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A daily look inside Canadian politics and power. | | | | |  | | By Nick Taylor-Vaisey and Zi-Ann Lum | Send tips | Subscribe here | Follow Politico Canada WELCOME TO OTTAWA PLAYBOOK. I'm your host, Nick Taylor-Vaisey with Zi-Ann Lum. TGIF. In this newsletter, spicy comments from an auto parts guy, a former CRTC chair, Canada's mission at the UN, and a pair of articulate readers (see: WE GET MAIL). Also, a spot of news about the interim chair of Ontario's trade competitiveness council. Did someone forward Ottawa Playbook to you today? Are you ready to be a forwarder, not a forwardee? Click here to sign up to this free newsletter.
|  | Driving the Day | | | 
The famous scene that doubles as today's trivia answer. | Bill Grimshaw, CP Photo | SPITTING FIRE — Thursday's Playbook offered hints of auto parts honcho FLAVIO VOLPE's testimony at the House finance committee later that day. Volpe remains none-too-pleased about February's border blockade at the Ambassador Bridge. This was the end of the bearded birthday boy's opening statement: "Next week, I will meet with the White House for the first time since this blockade ended to talk about how we continue to build an electrified Canada-U.S. auto sector together. I thought it best to let the dust settle and the embarrassment subside before I returned to Washington to lecture the Americans about their trade obligations with Canada." Ouch. MIXED SIGNALS — VIC FEDELI says Canadian politicians and policymakers need to do a better job of showing how important and intertwined Canada-U.S. trade links are to mitigate risks of new bilateral disruptions. The auto part that crosses USMCA countries as many as eight times before final assembly is a common example pinched by speechwriters. Fedeli, Ontario’s economic development, job creation and trade minister, offered a different kernel. “Even if it's not an auto, it's a part that ends up in a tractor,” he told POLITICO this week. And the tractor is then shipped to Canada. And Canada then grows the oats and the wheat, that all those oats and that wheat is then shipped to the U.S. where it's made into cereal. That cereal is then shipped back into Canada.” — The counter-offer strategy : Fedeli said anytime an American lawmaker is clocked talking about EVs and/or EV batteries in the same sentence as Buy America or “Build Back Better,” they “immediately” get a customized package from the province. “It's about a three-page letter from us that clearly defines what it is that their constituents are manufacturing and shipping to us — and how this kind of rhetoric puts that in jeopardy,” he said. The ask, he said, is to buy North American, not just American. — The hot-button issue: It's currently unclear to Fedeli if Congress will back down from its controversial EV tax credit proposal — an idea that spurred talk of retaliatory tariffs in December. “We're not convinced it's going to go one way or the other,” he said. “But it seems to have settled for a short while, at least, and gives us time to regroup and gives our council time to put a more comprehensive approach plan together on the messaging that we need to take with us to the States.” The province's council on U.S. trade and industry competitiveness meets at the call of the chair. That was former Unifor national president JERRY DIAS , until he recently stepped down from his day job, citing health concerns. (He's now under investigation for breaching the union's constitution). — The interim chair: Business Council of Canada president and CEO GOLDY HYDER. The group's membership skews toward more auto industry representation to reflect EV concerns, but Fedeli said Line 5, softwood lumber, agriculture and steel are also hot files on the council’s sight lines.
| | ALSO FOR YOUR RADAR | | NO FILTER — The CRTC's former chair, JEAN-PIERRE BLAIS, was perusing LinkedIn when he came across a post by JUSTIN FERRABEE. The former COO for Payments Canada was pumping up a report by The Logic on the lack of innovation in payment infrastructure. Blais took the opportunity to slag big telecoms: "The parallels with the behavior of the three large Canadian telecommunications incumbents to prevent/delay wholesale resale of telecommunication services, especially high-speed broadband, is striking," he wrote. "Increasing competition to benefit Canadians is not a part-time job. Driving towards a more competitive, technology-enabled and dynamic marketplace is essential for Canada’s competitiveness vis-a-vis other jurisdictions." TWITTER DIPLOMACY — So it's not just BOB RAE, then. Canada's U.N. mission went viral with a spicy tweet that mocked a Russian proposal for de-escalating the war in Ukraine. The diplomats gave Moscow's letter the university prof track changes treatment, littering the document in red ink. One proposed "edit" to an Orwellian-sounding Russian plea for humanitarianism amid the destructive conflict: "Yes. But you are attacking civilians, bombing schools and hospitals, and looting aid. Which makes us think you do not actually believe this? Please explain." — The Scandinavians are onboard: If likes are the goal, well, mission accomplished. Finland "strongly supports these edits." Sweden applauded. Denmark offered "full support." — The Baltic nations, too: Even if PM JUSTIN TRUDEAU once accidentally mocked them — "Favorite Baltic nation? That's not a thing" — Estonia sided with the Canadians. Lithuania and Latvia served up retweets. — The backstory: ANTHONY HINTON, political coordinator at Canada's mission, told the tweet's origin story: "For naysayers out there: this was done in-house by a creative member of the team, who is responsible for protecting civilians. Took 30 mins. Only 1 draft, then published. No back & forth with HQ. Aim: transparency for this blatant Russian disinfo, which they sent to all UN members" (h/t PATRICIA TREBLE) — The polite rebuttal: Conservative thinker BEN WOODFINDEN offered a dissenting voice: "This may rack up the likes and retweets, but surely I'm not the only one who is deeply uncomfortable with this kind of edgy but completely pointless online behavior from government organizations in the face of a catastrophe? It makes a serious and tragic situation seem like a joke." — The less-polite rebuttal: Russia's deputy UN representative, DMITRY POLYANSKIY, lashed out at the Canadians: "Thank you @CanadaONU for this kindergarten-level Russophobic libel! It only shows that your diplomatic skills and good manners are at lowest ebb and gives an idea why your country’s bid for a non-permanent seat in #SecurityCouncil was voted down twice in 20yrs by UN membership." Canada scored more than 30,000 likes. Polyanskiy, who shares a name with an Olympic triathlete but is not the same guy, managed a mere 175. That's how diplomacy works at the UN, right? INCUMBENT NO MORE — Ontario NDP leader ANDREA HORWATH booted four-term NDP MPP PAUL MILLER from caucus and disallowed him from running for the party in the next election. Miller has faced allegations of inappropriate behavior going back several years. Said Horwath: "I've been informed of the new information uncovered during that [candidate] vetting process, and find it to be clearly unacceptable." Miller has called that info "totally fabricated and false."
| | CONSERVATIVE CORNER | | THE INTERNET REMEMBERS — Leadership contender PIERRE POILIEVRE says the left-right political spectrum is a phony construct that "exists nowhere in the real world." The Globe's ROBYN URBACK checks the record. (Behold, the results of a simple Twitter search.) — Speaking of Poilievre, there's a brand new House e-petition sponsored by Carleton's man in Ottawa now online. The petitioners call on the government to "immediately end all federal COVID-19 restrictions to restore freedom for all Canadians." If that sounds Poilievrian, that's because it is. The initiator is NICK MAHU from suburban Gloucester, Ontario. Mahu's LinkedIn profile says he was a campaign assistant for a certain Tory candidate last year. Fellow MP TOM KMIECsponsored a petition on vaccine mandates last week. That one calls on the feds to "abolish the domestic vaccine passport requirement for Canadian citizens and permanent residents." Signatures: 16,000+ in six days. — One more petition: Liberal MP RYAN TURNBULL sponsored an effort to guarantee pensions for seniors entitled to them, amid fears of a wave of pandemic-fueled insolvency. Thousands of signatories want Ottawa to "undertake a direct consultation, generating specific goals and timeline to ensure that vulnerable seniors receive 100 percent of their pension to which their employer committed." — JOSEPH BOURGAULT is in for the Tory leadership race. The Saskatchewan-based Tory has railed against the World Economic Forum.
| | TODAY'S HIGHLIGHTS | | — PM TRUDEAU will speak with the Taoiseach of Ireland, MICHEÁL MARTIN. He'll also chair a meeting of the Incident Response Group on the situation in Ukraine. — Foreign Minister MÉLANIE JOLY is all over Toronto's airwaves in the morning. 10 a.m. Transport Minister OMAR ALGHABRA and the executive vice-president of Ports Toronto and Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, GENE CABRAL, will announce new funding to help the airport recover from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. 11 a.m. Justice Minister DAVID LAMETTI is in Montreal for a funding announcement regarding support for vulnerable youth. 11 a.m. NDP leader JAGMEET SINGH is hanging out at Toronto small businesses with MPP JILL ANDREW. 1 p.m. JOLY is at the Munk School of Global Affairs for a conversation with JANICE STEIN on Canada's foreign policy. 1 p.m. Singh visits more small businesses and hosts a small business roundtable with MPP FAISAL HASSAN. (His itinerary misspells the street name Eglington — perhaps a vestige of an age-old debate over the pronunciation of the crosstown arterial.) 2 p.m. (11 a.m. PT) Families Minister KARINA GOULD is in Whitehorse for an announcement on early childhood educators with Yukon Education Minister JEANIE MCLEAN and Yukon University president and vice-chancellor LESLEY BROWN.
| | HALLWAY CONVERSATION | | WFH? GTFO — In the beforetimes, Ottawa was all about face-to-face interactions. Thursday's Playbook noted BlueSky Strategy Group's return-to-office plan, and we asked readers to tell us about their own hopes and dreams for some sort of new normalcy. We heard back from a consultant in town who had this to say: "One thing I worry about when I have discussions with friends, colleagues and others is the negative impact this will have on corporate/office culture and on career growth for junior employees. It’s near impossible to build good office culture virtually or when only 25-50 percent of staff show up regularly, and if you have opposite groups show up on alternate days then how do you create cohesion throughout your entire office? "I’m a social person and I’ve had a really hard time getting to know people outside my team let alone all members of my team. "I grew in my career being able to build relationships and network with those senior to me, especially senior leadership in my places of employment that helped me become a better professional in my field and find mentorship. "In a virtual setting, there is no organic or easy way to build relationships and demonstrate your strengths to those senior to you that allows for not only your quality of work to be recognized, but also your personal character as a member of the team."
| | PAPER TRAIL | | FROM THE TENDERS — Canadian Armed Forces personnel are booking hotel rooms in sunny Temecula, California in a month's time (avg April temp: 23 Celsius). … The Public Health Agency bought a pile of anthrax treatments. … Global Affairs wants to evaluate its maternal health initiative that was championed by STEPHEN HARPER and later embraced by the Trudeau government.
| | PROZONE | | For POLITICO Pro s, our PM policy newsletter:Ontario regroups on EVs. In other headlines for Pros: — Canada ditches Covid testing for vaccinated travelers.
— Anti-vax conspiracy groups lean into pro-Kremlin propaganda in Ukraine.
— China finds itself in a tricky position — stuck between the White House and the Kremlin.
— Adult cigarette smoking hits record low, CDC study finds.
— Biden officials tout fusion energy's potential to help meet ambitious climate goals.
| | MEDIA ROOM | | — TERRY GLAVIN is pretty sure things aren't going well for the Ukrainians, despite the global cries of unity: "If past humiliations are anything to go by, Ukraine’s bravest fighters will now be feeling even less in the way of 'international community' solidarity, and more in the way of pressure to cave." — Former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine MARIE YOVANOVITCH talks about the two years since her impeachment testimony, and what that Ukraine scandal has to do with the current conflict. — CP's JORDAN PRESS reports from the House finance committee, where the voice of Canada's credit unions described "confusion" and "panic" after the feds moved to freeze the bank accounts amid the trucker convoy. — CP's STEPHANIE TAYLOR sat down with JEAN CHAREST for a "wide-ranging interview." Today's focus: firearms. — PETROS KUSMU shares in The Globe: How Canada’s political parties can get more Black candidates elected. — On The Strategists pod, COREY HOGAN and STEPHEN CARTER “unretire” to discuss BRIAN JEAN’s by-election win and JASON KENNEY’s upcoming leadership review.
| | HOUSE BUSINESS | | For your radar: On March 21, Air Canada President and CEO MICHAEL ROUSSEAU will appear at the House Standing Committee on Official Languages. Topic of study: “Importance of Official Languages at Air Canada”
| | PLAYBOOKERS | | Birthdays: HBD to Sen. DIANE GRIFFIN. On Saturday, former MP DAVID TILSON will celebrate. Spotted: Housing Minister AHMED HUSSEN in Edmonton with Mayor AMARJEET SOHI:“We discussed our collaborative efforts.” (Sohi wore green.) PETER MACKAY, celebrating the luck of the Irish … DENISE BATTERS decked out in festive colors. Movers and shakers: JOSIE SABATINO, last seen running comms in former Tory leader ERIN O'TOOLE's office, is off the Hill. Sabatino is now a senior consultant at Summa Strategies: "I’ll be putting my past experience on Parliament Hill to work in order to help clients navigate the complexities of government (while still offering some hot takes here and there)." Alberta's Industrial Heartland Association, which advocates for producers of "fuels, fertilizers, power, petrochemicals, hydrogen, and more," met with Environment Minister STEVEN GUILBEAULT and a pair of senior bureaucrats. The always-active Dairy Farmers of Ontario logged a meeting with 11 Tory MPs from rural or rural-adjacent ridings — and NDP MP LINDSAY MATHYSSEN. The farmers met separately with two other Tories, five Liberals and another New Democrat. And then in another room with the agriculture-focused Sen. ROB BLACK. And also his colleague Sen. HOWARD WETSTON. And also Green MP ELIZABETH MAY. Also! Liberal MPs MICHAEL COTEAU and ROB OLIPHANT, in separate meetings. Not to mention Conservative MP ADAM CHAMBERS. — The takeaway: Dairy Farmers are asking for a lot of meetings. From the ethics files: CHRISTOPHER GERALD HARRISON, a full-time member of the Immigration and Refugee Board, was dinged three times by the ethics commissioner — total fines: C$1,000 — for failing to disclose a material change in assets. Liberal MP JOËL LIGHTBOUND's latest filings include disclosure of bitcoin holdings. He can trade tips with BEN LOBB, the Tories' special adviser on crypto and blockchain, who also lists bitcoin among his assets. Media mentions: Coming today from the National Newspaper Awards: finalists.
| | WE GET MAIL | | — You're rarely shy about letting us know what you think about our work. In Thursday's Playbook, we referenced NATO's request that members spend 2 percent of GDP on national defense. One reader takes exception to that framing. Next up, a parliamentarian quibbles with any characterization of a former Progressive Conservative leader as "Red Tory." (No, not JEAN CHAREST .) Paul Ballinger writes: Instead of saying the first option now is to “meet NATO’s request,” it would be more accurate to say “meet Canada’s long standing commitment — made more than 20 years ago — to spend at least 2 percent of GDP on defense.” Like other NATO members, Canada agreed the amount of 2 percent would be appropriate and share the worldwide burden on alliance defense fairly. We just never yet lived up to it, constantly prioritizing other initiatives. If we don’t want to be internationally honest, then what’s Canada’s word worth? Sen. DAVID WELLS writes: Out of curiosity, what is the evidence that PETER MACKAY is a Red Tory? I’ve known him for almost 20 years and followed his career longer than that. I would not consider him to be a Red Tory based on what he has said and what he has done. He is tough on crime, a fiscal hawk, strong on small government, strong on the rights of law-abiding gun owners. He is not a social conservative but that does not make him a Red Tory using any of the policy positions that I know him to hold. Do you hang on every word in Playbook and want to tell us why? Do you hate our guts and need us to know? We read every email.
| | TRIVIA | | Thursday's answer: On this date in 1985, the so-called Shamrock Summit was held in Quebec City. During a gala celebration, BRIAN and MILA MULRONEY joined RONALD and NANCY REAGAN on stage to sing When Irish Eyes are Smiling with MAUREEN FORRESTER. You can watch it here. In 2017, Brian Mulroney performed the same song for DONALD TRUMP. Props to JORDAN TIMM, PAUL GILLETT, PIERRE JURY, DIANNE SHERRIN, JOHN GUOBA, GUY SKIPWORTH, RODDY MCFALL, DOROTHY MCCABE, AMY BOUGHNER, ROBERT MCDOUGALL, JOSEPH CRESSATTI, GREG MACEACHERN, ALYSON FAIR, ALAN KAN, CHRIS HYDE, JOE BOUGHNER, PATRICK DION, BILL PRISTANSKI, ELIZABETH BURN and JOANNA PLATER. Friday’s question: Today’s test comes from Playbook reader BARRE CAMPBELL: Name the world-famous singer who in 1994 performed the 'Star Spangled Banner' before Dennis Park infamously botched 'O Canada' prior to a CFL game in Las Vegas between the Las Vegas Posse and the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Send your answers to ottawaplaybook@politico.com Have a petition you want signed? A cause you’re promoting? Seeking to increase brand awareness amongst this key audience? Share your message with our influential readers to foster engagement and drive action. Contact Alejandra Waase to find out how: awaase@politico.com. Playbook wouldn’t happen without Luiza Ch. Savage and editor Sue Allan.
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