OTTAWA VS. OTTAWA — Mayor JIM WATSON is calling on a posse of Conservative MPs to apologize for their thumbs-up, all-smiles visit to truckers camped in the heart of his city. “This is an absolute disgrace,” Watson said last night in quick rebuke to a photo tweeted out by Kevin Waugh. A bit earlier in the day, Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly warned city officials in Canada’s capital that maybe “there is no policing solution to this” — a stunning admission almost a week into the occupation of downtown neighborhoods. “We do not want riots,” Sloly added, “but all options remain on the table.” — CTV journo GLEN MCGREGOR broadcast Wednesday morning's "audio landscape" in downtown Ottawa (word to the wise: turn down your volume). — Soldiers with guns? In our cities? A retired lieutenant-general, MICHAEL DAY, was aghast at the notion of troops responding to a police concern. "This is a horrible idea. These are unarmed citizens. This is a police matter," he tweeted. "Failure to act appropriately at the front end does not provide license to pass the buck." CANDICE BERGEN, soon to be interim leader of the Conservatives, used the top of question period to ask Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU what he plans to do “to bring some resolution to the situation that is going on right now outside.” The PM’s reply: “From the beginning of this pandemic, we have been focused on encouraging Canadians to do the right thing, to be there for their neighbors, for the frontline health workers, vulnerable people and their families." What does that mean? "Getting vaccinated," he said. — Acronym of the day: WTF. TORY VS. TORY — Just days after ERIN O'TOOLE led his Conservatives to a third consecutive defeat to JUSTIN TRUDEAU's Liberals, your Playbook host was on the patio of the Metropolitain in downtown Ottawa with a low-profile party operative named BERT CHEN. Chen was an Ontario rep on the Conservative Party's national council, and he had been frustrated with his party's leadership for weeks. The message had fallen flat in the Greater Toronto Area and alienated westerners, he said — a worst-case scenario for a party that hoped to hold its Prairies strongholds and retake ground in the mouth-watering suburbs that ringed Toronto. — The petition: Shortly after the loss, Chen launched a change.org petition that called for O'Toole's resignation — and invoked a section of the party's constitution that set the terms for a referendum on his leadership. The petition needed 5 percent of members in five provinces to sign. Nearly 6,000 people added their names, though it was unclear how many were party members who could actually force the vote. — Momentum builds: Chen, whose profile had skyrocketed in political circles, was siib suspended from the national council. But his rabble-rousing might have signaled the beginning of the end for O'Toole. Sen. DENISE BATTERS launched her own petition . O'Toole chastised outspoken MPs like SHANNON STUBBS. Caucus meetings and the leader's office itself were suddenly leakier than before the election — a head-turning shift for a party famously mum about what happens behind closed doors. It all came to a head Wednesday. — The end of the line: Barely four months after Chen's post-election provocation, O'Toole was out of a job. He watched as 73 of his 118 MPs voted against his leadership during a tense hours-long session that had politicos refreshing Twitter incessantly as leaks turned into deluge. WHAT'S NEXT: For now, the Tories get Bergen as interim leader. ZI-ANN LUM has that story for Pro s. But the party will need a new permanent leader. As campaigns sputter into existence behind the scenes, we know some of the stalwarts who won't jump in — probably. — Who's out: There's always a cheering section for respected Harper cabmins RONA AMBROSE and JAMES MOORE . Neither has ever actually said yes to a run for the (permanent) top job. (We peg the over/under on phone calls to fan fave never-rans JEAN CHAREST and BRAD WALL at +/- 300.) — For Pros, POLITICO's ANDY BLATCHFORD has seven other names to watch as the race heats up: PIERRE POILIEVRE (d'uh), LESLYN LEWIS, JASON KENNEY, DOUG FORD, PATRICK BROWN, CAROLINE MULRONEY and PETER MACKAY (it could happen!).
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