CHAMPAGNE'S BIG DAY — Word on the street is this morning's announcer at a Chevy dealership in Montreal could be a landmark day for FRANÇOIS-PHILIPPE CHAMPAGNE, a deal-making innovation minister who loves to promise landmark days. Champagne will be flanked by two provincial cabmins: PIERRE FITZGIBBON, whose bailiwick includes economy and innovation; and JONATAN JULIEN, Quebec's pointman on energy and natural resources. — The context: The ministers will talk about green vehicle manufacturing only three days after German chemical giant BASF announced plans to build a new battery materials facility in Bécancour, Quebec. Champagne hyped that splash in a Reuters interview: "I see BASF as being the first pillar of the battery ecosystem in Canada … It's certainly a substantial investment, both for the company and for us ... as the federal government." Expect something that builds on that Friday momentum. — The backdrop: Playbook is taking wagers on background props. A standard-issue Bolt? A fancy new Silverado? An even fancier new Cadillac Lyriq? All of the above? Place your bets now. WHO ARE THE GRASSROOTS? — Everybody woos them. Everybody claims them. The rank-and-file in every political party are a powerful bunch when there's policy to vote on or leadership voids. They fill convention halls, knock on doors relentlessly during elections and dutifully donate their hard-earned cash to party coffers. They're essential to winning power. And they're at the center of the Tory leadership contest's early days. They're the grassroots. Conservative MP SHANNON STUBBS , a rural Albertan who was on the wrong side of former boss ERIN O'TOOLE and now firmly behind frontrunner PIERRE POILIEVRE, struck a nerve with an attack on likely leadership rival JEAN CHAREST. "I'm with grassroots Conservative Party members," she tweeted. "Our leader must share our values, and respect our policies. I'm against the carbon tax, the long gun registry, and for tax cuts, not tax hikes." The contrast was sharp and deliberate. Anyone who favors a carbon tax is out of touch with grassroots party members — and not a true Conservative. But does Stubbs get to claim that ground just because it's up for grabs? Who does speak for that nebulous demographic of Tory supporters? And who are they, anyway? Are pro-carbon tax conservatives barred from the club? — Grassroots (n.): Playbook asked a couple dozen Conservatives to define the G-word. Our rolodex lives all over Canada. They're staffers and activists alike. They gamely gave gut responses. A few complained that a single sentence was simply not enough. — tl;dr: The grassroots are a lot of different things to a lot of different people. BERT CHEN, a former national councilor for Ontario, kept his definition short and sweet: "Grassroots are the members and volunteers of the Conservative Party that serve on local electoral district associations boards and campaigns for candidates." Several responses aligned with Chen. SARA MACINTYRE, a former press secretary to STEPHEN HARPER, defined the grassroots as being "motivated by pocketbook issues, family values, equal opportunity, individual choice and freedom of conscience, small government and fiscal responsibility. And to a lesser extent, a principled foreign policy standing — but importantly, a well-equipped, trained and adequate military." Familiar campaign themes, in other words. — The outsiders: Another correspondent who worked in Harper's PMO said the grassroots are "hardworking families, and in particular the breadwinners in those families, based primarily in the vast regions of the country that sit apart from the centers of media, political and cultural elite." Philosophically, they want government out of their lives more than in it. — A big tent: A former candidate described a huge pool of "old-school red Tories, prairie populists, hardy multi-generational farmers, disaffected blue Liberals, Friedman-Thatcher-Reagan small-state conservatives, libertarians, independentiste Quebecois, and some social conservatives." — The disgruntled: A veteran of the Harper years described a flock of alienated voters: “a lot of otherwise good folks who are upset about being taken for granted by Canada’s leaders — and that includes leaders within the Conservative Party.” — The plain-speakers: A Prairie campaigner evoked memories of JOHN DIEFENBAKER. "The grassroots of the Conservative party is looking for someone whose reflex is to talk like a normal person," they wrote Playbook. "They're looking for their DOUG FORD." — The common denominator: An Albertan observer described a group unified by their main priority. “A diverse coalition of ideological perspectives that converge around Main Street, not Bay Street, economic anxieties,” they said. — The cynical view: Another Albertan brought the funny to Playbook's question. "Some say: 'in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.' Now imagine if the blind overthrew the government and claimed that one didn't need vision to govern this country — that's the Conservative Party grassroots." — The opportunist: A fan of the Fords said the definition is in the eye of the beholder. "That term will always be manipulated to advance your ends as it depicts you as the one, true interpreter of what 'the base,' and therefore the party, wants," they said. — The 'central challenge': KEN BOESSENKOOL, the executive director of Conservatives for Clean Growth, says it's this: "The people who elect the leader of our party and the people who elect the leader of our party as prime minister live on different planets." Have a better definition of grassroots? A candidate endorsement you want at the top of Playbook? A treatise on conservative principles? Tell us these things. Do it now! — Notes from the race: ANDREW SCHEER endorsed PIERRE POILIEVRE's leadership campaign (we called it ). It was a big party in Regina, nearly 1,000 in attendance according to someone in the room: "And that crazy energy. All sweaty and dancy and excited. Really fun night." Poilievre also picked up a thumb's up from Alberta MP MATT JENEROUX. Former senator ANDRÉ PRATTE penned a defense of JEAN CHAREST in the National Post. KARAMVEER LALH is concocting a narrow path to victory for Charest. … The Star reports that former MP LEONA ALLESLEV is considering a run. (Still no definitive word on MICHAEL CHONG's next move. There's now a petition urging him to throw his hat in.)
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