicking off round after round of rumour and speculation.
Hours after the lockup was meant to start, the book containing the FES, which was supposed to be released at 10 a.m., remained shrouded under a black tablecloth.
Periodically, a voice came over the crackling in-house PA to offer updates that didn’t say much of anything at all.
“Due to incoming information, we are now determining next steps,” the disembodied voice said at one point.
Hours passed with no word …