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A daily look inside Canadian politics and power. | | | | |  | | By Nick Taylor-Vaisey | Send tips | Subscribe here | Email Nick | Follow Politico Canada WELCOME TO OTTAWA PLAYBOOK. I'm your host, Nick Taylor-Vaisey. Today, we're as budget-obsessed as we were on Monday. Two more sleeps, amirite? Whether it's "build back better" or "back to basics," we're here for all the dribs and drabs. Plus, LESLYN LEWIS is making some noise on the Tory campaign trail. 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 | | WHAT IS THE BUDGET? — Three weeks ago, a senior government source framed the next Liberal budget for the CBC's KARINA ROMAN. It would be “back to basics,” the unnamed insider said, and boil down to a single question: "What are the core things government can and should be doing?" We’re a far cry from the "build back better" of only a few months ago. Fast forward to Saturday, when the Globe and Mail was foreshadowing CHRYSTIA FREELAND's next bout of "big spending" with a frisson of strategic leaks: "measures to support the growth of the green economy, housing affordability and Canada’s role in the world." Of course, there's a decent chance that for every analyst who sees a measured post-pandemic climbdown from record-setting deficits, there'll be another fretting about all the remaining red ink and trillion-dollar debt load. — This, we know: Reuters reported Monday that the budget is primed for "an investment of at least C$2 billion for a strategy to accelerate the production and processing of critical minerals needed for the electric vehicle battery supply chain." That's a dollop of dough that fits neatly into the federal narrative that made-in-Canada EVs are the next big thing for this country's auto sector. (Scroll down for FRANÇOIS-PHILIPPE CHAMPAGNE's latest victory lap on that front.) Related reading: From the CBC's CHRIS HALL this morning: With her latest budget, Freeland faces pressure to do more — and a lot less. Playbook is 100% guaranteed to read any email that includes "A LEAK JUST FOR YOU" in the subject line. Why delay? Write today!
| | CONSERVATIVE CORNER | | FIRST TO $300K — The LESLYN LEWIS campaign is the class of the field in at least one respect. She's a fully paid-up candidate, having sent the entry fee and refundable deposit to the Party HQ before any of her rivals. — Lewis also scored the endorsement of BERT CHEN, the former national councilor for Ontario who launched a petition that marked the beginning of the end of ERIN O'TOOLE's run as Tory leader. (Chen's second choice: PIERRE POILIEVRE.) Relatedly, Global's ALEX BOUTILIER reports that Conservative HQ is asking national councilors to send all media requests up the chain, part of a new policy meant to help them "understand their obligations on maintaining confidentiality.” — Official candidates: Lewis has been approved by the party, as has SCOTT AITCHISON, ROMAN BABER, JEAN CHAREST and Poilievre. Notably absent: PATRICK BROWN. In order to achieve "verified candidate" status, applicants have to take a few steps. They have to submit a Leadership Contestant Questionnaire, the first C$50,000 instalment of the registration fee, and a written endorsement of a party code of conduct. The deadline for that to-do list is April 19. They must submit the full entry fee and at least 500 signatures from party members in 30 ridings and seven provinces. The deadline for those items is April 29. — Policy watch: Charest posted a list of commitments to veterans and defense. One fun one: "Improve upon the National Shipbuilding Strategy to minimize delays and cost overruns while balancing the need for timely construction and Canada retaining strong local defense production capabilities." In other words: what everyone else has tried already. — Charest is still in Nova Scotia. Today's main event is a meet and greet at Cole Harbour Place . That's in Dartmouth–Cole Harbour, the riding held by three-term Liberal MP DARREN FISHER. — Related reading from The Star: Pierre Poilievre is courting millennials with a new kind of populism. Here’s what Bitcoin has to do with it.
| | ALSO FOR YOUR RADAR | | A BIG ANNUAL SHINDIG — Official Ottawa is girding itself for Thursday's post-budget party at the Met, the first in-person celebration of the finance minister's fiscal planning in three years. Remember 2019? Back when the Liberals were promising to implement national pharmacare? — The 5 Ws: iPolitics and Earnscliffe are co-sponsoring the Met soiree, which officially starts at 6 p.m. That's when the junior staffers will arrive; everyone who's got lots of post-budget work to do will show up fashionably late. As for the why of it all: Why not? — Nature is healing: You know everyone wants normal back if the Parliamentary Press Gallery is surveying members on when to hold its next fancy party. The annual Press Gallery Dinner reserves a single evening for politicians and journalists to schmooze with their weapons holstered. The options: Oct. 22, Nov. 26 or sometime in early 2023. Are you back on the cocktail circuit? Do you have lessons from the front lines? Y'all know where to find us. AUTO GROWS — It's been a spring to remember for FRANÇOIS-PHILIPPE CHAMPAGNE, VIC FEDELI, DOUG FORD and a Canadian auto sector hungry for investment. Monday's jolt was a GM commitment in the billions for an all-EV assembly plant in Oshawa. Champagne and Fedeli each chipped in C$259 million on behalf of their respective governments. Absent from the announcement: Unifor. There wasn't a penny spent on a Canadian-made car that former union boss JERRY DIAS wouldn't celebrate loudly ( and take credit for, as in the case of the very same Oshawa plant that will build a generation of EVs). But organized labor did not crack the press release. In related listening: On the Big Story pod today: Can Canada transition both drivers and automakers to electric vehicles? AUTO FOES — POLITICO trade-watcher DOUG PALMER has the latest on a contentious continental dispute over auto manufacturing. Canada and Mexico are accusing the U.S. of misinterpreting the tripartite deal's fine print on "regional value content" — the proportion of the vehicle sourced to the three countries. — Dispute resolution: A USMCA panel will sort through the muck. All three countries agreed on one of the panelists: ELBIO OSCAR ROSSELLI FRIERI, Uruguay's former U.N. ambassador. The U.S. appointed JORGE MIRANDA, a former Mexican government official, and DONALD MCRAE, a former Canadian government official. Canada picked KATHLEEN CLAUSSEN, a former United States Trade Representative attorney. Mexico tapped ANN RYAN ROBERTON , an international trade lawyer. Pro s can catch up on the rest of Palmer's reporting.
| | PAPER TRAIL | | TAXING THE PROFITEERS — The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives is trying to build momentum for a new tax on companies that earned excess pandemic profits. Senior economist DAVID MACDONALD blames ballooning corporate profit for at least part of the stubborn inflation that's making life more expensive. Some key numbers from Macdonald's latest report: — An all-time high: Corporate pre-tax profits hit C$445 billion in 2021. — Empty wallets: Households paid C$87 billion more for goods and services in 2021 than in 2019, due to persistent inflation. — Bloated coffers: Corporate profits increased by C$22.9 billion since 2019 — that's a little more than one-fourth of the increase in household spending. — Caveats: Macdonald admits corporate profits can increase for a variety of reasons, not only because their greed might sometimes get the best of them. But revenue growth far outpaced expenses on the other side of the ledger. — Who's raking it in: Oil and gas companies, banks, real estate developers, grocery stores, soft drink manufacturers, as well as the trifecta of vices: alcohol, tobacco and cannabis peddlers. — The solution: Liberals have promised an excess-profits tax on banks and insurance companies. New Democrats negotiated the measure into their three-year pact with the Liberals, though they want to slap the tax on a wide variety of industries. Macdonald settles for the oil and gas sector and food industries, where he says a new tax could "ensure soaring consumer prices don’t end up lining investors’ pockets."
| | TODAY'S HIGHLIGHTS | | — PM TRUDEAU will speak with the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces of the United Arab Emirates, His Highness SHEIKH MOHAMMED BIN ZAYED AL NAHYAN. He'll also speak with the President of Mexico, ANDRÉS MANUEL LÓPEZ OBRADOR. 9 a.m. The Parliamentary Budget Officer publishes two reports: “Tuition grant for persons with a Disability Tax Credit certificate” and “Mobility tax deduction for tradespersons and indentured apprentices.” 10:15 a.m. Tory MP MICHELLE REMPEL GARNER holds a presser to boost her private member's bill, C-249, which calls for a national framework to "encourage the growth of the cryptoasset sector." 10:45 a.m. NDP leader JAGMEET SINGH will hold a media availability on "helping Canadians make ends meet." 3 p.m. Singh will meet with firefighters from Burnaby.
| | ASK US ANYTHING | | TELL US WHAT YOU KNOW — What are you hearing that you need Playbook to know? Send it all our way.
| | MEDIA ROOM | | — From POLITICO: Ukraine massacre has U.S. and allies seeking new ways to punish Putin. Follow POLITICO's coverage of the war here. — In conversation with Policy's LISA VAN DUSEN, Sen. PETER BOEHM commented on calls for Canada to increase its defense spending. Boehm once fought for an increase in foreign aid that was quickly dwarfed by economic growth: “Percentages are not all they are cracked up to be. It is the effectiveness of your investment that counts.” — Today on THE BACKBENCH pod with FATIMA SYED: Child care, plus "the good, the bad and the ugly of the government’s Emissions Reductions Plan." — Alberta Sen. PAULA SIMONS announces her gig as vice-chair of the chamber's agriculture committee. She's the first senator from her province in three years to sit at that table. She couldn't help some institutional self-deprecation: “Senate committees don’t always capture the Canadian imagination.” — Bonus points for snark go to Canadaland's JESSE BROWN for this pod title: “We Are Not The Journalism Police” – An Interview With The Journalism Police. Brown quizzes COLETTE BRIN, the chair of a federally appointed board that decides which news outlets qualify for federal funding, on the work they do. Spoiler: There's lots of secrecy. — Speaking of government funding, it came up when The Hub’s SEAN SPEER spoke with The Logic’s DAVID SKOK about the state of journalism in the digital age.
| | PLAYBOOKERS | | Birthdays: HBD to Liberal MP and former mayor TONY VAN BYNEN. Fellow Aries celebrating today: Former Liberal MP CLAUDE-ANDRÉ LACHANCE, elected to the House of Commons in 1974 at age 20, and former Bloc MP RICHARD NADEAU. Movers and shakers: Former P.E.I. premier WADE MACLAUCHLAN will head the Independent Advisory Board for Supreme Court of Canada Judicial Appointments. The Chicken Farmers of Canada are now repped on the Hill by board member RAY NICKEL. … Earnscliffe's LONZELL (BUD) LOCKLEAR is lobbying for the Canadian Gas Association and Nano One Materials. NATIONAL's MARC DESMARAIS is signed up for luxury residential developer Groupe Dura. — POLITICO's STEVEN SHEPARD reports: A pair of top Biden strategists, PATRICK BONSIGNORE and JON FROMOWITZ helped launch a new consulting firm with a name familiar to Hill dwellers north of the border: Blue Sky Strategy. AMY ROMANOW , formerly the director of stories for Biden’s paid-media campaign, will be a principal. Then, of course, there's the Blue Skies podcast. This week, host ERIN O'TOOLE welcomes Liberal MP NATHANIEL ERSKINE-SMITH for a talk on the Liberal-NDP deal. Oh, and O'Toole presses Erskine-Smith on his provincial political ambitions. — Beer budget: Labatt has been doing the rounds on the lobbying circuit, part of an industry-wide effort to persuade the feds to repeal automatic annual increases to alcohol. Tory MP PAT KELLY is championing a private member's bill to that effect. But might this week's budget act sooner? Labatt filed a February meeting with PMO brass including chief of staff KATIE TELFORD, Telford's deputy BRIAN CLOW, advisor JEREMY BROADHURST and policy director JOHN BRODHEAD. Also in that meetup: CHRYSTIA FREELAND 's chief of staff LESLIE CHURCH, her director of economic planning TYLER MEREDITH, senior policy adviser DYLAN MARANDO, and adviser MILES HOPPER. More recently, Labatt's found audiences with nine Liberal MPs — including cabmins SEAMUS O'REGAN and DAVID LAMETTI, as well as London West's ARIELLE KAYABAGA (whose riding is near the company's brewery). They've also nabbed time with policy shops at the CRA, Finance Canada and the Department of Agriculture. — Families Minister KARINA GOULD named STEPHANIE CADIEUX as Canada's first chief accessibility officer. Spotted: British Columbia Premier JOHN HORGAN,isolating with Covid. The premier recently finished cancer treatment. “My symptoms are mild and that is thanks to being fully vaccinated,” he tweeted.
| | HOUSE BUSINESS | | — The House will debate Tory MP KERRY-LYNNE FINDLAY's opposition motion that calls on the government to increase defense spending to 2 percent of Canada's GDP. Here’s what’s on the roster so far: 10 a.m. The U.S. Senate Commerce Committee will hold a hearing on elevated oil and oil product prices. 11 a.m. The House citizenship and immigration committee meets in camera to consider its draft report exploring the recruitment and acceptance rates of foreign students. 11 a.m. The House public safety and national security committee will hear from expert witnesses as it studies Canada’s security position in relation to Russia. 11 a.m. The House procedure committee hears from elections officials from Nunavut, Northwest Territories and Alaska. Nunavut MP LORI IDLOUT is also on the roster. 11 a.m. The House fisheries and oceans committee continues its study of marine cargo container spills. 11 a.m. Auditor General KAREN HOGAN and officials will be at the House public accounts committee to talk about its report on the way the Public Health Agency of Canada handled Covid restrictions at Canada’s borders. 11 a.m. The House environment committee hears from the AG’s office, Climate Action Network Canada, Trottier Energy Institute and others as it studies fossil fuels subsidies. 3:30 p.m. BMO Financial Group’s head of Indigenous banking, CLIO STRARAM, is on deck at the House Indigenous and northern affairs committee meeting to address the effects of housing shortages. 3:30 p.m. The House status of women committee continues its study of intimate partner and domestic violence in Canada. 3:30 p.m. The House justice committee is reviewing the Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act. 3:30 p.m. Quantum computing is the focus of today’s gathering of the House industry committee. 3:30 p.m. The House operations and estimates committee looks at air defense procurement and shipbuilding. 5 p.m. The Senate’s audit and oversight committee meets in-camera to “supervise and report on the Senate’s internal and external audits and related matters.” 6:30 p.m. The parliamentary committee on the declaration of emergency meets behind closed doors. “Committee business” is on the public-facing agenda. 6:30 p.m. The House committee on veterans affairs is meeting in private to discuss its study on service dogs for veterans.
| | PROZONE | | For Pro s, here’s our PM Canada memo from ANDY BLATCHFORD and ZI-ANN LUM: Is TIFF MACKLEM ready to go big? In news for POLITICO Pro s: — Macron calls for more energy sanctions as Ukraine accuses Russia of war crimes.
— Guilbeault urges Canada’s oil and gas sector to ditch business as usual.
— 5 takeaways from U.N. report on how world can still stop climate change.
— Trump upset with the state of his new social media site, eyes shakeup.
— Progressives warm to Manchin's fossil fuel demands to clinch climate package.
| | TRIVIA | | CALLING ALL PUB EXPERTS — Playbook is planning to hold a trivia night IRL. We’re on the hunt for a venue. If you have thoughts on where we absolutely must host our merry band of #cdnpoli nerds, tell us . An outdoor tent in case of inclement weather is an asset. Monday's answer: B.C.’s RITA JOHNSTON was Canada’s first woman premier. Read more about “Premier Mom” here. As a few readers pointed out, Prince Edward Island’s CATHERINE CALLBECK was the first to win office in a general election. Props to LISA KIRBIE, BRYAN PASSIFIUME, PATRICK DION, BRENNAN GOREHAM, ALAN KAN, NICK MASCIANTONIO, MERON CHEWAY, JEREMIAH MACKENZIE, ROBERT MCDOUGALL, JANE DOULL, ANNE-MARIE STACEY, MICHAEL MACDONALD, LEIGH LAMPERT, JOHN GUOBA, JOANNA PLATER, HARRY MCKONE, BEN ROTH, DAN MCCARTHY and GUY SKIPWORTH. Tuesday’s question: Name the finance minister who delivered their federal budget in new kicks featuring this message on the insoles: WALK HOW YOU WANT. 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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