Who are you watching on Parliament Hill?

From: POLITICO Ottawa Playbook - Friday Nov 12,2021 11:02 am

Nov 12, 2021

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WELCOME TO OTTAWA PLAYBOOK. I'm your host, Nick Taylor-Vaisey. TGIF. We take a closer look at Mona Fortier's ascendancy, do the math on all the Tories with new responsibilities, and marvel at the Ottawa Citizen's annual Remembrance Day project.

OFFICE HOURS — We're back. If you have strong opinions about regional economic development, bring 'em. Some say the new Cabinet has way too many ministers to hand out regional cash. Others are thanking their lucky stars that all those funding decisions no longer rest with a single minister.

RSVP via email and I'll send you our coordinates. We'll talk about other stuff, too. It's a nice crowd. That's a Playbook guarantee.

DRIVING THE DAY

MINISTER TO WATCH — Playbook is on a mission to spotlight politicians who might fly under the radar in the relentless parliamentary to-and-fro that consumes the Hill. (Tell us: Who deserves more attention and isn't getting it?)

Today's mark: Treasury Board President MONA FORTIER, a Franco-Ontarien MP and the lone minister representing an Ottawa riding.

— Under the radar: Fortier isn't new to Cabinet, but few outsiders truly understood her contributions as minister of middle-class prosperity — an oft-mocked job title she struggled to define for quizzical journalists. (More than one politico flagged for Playbook with some amusement that Tory finance critic PIERRE POILIEVRE was also just named the shadow minister for Fortier's defunct portfolio, but we digress.)

— Her real value: Fortier didn't head her own ministry, but she served on five Cabinet committees, the bee hives of activity that hash out proposals for the full Cabinet, before the last election — the same number as DOMINIC LEBLANC and JEAN-YVES DUCLOS, and more than anyone else on the front bench. She chaired economy and the environment, sat on the crucial operations committee, and was also at the table for reconciliation as well as health and social affairs. She also sat on the subcommittee on litigation management and served as an alternate on the Treasury Board (which she'll now chair).

In his guide to the tradecraft of politics, former PCO clerk MICHAEL WERNICK writes that Cabinet committee chairs aren't appointed for show. "The extra status and workload are things that you can use to reward allies, to keep rivals busy, or to develop a deeper bench," he says. "Effective chairs help to keep your government moving forward, provide solid due diligence on both policy and politics, and sustain team morale."

—She's everywhere: Fortier’s history in the Liberal party stretches back to an extended run as president of the Ottawa-Vanier riding association. When MP MAURIL BELANGER died in 2016, Fortier won the local byelection the next year. She eventually joined the national platform development effort before the 2019 vote, and is seen as the glue between policy proposals and their origin stories: Ministers might know the platform by heart, but few understand how it all came together — and which stakeholders played a role.

Fortier breezed to victory in her riding, one of the safest Liberal bastions in Canada. She counted former central banker MARK CARNEY, now openly a Trudeau supporter, as a fellow door-knocker in the riding.

— A big job: Treasury Board is a central agency, a vital piece of the machinery of government that sees nowhere near the profile of the Department of Finance. But Fortier is now the federal government's financial manager, the top of the food chain on approving expenditures. She's also the face of her government in bargaining with public-service unions — which includes many of her literal neighbors in town.

— What's next: The mandate letters and cabinet committee membership are still " forthcoming," but Fortier will have her hands full. (Keep reading for an update on the federal vaccine mandate she'll now oversee.) A big-spending government needs someone to keep an eagle eye on all the money going out the door. That's Fortier's job.

DON’T MISS THE HALIFAX INTERNATIONAL SECURITY FORUM: Back in person for the first time since 2019, tune in as international security leaders from democracies around the world discuss key challenges at the 13th annual Halifax International Security Forum live from Nova Scotia. As an official media partner, POLITICO will livestream the conversation beginning at 3 p.m. on November 19. Check out the full three-day agenda is here.

VAXX COUNT — A federal tracker launched last week reports that 99.7 percent of bureaucrats in the "core public administration" — 267,222 of them — were fully vaccinated. That portal was supposed to be updated weekly but hasn't been refreshed in eight days. The Treasury Board Secretariat media team didn't respond to Playbook's request (they also had the day off). Today could be the day.

— Why it matters: The deadline for bureaucrats to submit attestations was Oct. 29. Any public servants who "refuse to disclose their status, or who are unwilling to be fully vaccinated, will be placed on administrative leave without pay." Exceptions do exist, and the feds have received 3,150 requests for accommodation.

— The holdouts: A tiny fraction of public servants — 1,255, or 0.5 percent — attested that they were unvaccinated. It's a minuscule figure, but still nearly four times the number of occupants in, say, the House of Commons.

COP26 ENDGAME — From POLITICO's team in Glasgow this morning: Pressure is building on countries to agree a final deal as the COP26 U.N. climate change conference enters its final stretch. Ministers are meeting to consider the latest text of the agreement — officially the final day of the summit. If past trends are anything to go by, negotiations could stretch into the weekend. ZIA WEISE has more here. “The world is watching us and willing us to work together and reach consensus — we cannot afford to fail them,” said COP26 President ALOK SHARMA in a push for a final deal — but climate campaigners are already crying foul.

ZACK COLMAN reports that latest draft text released this morning does talk about a new goal for finance beyond 2025, but negotiators are struggling to agree on designing the structure for setting that goal, leaving a big task to conclude the talks.

You can join POLITICO’s team in Glasgow at 6 CET (noon in Ottawa) on a Twitter Space.

REMEMBRANCE D(EL)AY — The lesson from Thursday's Playbook was timing is everything at the National War Memorial. As the Peace Tower clock struck 11, something was amiss. Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU had only arrived three minutes earlier, and Governor General MARY SIMON had still not pulled up. The 21-gun salute commenced right on schedule, and the dull roar of a pair of CF-18 jets grew closer. The Hornets flew past just as the GG — sporting an RCAF uniform, to boot — was taking her position in the plaza.

— What went wrong? Were the dignitaries running late? Had they dissed the most solemn ceremony of the year, as Facebook public policy manager RACHEL CURRAN somewhat ironically theorized on Twitter? No. Mounties had spotted a suspicious package across the street from the memorial. They held back the VIPs and cleared the package a few minutes later.

— The flypast goes on: The Hornets passed overhead at precisely their scheduled moment, but jumped the queue in the order of ceremonies. Was their spotter on the ground flummoxed by the holdup? Did they have limited fuel? Playbook can only speculate because a DND spokesperson couldn't get a hold of those involved before Playbook's deadline. (The pilots had the day off as soon as they landed in Bagotville.)

WE ARE THE DEAD — When GLEN MCGREGOR was at the Ottawa Citizen, he built a Twitter bot that tweeted the name of a fallen Canadian soldier on the 11th minute of every hour of every day. On Remembrance Day, he'd profile the soldier tweeted at 11:11. McGregor is now at CTV, but the project lives on. Yesterday's profile: ROBERT JAMES MCCORMICK, a member of the Highland Light Infantry of Canada who died July 8, 1944.

The Citizen crowdsources the project and reports everything confirmable. McCormick was born in 1915, survived the disastrous Dieppe Raid, and is buried at a cemetery in France. They unearthed a profile photo — and a picture of his gravestone. Reader LISA HOLMES discovered an account of McCormick's death (warning: graphic details). Before long, the paper had tracked down a living descendant of their man.

Check out the full profile.

SHADOW CABINET MATH — Seventy-three Tories are now shadow ministers, deputy shadow ministers or senior members of the House leadership team. Forty-six are on the outside looking in. As with Cabinet, location matters. Every MP from Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia made the grade, as did every one of the 10 Quebecers in caucus. Three-quarters of British Columbians and New Brunswickers and 72 percent of Ontarians got the call, as did 57 percent of Saskatchewanians and Manitobans. Alberta pulls up the rear. A little more than half its MPs (53 percent) made the cut.

— The snubbed: RICHARD BRAGDON, the new shadow min for ethics, was the only one of six sitting MPs who endorsed LESLYN LEWIS's leadership run to nab a spot. Lewis was also left off, as were MARILYN GLADU and MARK STRAHL — both of whom have found themselves on the wrong side of vaccine politics.

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TODAY'S HIGHLIGHTS

— Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU is starting early with a 6 o'clock appearance at the 2021 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Leaders' Summit. He's planning a 10 a.m. check-in with P.E.I. Premier DENNIS KING. Veterans Affairs Minister LAWRENCE MACAULAY will join the call.

— Foreign Minister MÉLANIE JOLY is headed stateside. Joly's first official trip includes a sit-down in Washington with Secretary of State ANTONY BLINKEN.

— Innovation Minister FRANÇOIS-PHILIPPE CHAMPAGNE is still in Paris.

— Trade Minister MARY NG is still in Geneva for WTO meetings.

— Prairie Economic Development Minister DAN VANDAL is in Saskatoon for an agri-food spending announcement.

ASK US ANYTHING

What are you hearing that you need Playbook to know? Any questions about the next session of Parliament? Send it all our way.

PROZONE

Pro s should catch our Pro PM Memo: COP26: Let's talk best- and worst-case scenarios.

In other headlines for Pros:

— EU accused of being the 'missing leader' at COP26 climate talks.
— U.K. refuses to join trade pact to end fossil fuel subsidies.
— USTR Tai urges WTO members to 'fight' for reform.
— Commerce tells solar manufacturers to reveal identities or face tariff petition rejection.

Don’t miss this afternoon’s memo for a comprehensive calendar of the week ahead.

MEDIA ROOM

— The Nunatsiaq News talks to Nunavut MP LORI IDLOUT whose swearing-in today will take place in Iqaluit in Inuktitut. “I wanted to … highlight how proud I am of my Inuit culture,” she said.

— From ALEX PANETTA in Washington: Canada may have found an unlikely ally in fight against U.S. auto plan.

— With many downtown office buildings still standing empty, cities are weighing whether to repurpose them, possibly into housing, POLITICO’s JANAKI CHADRA reports from New York : “How those buildings will be used, and how that transition will occur, will shape America’s cities for decades to come.” (h/t POLITICO Playbook)

What are you reading? Playbook wants to know.

— As COP26 comes to a close, environmental scientist PAUL BEHRENS presents best- and worst-case scenarios.

— The Tyee features an excerpt from BRUCE MCIVOR’s Standoff: Why Reconciliation Fails Indigenous People and How to Fix It.

— In Toronto Life, a Toronto bank exec explains why she’s ditched Zoom for a run at provincial politics.

PLAYBOOKERS

Birthdays: HBD to BARBARA MCDOUGALL, the first Canadian woman to be named foreign minister, 84 today. … Former House Speaker PETER MILLIKEN is 75. NEIL YOUNG , noted singer/songwriter and oilsands critic, was born a year earlier. … Former Quebec finance minister MICHEL AUDET is 81. … Former Ontario Liberal cabmin DAVID ORAZIETTI is 53.

Passings: Indigenous author and activist LEE MARACLE has died. Twitter filled with remembrances of the trailblazer, mentor and thinker. “Every single Indigenous writer walks in her footsteps,” Niigaan Sinclair said. “I will miss her, her generosity, and her big, hearty laughter. Walk good, Lee,” Sandy Hudson shared.

Here is Maracle in an essay shared with The Walrus in 2018: “I write because I cannot fall silent into a backwash of Canadiana after having produced 15,000 years of story. I write because I want our youth to know that we have value, we have knowledge, and we have a place in this world. The place we have was carved for us by our ancestors, who loved us so much that they died that we might live.”

The Writers’ Trust of Canada shared this 2020 lecture from Maracle.

Journalist and two-time organ transplant recipient FATIMA BAIG died a week ago, the Toronto Star reports. She was 28.

Spotted: Digital government guru MICHAEL KARLIN had the capital laughing after making a joke only a public servant could love — and how. … AWANISH SINHA appropriated the same photo to politely rib our friends at the Curse of Politics.

MPs from four political parties — Environment Minister STEVEN GUILBEAULT, Tory DAN ALBAS, Bloquiste KRISTINA MICHAUD and Greens ELIZABETH MAY and MIKE MORRICE — marked Remembrance Day at COP26. Notably missing: The NDP.

Movers and shakers: The latest staffer to jump from environment and climate change to JONATHAN WILKINSON's team at natural resources is FIONA SIMON, who starts a new gig as director of policy, clean energy and innovation.

Ag Minister MARIE-CLAUDE BIBEAU met with her provincial counterparts: “We want to create a durable agriculture and do everything we can to protect the land, water and air for future generations.”

The new MAYOR PETE is PETER ZYTYNSKY, the new top dog in Pointe-des-Cascades, Quebec. (He's also the father of Senate comms specialist MICHAEL FORIAN .)

The Canadian Bankers Association filed a raft of recent meetings with notable officials: RICK THEIS, a PMO policy guy; TYLER MEREDITH, Finance Canada's director of economic strategy and planning; FRANK LOFRANCO, the deputy commish at the Financial Consumer Agency; ANDREW BROWN, an ADM at ESDC; SHAWN PORTER, a tax policy associate ADM at Finance; and FINTRAC folks SARAH PAQUET and DONNA ACHIMOV.

Media mentions: BRIAN PLATT is joining Bloomberg’s Ottawa bureau from the National Post.

TRIVIA

Thursday's answer: During his February 2017 visit to the White House the prime minister presented DONALD TRUMP with a framed photo of PIERRE TRUDEAU and Trump. The picture was taken in 1981 at an awards ceremony in New York. In a 2017 story inspired by the gift, TRISTIN HOPPER noted that Justin Trudeau also brought along a carved lion made from Cleveland sandstone.

Props to BOB GORDON, JOHN ECKER, LEIGH LAMPERT, PETE LAWLOR, MICHAEL MACDONALD, JOHN GUOBA, JUSTIN MARGOLIS and MARY JANE ALLAN.

Friday’s question: Who presented MALALA YOUSAFZAI with her honorary Canadian citizenship? Bonus marks: Who was behind the motion that made that happen?

Send your answers to ottawaplaybook@politico.com

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