It’s the favourite parlour game of the parliamentary precinct — predicting which powerful figure is going where and why. Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland finds herself at the centre of speculation now, as talk about her possible appointment to NATO’s top job ramps up.

The buzz was loud enough for a journalist to ask Freeland about it directly on Wednesday, as Liberal cabinet ministers gathered on the West Coast to plot strategy for the fall session of Parliament.

Predictably, the deputy prime minister didn’t bite and spoke about how she already has “two busy jobs” — a reference to her principal portfolio as finance minister.

At least four different sources