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A faithful correspondent writes:

Journalists at this week’s budget lockup were wondering how the tough financial times and record deficit would affect the free lunch.Ìý

The lockup description is literal – once in, generally before 9 a.m., you’re barred from leaving until after 2 p.m., when the finance minister starts reading the budget speech. It’s kind of a Hotel California thing. Even cell phones are seized.

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So the government lays on lunch.

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Thin gruel this red-ink year? Stale bread and cheap cheese? Plate scrapings from another event at the convention centre?

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Nope. The government and convention centre staff came through with a nice mix of sandwiches and wraps — the tuna salad on brown was particularly good — and of course, fresh fruit and veggies, given the healthy living theme these days. The cookies were mediocre – kind of greasy tasting, we are told – but everything else went well.

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The debacle of one recent year, in which confused reporters grabbed what looked like smoked salmon sandwiches only to find they were really heaped with grated carrot, was avoided.

Thanks, taxpayers.Ìý

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I've been to a couple of budget lockups. Being a newbie, I was too slow and too polite when the food arrived atop mirrored sheets. By the time I elbowed myself to the table, it was mostly cucumber and tomato sandwiches, and a sprinkling of celery and carrot sticks.

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