Freeland’s resignation pushes deficit news to one side on a very strange
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 on what those “next steps” might be.
Lockups are a traditional part of government policy rollouts. Journalists, experts, bureaucrats and political staff cram into a conference hall with stale coffee, pre-wrapped sandwiches and an early copy of the policy in question.
A lockup allows journalists and stakeholders to review the documents and ask questions of the bureaucrats before crafting their stories. Once the policy in question is tabled in Parliament, the lockup is lifted and journalists are free to broadcast its contents.
Journalists in Monday’s lockup — many of whom doubtless would have preferred to be on Parliament Hill chasing reaction to the political earthquake — watched various feeds of news programs on their laptops and took bets on what might happen next.
They wandered the halls of the John G. Diefenbaker Building in Ottawa wondering whether the economic statement would actually be released.
The building itself is perhaps best known as the former home of the Commission of Inquiry into the Sponsorship Program and Advertising Activities (the so-called “sponsorship scandal”) headed by Justice John Gomery.
That inquiry led, at least in part, to the fall of Paul Martin’s government.
Instead of digging into budget speeches and annexes and spending charts, shellshocked reporters stuck in the Diefenbaker Building were left to parse the bombshell statement Freeland had posted to social media.
“Upon reflection, I have concluded that the only honest and viable path is for me to resign from the cabinet,” wrote the suddenly former finance minister.
The news itself was a shock. The fact that it came mere moments before the beginning of the lockup only served to amplify the sense of chaos.
Calls are mounting for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to step down following the departure of Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland. Former Liberal MP Gordie Hogg, former Conservative MP Dianne Watts and former NDP MP Nathan Cullen discuss the Liberal Party’s next move with…
Read More: Freeland’s resignation pushes deficit news to one side on a very strange