HERE’S WHAT HAPPENED — Talks that led to the astonishing news of Tuesday’s power pact started in the fall and had stalled before the holidays. They whirred into motion after Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU called JAGMEET SINGH in early January to congratulate the NDP leader on the birth of his daughter. That conversation, according to a senior party source, ended with a coda for the two leaders to continue what they started: Finding a way to formalize common ground. Playbook is not identifying the source because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the deal. — Events, dear boy : The timing of those high-level talks between leaders synced with the week-long days after the convoy occupation dug itself in on the Hill, when Trudeau invoked and revoked the Emergencies Act and when Russia waged war in Ukraine. The flurry of events gelled talks between Trudeau and Singh. By the end of February/early March, more staff became involved and the work progressed to reviewing each others’ platform for commitments to anchor a confidence deal. — Cone of silence : Staff worked on proposals. Trudeau and Singh went through their handiwork, a list of common-ground items, filtering out untenable positions. The two leaders met a few times in person, but according to the source, most of the negotiations between parties were virtual. Liberals and NDP started workshopping the first draft of the final version of the supply and confidence agreement last week. The polished deal was brought to caucuses Monday. — The fine print: The agreement puts a firmer “by the end of 2023” timeline on the Liberals’ nebulous promise to bring in pharmacare. It also makes the NDP’s priority of fully implementing a dental care program for low-income Canadians by 2025 a government priority. The deal has an expiry date: June 2025, but there’s nothing in it to preclude the NDP from withdrawing its support earlier. That extended runway gives the Liberals more time to figure out a succession plan if it will be Trudeau facing off against a new Conservative leader — or someone else. DEPARTMENT OF CREATIVITY — While the PM framed the deal as a tonic for “hyperpartisanship and toxic polarization,” Conservatives coined other names for the confidence compact. — Interim Conservative Leader CANDICE BERGEN: “The new NDP-Liberal government.” — Conservative MP JOHN BARLOW: “Carbon-tax coalition.” — Conservative MP SHANNON STUBBS: “The Liberal-NDP cabal.” COLLECTED WISDOM — First, here’s VASSY KAPELOS, who broke the news, explaining the difference between a “supply and confidence agreement” and a coalition. — The Star’s SUSAN DELACOURT says “ the deal is evidence once again that it’s a mistake to count Trudeau out.” — AARTI POLE of the CBC talked to ERICA IFILL and ANTHONY FUREYabout the pact. — Here’s PAUL WELLS in the Globe and Mail: “Trudeau must be over the moon … He’s finally getting his majority, six months behind schedule.” — In the Financial Post, BIANCA BHARTI rounded up voices from the business community. — Here’s the CBC’s AARON WHERRY: “The contents of the deal and the stability it promises could also have important consequences for federal public policy. But it's also an implicit reply to the message Canadians seemed to send politicians in the last election: more governing and legislating, please, and less electioneering.” PIT STOP IN PARIS — Natural Resources Minister JONATHAN WILKINSON arrives in Paris today for a whirlwind trip to attend the International Energy Agency’s annual ministerial meeting. A senior government source told Playbook that Wilkinson is bringing with him ideas for how Canada can help Europe deal with a short-term oil and gas crunch — potential plans officials have been working on for the past two weeks. Canada doesn't have any export terminals for oil and gas which complicates ambitions to directly help allay short-term European energy security concerns in a time of crisis. It’s a complex question within Canada’s own borders, the source said. Because supply has to move through the U.S. to be exported to Europe, it’s also an American conversation to figure out how much product can be accepted at the border to take down to the Gulf to get to international markets. U.S. Energy Secretary JENNIFER GRANHOLM is chairing the meeting. — Next up: More details for how Canada could contribute to easing short-term energy pressure in Europe could be announced as early as Thursday when the IEA meeting ends. Wilkinson has a scheduled call-back with media the same day. POST-MORTEM — Labor Minister SEAMUS O’REGAN offered Playbook his view of the crucial final hours of negotiations between Canadian Pacific and its striking rail workers. “In the final hours of negotiations, particularly labor negotiations, there's always drama. There's always last-minute challenges, last-minute hurdles. It's the nature of the beast. It remains elusive until the very last minute, and then you land it,” he said. “Federal mediators helped set the table, and met them at it. But ultimately, they arrived at this deal themselves. It's their deal.” — A long night: O’Regan said he turned in at 4:30 Newfoundland time (that’s 1 a.m. in Calgary). He gave U.S. ambo DAVID COHEN a call late into the night. “The ambassador's been pretty close to this,” he said. A check-in with Biden’s labor secretary, MARTY WALSH, waited until Tuesday morning. —That other news: Playbook asked O’Regan about the deal his party struck with the NDP. He attended the virtual Cabinet and caucus meetings on Monday night, in the midst of the negotiations, and came away onboard. “Especially with the mood I'm in right now, stability and certainty are very attractive to me,” he said. “And I think they're very attractive to a lot of Canadians. The world has enough uncertainty going on.”
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