|
A daily look inside Canadian politics and power. | | | | |  | | By Nick Taylor-Vaisey and Maura Forrest | Send tips | Subscribe here | Email Nick | Follow Politico Canada WELCOME TO OTTAWA PLAYBOOK. We're your hosts, Nick Taylor-Vaisey and Maura Forrest. Today, we've got news from a certain national affairs columnist who recently left a certain national magazine. Also, WTF is going on with this debate about a truck tax? And should it matter that Cabinet ministers flew all over the country to show off their budget? 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 | | WELLS IS BACK — The guy who gets read by everyone in Ottawa, whether they love him or wish he'd stop needling them, is launching a new venture a month and change after resigning from Maclean’s magazine. He went live this morning. — paulwells.substack.com: Yup, PAUL WELLS is launching an eponymous newsletter that'll serve as a home for his eclectic mix of writing. Canadian politics? You bet. The arts? Of course. The tag line? "Politics and culture as though they mattered." He's not planning random, half-formed musings. "This isn't a hobby. This is my full-time job," he tells Playbook. "I don't want it just to be rants. I don't want it to feel like you're subscribing to Paul Wells's scratchpad. I'm going to have a steady stream of original reporting, interviews with newsmakers, reporting from the site of major news events, and analysis that clarifies and puts things into context." Playbook got him on the phone as he was preparing for launch. Here's why the guy who was there for Day 1 of the National Post and spent years writing for Maclean's — moderating a pair of national leaders' debates along the way — is going solo. — Why strike out on your own now? "The main unit of currency in Canadian journalism today, whether you're at the Globe and Mail or you're hanging out your own shingle, is somebody you trust emailing you something and saying, 'Hey, have you seen this?' That makes a lot of things possible for independent journalists that were harder to envisage even a couple years ago." "I'm my own assignment editor. If something is a little quirky or off the top of the news, I don't have to wonder if there's interest." — What’s got your attention right now? He has big questions about a major element of the federal budget, an interview with a politician you might not expect, and a reflection on a book that recasts the arguments of the day in "interesting ways." But Wells says he has the freedom to go where the news is happening. Don't be surprised, he says, if he "jumps on a plane to Helsinki" after Finland formally applies to join NATO this year. He's otherwise relatively coy about upcoming posts. Guess you'll have to sign up to learn more. — How much will it cost readers? C$5 for a month, or C$50 for a year, for a couple of newsletters every week. "That takes a leap of faith on the part of readers who probably in a lot of cases are not used to newsletters. And I simply don't want to send anything to the inbox that doesn't reward that leap of faith." Check out Wells's inaugural dispatch here. THE TRUCK TAX THAT ISN’T — You may have seen some back-and-forth about this recently. Conservatives are claiming the Liberals are about to slap a C$1,000–C$4,000 tax on your pickup truck as part of their efforts to cut emissions. Environment Minister STEVEN GUILBEAULT says it's all a bunch of baloney ( not in quite those words). The whole kerfuffle stems from a recommendation from the government’s net-zero advisory body, whose role is to come up with ideas to help Canada meet its emissions targets. — Always read the fine print: The advisory body’s recommendations were listed near the bottom of the government’s recent emissions reduction plan, which is where some industrious Conservatives dug this one up. It says an existing excise tax for SUVs and other inefficient vehicles should be broadened to cover pickup trucks. OK, so is it disingenuous for Conservatives to claim this is Liberal policy? Sure. But does “truck tax” have an irresistible ring to it? Absolutely. And hey, maybe it’s fair to raise it as the kind of thing the Liberals might consider. After all, if the advisory body doesn’t have the government’s ear when it comes to crafting a path to net-zero, who does? So: fair warning or cynical fear-mongering? We’ll let you decide.
| | CONSERVATIVE CORNER | | DEADLINE ALERT — Today is the last day for aspiring Tory leadership hopefuls to formally throw their hats in the ring. — The next date to watch: April 29 is the last day that approved candidates can be upgraded to verified candidates whose place on the ballot is a done deal. They'll need to pay entry fees in full by that date (C$200,000 plus a C$100,000 refundable deposit). PIERRE POILIEVRE, LESLYN LEWIS and JEAN CHAREST are already verified. PATRICK BROWN, reputed for his tireless fundraising and membership driving, has yet to achieve that status. Further reading: CP's STEPHANIE TAYLOR took a deep dive into the low-key promises Brown has already made, but hasn't advertised outside of conversations with key target audiences. — Even more dates: Candidates will face off in an English-language debate in Edmonton on May 11 and a French-language affair in Montreal on May 25. (In 2020, Toronto scored a debate. Not so this time.) Their last day to sign up new members is June 3. Voting wraps up on Sept. 10, when the new leader is named. — PIERRE POILIEVRE is holding a downtown Toronto presser on "getting more homes built in the GTA." He'll be at the Sheraton Centre at 2:30, a convenient location with a view of city hall as a backdrop. Poilievre will no doubt be primed for a rant about pesky "gatekeepers" who are getting in the way of builders and buyers. Mayor JOHN TORY appears to have a new adversary in what so happens to be a municipal election year. Get your counter-release prepped and published, Team Tory. And maybe mute a few key terms on Twitter. Last month, Tory told Playbook he hoped Conservative leadership candidates would restrain themselves somewhat from making things personal. "If they can contain themselves in terms of how they criticize each other, I think it actually could be quite a healthy and much necessary discussion about the soul of the party," he said. Tough luck, it seems. Poilievre will hold a rally tonight at the Steam Whistle Brewery. The biggest room in the place has a capacity roughly 1/48th the size of the Rogers Centre across the street, but it'll get loud.
| | ALSO FOR YOUR RADAR | | FLIGHT SHAMING — Two years into a pandemic that proved we can do much of our work online, do Liberal cabinet ministers need to be jet-setting around the country advertising a budget that made climate change one of its top priorities? It appears the answer, according to a government keen to show off its 2022 budget, is a resounding yes. By our count, at least 19 members of Cabinet took flights last week to parts of the country far from their home ridings as part of this year’s budget tour. They covered at least 85,000 kilometers and burned at least 7,900 kilograms of carbon dioxide, according to the International Civil Aviation Organization's carbon emissions calculator. For example, Housing Minister AHMED HUSSEN was all over the country, hitting up Regina and Saskatoon early in the week, then dashing back to the GTA before heading out to Kelowna, B.C., over the weekend. Newfoundland’s GUDIE HUTCHINGS was in P.E.I. before zipping over to Fort McMurray, Alberta. She’ll be in Brandon, Manitoba today. Our numbers are definitely conservative, since most ministers’ offices wouldn’t tell us exactly what flights they took (why be transparent about taxpayer dollars, right?). So we only included flights we could be pretty confident about based on their press releases and social media activity. And hey, what’s a few thousand kilograms of CO2 more or less, in the grand scheme of things? But the Toronto Sun’s BRIAN LILLEY didn’t waste any time in calling Justin Trudeau a “climate hypocrite.” Trudeau, after all, was one of the worst offenders last week, jetting to Victoria and Edmonton, then east to Quebec and back out to Whistler on Friday for an Easter weekend holiday. There are lots of reasons politicians want to attend events in person, we know. And let’s face it — we’re all climate hypocrites to some degree. But on Thursday, the government released numbers showing greenhouse-gas emissions dropped nearly 9 percent in 2020, in part due to decreased flying and driving during pandemic lockdowns. Environment Minister STEVEN GUILBEAULT cautioned that emissions will likely “rebound to a degree” as the economy recovers. We have to say, it seems like Trudeau’s cabinet is doing its part to help with the rebound. — TELL US: What do you think about budget tour travel? Essential politicking or waste of jet fuel? Drop us a line at ottawaplaybook@politico.com. U.S. MIDTERM WATCH — Much is riding on the 2022 midterm elections: the fate of President JOE BIDEN’s agenda, leadership in state capitals across the country and a potential 2024 comeback by former president DONALD TRUMP. In the House, Democrats’ five-seat majority is endangered. In the Senate, their control of the 50-50 chamber hinges on Vice President KAMALA HARRIS’s tie-breaking vote. Use POLITICO's Election Forecast to see which races you need to watch this year — and who we think will win each one.
| | TODAY'S HIGHLIGHTS | | — PM JUSTIN TRUDEAU flew back to Ottawa last night after a long weekend in Whistler. He's back on the road today, headed to northern New Brunswick for a long-term care announcement. Both federal ministers from the province, DOMINIC LEBLANC and GINETTE PETITPAS TAYLOR, will be there, along with provincial Social Development Minister BRUCE FITCH. The PM will also join a call with world leaders hosted by President Biden. Other attendees include leaders from France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Poland, Romania, the United Kingdom, the European Union, and NATO. 10:30 a.m. NDP leader JAGMEET SINGH and deputy leader ALEXANDRE BOULERICE are in Montreal to talk about housing. They'll hold a media availability outside Parc du Portugal. 12 p.m. Sen. HASSAN YUSSUF, ex-Liberal MP KIM RUDD and International Union of Operating Engineers Director LIONEL RAILTON are the speakers at a Pearson Centre event breaking down what a just transition is and “what needs to be done and by who — government, business, labor.” 12 p.m. Singh and Boulerice will meet with PIERRE CÉRÉ from the Conseil National des Chômeurs et Chômeuses, which advocates for workers' rights. 1:30 p.m. The Canada School of Public Service has JANICE STEIN of the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy and JON LINDSAY of the Georgia Institute of Technology as headlining speakers for a webcast about artificial intelligence and machine learning in foreign intelligence. 3:30 p.m. The House finance committee meets in camera to consider a draft report summarizing its study about the government’s invocation of the Emergency Act and related measures. 7 p.m. Singh and Boulerice will participate in Iftar with members of the Muslim community.
| | 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 | | — The Narwhal’s DENISE BALKISSOON reports on a study happening at one Ontario lake that could help global geologists decide if we’re living in the Anthropocene. — The Backbench pod's FATIMA SYED hosts Washington Post columnist DAVID MOSCROP, The Logic reporter MURAD HEMMADI, and political commentator CAROLINE ELLIOTT. They zero in on Budget 2022's chapters on housing and growth. Listen. — MICHAEL DEN TANDT , the former National Post columnist and comms specialist for CHRYSTIA FREELAND who's now managing editor of CIGI Online, writes on American global leadership in the Chicago Tribune. — Where's the Covid-19 data? The Globe and Mail's ANDREA WOO tracks a dearth of data on the deadly disease. (Playbook's ZI-ANN LUM flagged similar gaps at the outset of the sixth-wave case spike.) — U of T’s Citizen Lab gets a shout out in The New Yorker in RONAN FARROW’s latest must read: How democracies spy on their citizens.
| | PLAYBOOKERS | | Birthdays: HBD to former Green MP PAUL MANLY, 58 today … Fellow former MP JOHN WESTON also celebrates. Another HBD to EMMA GODMERE from CBC's The House. Movers and shakers: SNC-Lavalin posted meetings with RALPH GOODALE, Canada's high commissioner in the U.K., and a couple of bureaucrats in the low carbon energy sector of Natural Resources Canada. Spotted: Former Liberal Cabinet minister NAVDEEP BAINS, enjoying family time in a warmer place than Canada. A winter weather advisory in Ottawa (welcome to the specter of April meteorological misery, right on schedule). Oh, and snow in Toronto. Media mentions : Canadian Press stalwart JORDAN PRESS announced this is his last week at the wire agency “before moving on to a new professional challenge." Global News’s RACHEL GILMORE is off to Tunisia for two months with Journalists for Human Rights. “We'll be doing media training to help enhance the human rights of women and girls in the region,” she says. Humber College security was called in when Humber journalism students were doing journalism at Humber College. (h/t DAVID REEVELY)
| | PROZONE | | For Pro s, here’s our PM Canada memo from MAURA FORREST and ZI-ANN LUM: Tracking the truck tax clap back. In news for POLITICO Pro s: — Mexican union files USMCA labor complaint against Panasonic facility.
— He wants to destroy Elon Musk. He could end up endangering the Dems’ Senate plans.
— Biden’s been consumed by Ukraine. His team wants to bring the focus back home.
— New Mexico’s Democrats offer an energy lesson for the party.
— White House Global Covid-19 Summit to be held in May.
| | TRIVIA | | Monday's answer: The province that passed an Official Languages Act on this day in history is New Brunswick. Props to ALAN KAN, DEAN VALENTINO, WALTER ROBINSON , LEIGH LAMPERT, BOB GORDON, MICHAEL MACDONALD, ZEV LEWIS, JOANNA PLATER, DIANNE SHERRIN, PIERRE PILOTE, BEN ROTH, RON CREARY and ROBERT MCDOUGALL. Tuesday’s question: "Clark didn't have the numbers, and Crosbie was left to shout and sputter into the television lights. The same day our wedding invitations went out in the mail, I embarked on my third election in fourteen months." Which former premier wrote this in their memoirs? 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 Ben Pauker, Luiza Ch. Savage and editor Sue Allan. | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook | Playbook PM | California Playbook | Florida Playbook | Illinois Playbook | Massachusetts Playbook | New Jersey Playbook | New York Playbook | Ottawa Playbook | Brussels Playbook | London Playbook View all our political and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | | |  |
