Jean Charest will soon enter the chat

By Nick Taylor-Vaisey, Zi-Ann Lum and Andy Blatchford

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WELCOME TO OTTAWA PLAYBOOK. I'm your host, Nick Taylor-Vaisey with Zi-Ann Lum and Andy Blatchford. Happy International Women's Day. Several ministers are hosting women-focused events around Canada. PMJT has a packed agenda in Europe. CHRYSTIA FREELAND will join him there. And the Tory leadership race finally gains another big name.

ACROSS THE POND — Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU wakes up in Riga, Latvia. His day is, diplomatically speaking, jammed.

PMJT starts the day with a 9:35 a.m. (local time) bilat with Latvian PM KRIŠJĀNIS KARIŅŠ . His next meeting is a Baltic quadrilateral that also ropes in Lithuanian PM INGRIDA ŠIMONYTĖ and Estonian PM KAJA KALLAS.

The PM's last morning meeting is with Latvian prez EGILS LEVITS.

— Support the troops: At 2:40 local time, Trudeau will visit Parade Square at Latvia's Ādaži Military Base and link up with Defense Minister ANITA ANAND and Chief of the Defense Staff Gen. WAYNE EYRE. The trio will visit Canadian soldiers serving in the region.

— More facetime: Next up, another Trudeau bilat with NATO secretary-general JENS STOLTENBERG. And then another, this time with Spanish PM PEDRO SÁNCHEZ. And then a final presser with Kariņš, Stoltenberg and Sánchez.

— Next stop: The PM's entourage departs for Germany at 9 p.m. local time.

More on Ukraine: Biden warms to a Russian oil ban. Congress may not give him a choice. Follow POLITICO's liveblog for updates.

HE'S IN — JEAN CHAREST will formally launch his leadership campaign on Thursday night, La Presse first reported.

— The location: Calgary's Wild Rose Brewery in Tory MP GREG MCLEAN's riding. McLean was at the Chateau Laurier for Charest's check-in with curious caucus members. Can a caucus endorsement be far behind?

A little birdie alerted Playbook to a fun fact: jeancharest.ca was first registered on Feb. 2, the very same day ERIN O'TOOLE was taken out as leader. There are few hints about who nabbed the domain — only that they used the registrar Tucows.

SHE'S OUT —TASHA KHEIRIDDIN, the conservative commentator who was mulling a run for the top job in Toryland isn't taking the plunge. She'll endorse Charest as the race's contours slowly sharpen. EVAN SOLOMON was first with the news.

— In her own words: "Mr. Charest shares my vision of a united party that speaks to every region of the country, that is inclusive and forward looking. One that has a vision for the economy, energy and the environment that can win in the West, the 905, and Quebec."

Kheiriddin committed to running for the Tories in the next campaign.

FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — MARC ROY is joining Sandstone Group as vice-president of public affairs and business development.

Roy served as then-transport minister MARC GARNEAU 's chief of staff for nearly three years. His resume includes director of communications stints in several ministers' offices. He was also associate d-comm in PAUL MARTIN's PMO. Roy will focus on clients in Quebec and around the world.

LICH IS FREE — A judge granted bail to TAMARA LICH , one of the organizers of the truck convoy that lingered malignantly for three weeks in downtown Ottawa. "She left in a white pickup truck with Alberta plates. She has 24 hours to get out of Ottawa and 72 to leave Ontario," reported CTV's GLEN MCGREGOR.

GM’S U-TURN IN QUEBEC — Flanked by a phalanx of Chevrolet Bolt EUVs, Industry Minister FRANÇOIS-PHILIPPE CHAMPAGNE could barely contain his glee at General Motors’ return to Quebec.

“This is a home run,” he said about the automaker's decision to build a new C$500-million plant in la belle province that'll produce cathode active materials and precursors for future fleets of GM EVs.

The company had shut down its Quebec plant in 2002. The new lease on life from an American auto giant marks a victory for a Canadian government fighting U.S. President JOE BIDEN's proposed tax credit for U.S.-manufactured EVs.

DAVID PATERSON, GM Canada’s VP of corporate and environmental affairs, said Quebec’s low-cost and zero-emissions hydro electricity was a “really important operational saving” that factored in the company’s investment calculus — as well as access to Canada’s “very strong reserves” of nickel, too.

Further reading: New York City is making a multimillion dollar bet on Canadian hydropower. Some say the wager is too risky.

— Another energy issue: Standing in front of a red Chevy Bolt EV, Champagne acknowledged the soaring cost of gas across Canada. (Prices soared past C$1.80 per liter in Ottawa and topped 2 bucks in Vancouver.)

He shouted out a Competition Bureau team dedicated to ensuring prices, which are set by global commodity markets, aren’t being jacked because of “illegal practices” or collusion.

— Read the vroom: Conservatives blame the carbon tax for increased prices, a claim debunked by UCalgary economistTREVOR TOMBE. Alberta Premier JASON KENNEY took matters into his own hands and announced a temporary suspension of his province’s 13 percent fuel tax to bring temporary relief at the pumps.

— Oil cartel boss’ crystal ball: While savvy politicians look to translate the energy crisis and VLADIMIR PUTIN’s war in Ukraine into oil and gas industry boosterism, OPEC Secretary General HAITHAM AL-GHAIS called on the world to depoliticize oil.

The veteran Kuwaiti oil executive told reporters in Houston on Monday that international oil and gas consumption levels are expected to return to pre-pandemic levels this year. Asked if OPEC is concerned about losing market share over calls for U.S. and Canadian producers to ramp up production, Al-Ghais suggested that’s the wrong focus.

Russia is one of the top exporters of crude and oil, accounting for approximately seven million barrels per day.

“It's not about market share,” Al-Ghais said. “It's how do we mitigate? How do we overcome this crisis?”

BUDGET GOSSIP — In Monday's PM Memo for Pro s, POLITICO's ANDY BLATCHFORD chatted with a senior government source about what the Ottawa bubble can expect to see in the next federal budget. The first clue: Expect the tabling date to fall in the coming weeks.

— Big themes: The broad strokes will include decarbonization, climate change, boosting economic growth and a strategy “to grow the pie” for Canadians, said the source who spoke on condition of anonymity. An additional component of the plan will be helping people via the government’s focus on child care, housing, transit and making communities more affordable. The budget will also address issues around Covid-19 and health care.

— Uncertainty: As the government crafts the budget, officials will keep an eye on the economic fallout from the war in Ukraine. The source said the fluctuations of energy prices, the effects of economic sanctions and the many unknowns of the conflict threaten to create a lot of instability. “The world has taken on a lot through Covid and this is coming at a pretty unwelcome time,” the official said.

— PM on military spending: Trudeau kept the door open today to increased defense spending. When asked whether Canada might raise its military investments in response to the war in Ukraine, Trudeau reminded reporters that a budget was “on the way.”

“The context is changing rapidly around the world and we need to make sure that the women and men who serve in the Canadian Armed Forces have all the equipment necessary to be able to stand strongly as we always have as members of NATO,” he said. “We will continue to look at what more we can do.”

— Small-biz (and lots of other things) Minister MARY NG will launch the next phase of the Women Entrepreneurship Strategy at the Canadian Film Center in North York, Ont.

— 10:15 a.m. Deputy PM CHRYSTIA FREELAND will host a virtual pre-budget consultation with feminist organizations as part of International Women's Day. The agenda is, uh, packed.

Then it's off to Europe. Freeland will join Trudeau in Poland and Germany.

— 10:30 a.m. Women and Gender Equality Minister MARCI IEN will deliver remarks during a ceremony to honor the recipients of the Governor General's Awards in Commemoration of the Persons Case. MARY SIMON will also participate.

— 11 a.m. Agriculture Minister MARIE-CLAUDE BIBEAU will participate in an International Women's Day fireside chat hosted by VICKI BRISSON , a member of the Canadian Agricultural Youth Council.

— 11:30 a.m. The Canadian Global Affairs Institute hosts its annual state of trade conference all morning. The headliners just before lunch hour are JOHN MANLEY, JEAN CHAREST (you don't say) and GARY DOER. (Somewhere, PIERRE POILIEVRE might complain about a lack of real Conservatives on the panel.)

Other speakers: Global Affairs chief economist MARIE-FRANCE PAQUET, Deputy Minister for trade DAVID MORRISON, Chamber of Commerce senior VP MARK AGNEW , and GM GR manager SARAH GOLDFEDER.

— 12:30 p.m. Public Safety Minister MARCO MENDICINO to announce funding to help support survivors of human trafficking.

— 1 p.m. The Senate's audit and oversight committee meets with witnesses from the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat and CPA Canada in relation to senators’ study of the upper chamber’s internal and external audit processes.

— 9 p.m. NDP leader SINGH will address a Vancouver District Labor Council event marking International Women's Day.

DEAR PM — NDP leader JAGMEET SINGH raised the plight of the Safi family and Afghan refugees directly in a letter to PM Trudeau.

"New Democrats are asking your government to provide support to ethnic minorities seeking refuge in Ukraine and ensure they have equal access to reach and cross borders, including Indian and African students, and members of the LGTBQ2s+ communities, who have faced discrimination in their attempts to find safety."

ARCTIC DIPLOMACY — The Inuit Circumpolar Council expressed some angst at a temporary pause on Arctic Council meetings requested by Canada and its allies — and agreed to by the Russians, who chair the group until May 2023.

"ICC emerged from the Cold War as a unifying voice for Inuit across our collective homeland of Inuit Nunaat. We worked hard to ensure that our sisters and brothers from Chukotka were able to join us in 1992," read a statement, referencing Inuit who live in Russia. "We are concerned about the future of the Arctic Council, which is based on peaceful cooperation and mutual respect."

TELL US WHAT YOU KNOW — What are you hearing that you need Playbook to know? Send it all our way.

FROM THE TENDERS — The Canada Lands Company is paying a Toronto-based animation studio C$713,000 to produce multimedia content on the CN Tower's revamped outdoor terrace. The winning bidder once projected a light show from top to bottom on the tallest building in the world .

DND is extending CAE's contract to deliver a flight training program in Canada for at least four more years — a necessary move to fill the gap until the Air Force has a new fighter jet. Potential cost: C$571 million. DND is also tacking on extra years to a servicing contract for the Navy's aging submarines. Cost: C$263.9 million.

— The site of a decommissioned two-story bunker once meant to help the feds keep the government running in case of nuclear war is up for remediation. Fun fact: SNC-Lavalin analysis flagged the potential impact on western painted turtles, which might nest on the 2-hectare property. The engineers still recommend destroying potential nesting grounds, arguing the remediation would improve habitat quality.

— A federal campaign for Chinese tourists: As Global Affairs bureaucrats work on a China policy for the post-MENG WANZHOU era, the keeners at Destination Canada want a contractor to help lure "high-value guests" from China.

— What is a high value guest? "They visit destinations consistent with their personal values, with an increasing consciousness around responsible travel. They are not driven by price. They are naturally curious and want to invest time and energy into a destination by staying longer and immersing themselves into the local culture, actively seeking the local hidden gems in addition to the tourist attractions.

"They respect and celebrate the place and people. At best, they want to leave a destination better than they found it and, at least, they want to minimize their footprint."

— The job: The federal Crown corp is asking for a public relations expert with resources in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou. The successful bidder is expected to maintain a database of influencers in China and organize "familiarization trips" for them that increase awareness of "Canada’s iconic and legendary experiences."

— FATIMA SYED's The Backbench pod digs into sanctions, refugee policy and contradictions in the invasion of Ukraine. Backbenchers include JASKARAN SANDHU, DREW BROWN and CAROLINE ELLIOT. Listen.

— The Rover's CHRISTOPHER CURTIS reports from the Polish-Ukrainian border as he heads towards war. He passes by refugees desperate to get out, but notes the surprising (to him) numbers of volunteer fighters headed to the front.

— In the New York Times, DAN BILEFSKY finds the world's first poutinerie changing the name of its iconic dish. LAURENT PROULX, the co-owner of Le Roy Jucep and veteran of the Afghanistan war, has shifted to a much more utilitarian name for his province's famous export: fries-cheese-gravy.

— An exclusive ski resort on the shores of Georgian Bay in Ontario raked in C$1.4 million in Covid relief, reports CBC's JONATHON GATEHOUSE. The resort had a banner year. Here's the wrinkle: no rules were broken. Harsh words from Toronto lawyer MARK BLUMBERG: "This was a very poorly constructed program and it got worse as it went on."

— Nunatsiaq News reporter RANDI BEERS has the sum of the fines — C$24,000 — handed to Russians who violated Canadian airspace on the way to Yellowknife.

BORIS PAVLOV, one of the Arctic explorers, is part of a multinational team of wanderlusters known as the Transglobal Car Expedition. Their mission: "We believe that we can embrace the Earth meridian by meridian and unite people all over the world in one common journey." They want to drive pole to pole. Here's their route.

— SHANNON GORMLEY writes an opus on the fall of Kabul.

Birthdays: HBD to Edmonton mayor AMARJEET SOHI. …

Spotted: PMJT hanging out maskless with the Queen. Tory MP DAN ALBAS and O'Toole strategy guy DAN ROBERTSON both called him out. Said Robertson: "Remind me again why my eight-year-old son has to wear a mask all day long."

ERIN JACOBSON and JOSH ZANIN, former Hill staffers whose November wedding, noted in Playbook at the time, got the Toronto Life treatment.

BOB RAE and ARLENE PERLY RAE, welcoming father-to-be TALEEB NOORMOHAMED into his NYC home. Noormohamed was director of the Air India bombing inquiry secretariat when Rae chaired the process.

A groovy Transport Development Agency guide on airport access in Canada dating to 1972.

Movers and shakers: Sandstone Group's NARESH RAGHUBEER signed up to lobby for Amazon on the Hill … Rubicon's TIM SMITHEMAN is repping CNOOC … Three StrategyCorp consultants registered for the Hotel Association of Canada: FRÉDÉRIK LAROUCHE , ROXANNE D'ONOFRIO and MATTHEW SEGAL.

Airbus filed a meeting with Innovation Minister FRANÇOIS-PHILIPPE CHAMPAGNE. Moderna posted a chat with Champagne's policy director, BOYAN GERASIMOV. The vaccine-maker logged a separate conversation with a pair of senior staffers for Health Minister JEAN-YVES DUCLOS: chief of staff JAMIE KIPPEN and policy director JEAN-SEBASTIEN BOCK.

Farewells: A funeral for JOHN DUFFY will be held this morning at Congregation Habonim in North York. A memorial service will be held at the Royal Ontario Museum at 6 p.m.

For Pro s, here’s our PM Canada memo: Remember Budget 2022? Don’t worry, we didn’t forget.

In news for POLITICO Pro s:

— GM Canada makes C$500M bet on new Quebec EV battery facility.
— Oil industry targets production hikes as U.S. tightens screws on Putin.
— White House split delays plans for investment controls on China.
— Is Covid Over? No, But Global Health Funders Are Moving On.
— Another shutdown scramble: Congress grasps for final funding deal.

Monday's answer: DOUGLAS CARDINAL, the architect of the Canadian History Museum who turned 88 on Monday, said this: “Our buildings must be part of nature, must flow out of the land; the landscape must weave in and out of them so that, even in the harshness of winter, we are not deprived of our closeness with nature.”

Props to BOB GORDON, KEVIN BOSCH, NICK MASCIANTONIO, GEORGE YOUNG, PATRICK HART, JOHN GUOBA, CULLY ROBINSON , MICHAEL MACDONALD, LAURIE MACE, ROBERT MCDOUGALL, SAMANTHA KRAHN, SHEILA GERVAIS, LEIGH LAMPERT and DANIEL PROUSSALIDIS.

JOHN ECKER reminded us that Cardinal is a residential school survivor. ANNE-MARIE STACEY, a regular Playbook reader, sang at the opening ceremony of Grande Prairie Regional College in 1976 — Cardinal's first major building.

CTV's EVAN SOLOMON wrote us to say this: "I had the remarkable opportunity to do a sweat lodge ceremony with Douglas at his personal sweat lodge outside of Ottawa just before Covid. He guided the six hour experience (setting up the lodge, heating and firing the rocks or the “grandfathers,” and then the long sweat itself). He is a very spiritual and profound person and an elder of great esteem. That experience, his words and guidance that day were incredibly transformative and one of the most impactful spiritual experiences of my life.

"Douglas’s work on the museum and other buildings is of tremendous global importance architecturally, culturally and environmentally. But what’s little known is that he was the pioneer of using CAD — computer-assisted design — to make it. He was so technologically ahead of his time. And the battles he fought over the museum here and the price he paid to get it done are more brutal and higher than most know. His political views have been called radical by some but they are hard learned and must be deeply respected and understood.

"In my view, he is one of the greatest Canadians and I was delighted that you mentioned him. He deserves more study as he was generations ahead of his time and remains vital and relevant today."

Tuesday’s question: Today is International Women's Day. Who first took her seat in the House of Commons on this day in 1922?

Send your answers to ottawaplaybook@politico.com

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Nick Taylor-Vaisey @TaylorVaisey Sue Allan @susan_allan Andy Blatchford @AndyBlatchford Maura Forrest @MauraForrest Zi-Ann Lum @ziannlum POLITICO Canada @politicoottawa

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