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A daily look inside Canadian politics and power. | | | | |  | | By Nick Taylor-Vaisey | Send tips | Subscribe here | Email Nick l Follow Politico Canada Welcome to the Ottawa Playbook. I'm your host, Nick Taylor-Vaisey with Maura Forrest. Today, we unpack the latest what's-old-is-new scandal narrative on the Hill. Also, the CPC leadership race is about to get another confirmed name on the ballot.
|  | DRIVING THE DAY | | ANATOMY OF AN OPPO NARRATIVE — So many headaches start with a BOB FIFE byline. A generation of political staffers break out in hives at even the sight of the name. The Globe and Mail's Fife is at it again this week , along with byline partner JOY SPEARCHIEF-MORRIS. They've dragged a five-year-old scandal about Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU's lack of judgment back into the headlines. Monday's scoop? Mounties considered charging Trudeau with fraud for visiting a private island owned by the billionaire AGA KHAN , a close friend of the Trudeau family who just so happened to have plenty of active business with the federal government. That was over the Christmas holidays back in 2016. A year later, then-ethics commissioner MARY DAWSON found that Trudeau had violated several ethics rules. But the Mounties were snooping around separately. — Source files: The Globe reporting cites 2019 documents obtained from the federal police force via access-to-information laws. But the newspaper didn't file the request. Conservatives did. They simply handed the docs over to the journalists. — The law: The Mounties had their eyes on Sec. 121(1)(c) of the Criminal Code , which punishes government officials who accept a "reward, advantage or benefit of any kind" from a person "who has dealings with the government." That is, unless the official has written consent from the head of their branch of government. The Globe reported that the RCMP decided against charges because they weren't clear if the PM, as head of government, could simply approve his own conduct. — A twist: On Tuesday, Trudeau told the Commons that he didn't give himself permission to hang out with the Aga Khan. He tried to pull the nothing-to-see-here routine. "The RCMP looked into this matter and no political interference was around it," he said. "It came to its own conclusion. There was nothing to pursue." Whatever the PM intended, his response only fueled the Tories. On Wednesday, MP JAMES BEZAN formally asked RCMP Commissioner BRENDA LUCKI to reopen its investigation into Trudeau's trip. If the PM didn't give himself permission for the trip, wrote Bezan, then surely he ought to be investigated for accepting a free trip from a man who had business with the government. — The consequences: No matter how unlikely it is that the sitting prime minister will find himself under re-investigation for a serious ethical breach that occurred before he twice won reelection, any headline that juxtaposes "Trudeau" and "criminal" is a gift to an opposition looking to exact pain on a government that could govern another three years. — The next salvo: On Wednesday, Interim Tory leader CANDICE BERGEN started poking around Trudeau's potential legal defense. Has he retained private criminal counsel in relation to potential charges? The PM wouldn't say.
| | CONSERVATIVE CORNER | | VERIFIED — Word from the SCOTT AITCHISON camp is that as of today, he's submitted all the signatures and entry fees required to appear on the final ballot. PIERRE POILIEVRE VS. THE BANK OF CANADA — That's this morning's preferred narrative from Poilievre, the blockchain booster who'll roll out his campaign's central bank policies with TIFF MACKLEM HQ as a literal backdrop. The fireworks get started at 9:30 a.m. Playbook will be there. In related news: MARK RENDELL reports: Macklem doubles down on message that Canadians should prepare for higher interest rates. TUNING UP — A campaign volunteer wrote a campaign song for LEONA ALLESLEV. Break Twitter, it did not. LEWIS STANDS UP FOR BUREAUCRATS — The ones who aren't vaccinated, anyway. When it comes to the jab, Lewis is unapologetically pro-choice, and fundraised off federal documents tabled in the Commons that show more than 2,500 public servants who refused to show proof of vaccination were suspended without pay. "I have refused to disclose my vaccination status as a matter of principle," she told her supporters in an email. "As much as they would like to, the Liberals can’t fire me for it, though it has still cost me personally and professionally in other ways. Every Canadian needs to know they are free to make their own health care choices without discrimination." — The data: Speaking of those documents, Playbook took a look and crunched some numbers. The exact number of public servants on unpaid leave is somewhere north of 2,569 (some government bodies refused to answer if the number was small, citing privacy concerns). That number is higher than the Treasury Board’s official toll of about 1,800 employees, because it includes such agencies as the CRA, which aren’t part of the core public administration. Here are the departments and agencies with the most public servants on leave: 487 — Canada Revenue Agency 307 — Department of National Defence 299 — Employment and Social Development Canada 185 — Public Services and Procurement Canada 172 — Fisheries and Oceans Canada 122 — Correctional Service Canada THE UNOFFICIAL DEBATE — The roster for next week's Canada Strong and Free Network (CSFN) Tory leadership debate hasn't changed since PATRICK BROWN's campaign was officially verified by the party. He remains nowhere to be seen. Playbook asked the debate's comms guy, ALEX CHRESTON, if any changes are coming to the CSFN website. "We'll be finalizing the participants once the party has confirmed the full list this week," he replied. Curious. For the time being, MARC DALTON remains on the debate stage even though he is not a verified candidate. In related news: CATHERINE CULLEN reports: Poilievre's campaign hires team behind Canada Proud to boost his messages online.
| | ALSO FOR YOUR RADAR | | ELECTIONEERING ALERT — Ontario Finance Minister PETER BETHLENFALVY will table the Ford government's final budget of its first term today. Global News reported the legislature would adjourn immediately after the budget speech. Which means Bethlenfalvy's plan is a fancy election platform, and the race is unofficially on. The election call should come on May 4, with voting day on June 2.
| | TRIVIA | | NERDS, UNITE — Ottawa Playbook’s fourth virtual trivia night is set for May 4 at 8 p.m. Every returning champ is back for this one. One-man team and two-time winner BROCK STEPHENSON will look to reclaim the title from #TEAMVANTAGE, which sports a stacked squad from McMillan Vantage's Toronto and Ottawa offices. Want to know exactly what you're getting yourself into? Are you wondering how hard this could really be to ace? Here are all the questions (and answers) we asked during one of our previous outings. Audition your prospective teammates. See how they fare. There’s room at each virtual table for up to six players. Gather your nerdiest friends and fire us an RSVP before we hit capacity.
| | HALLWAY CONVERSATION | | | 
Sajjan and Power pose for the cameras as they meet in Washington, D.C. | Photo courtesy USAID | International Development Minister HARJIT SAJJAN was in Washington last week for meetings with counterparts from around the world. He met with USAID administrator SAMANTHA POWER, and announced C$40 million for the Global Financing Facility meant to boost health systems in low-income countries. Playbook got on the phone with Sajjan while he was south of the border. Here's a portion of that conversation. Our team had an in-person meeting the other day, and we all very politely wore masks for a few minutes before the inevitably awkward conversation about removing them. What's been your experience this spring? If I'm going to be meeting somebody, I don't know what their comfort level might be. So out of respect, I'll wear a mask. And then in a meeting setting, if the comfort level is there for people with enough distance, we'll remove the mask so that we can have a conversation. As we get out of this pandemic, we're gonna have to kind of go through that. Just being smart about it. And being respectful to one another's viewpoints. And if somebody doesn't want to wear a mask, and the rule says they don't have to, that's okay. But it's all based on each other's comfort level. You met with Samantha Power and talked about humanitarian crises in Ukraine, Afghanistan and Ethiopia. What else cracks your agenda in D.C.? This is my first experience at the World Bank. My previous portfolio obviously did a lot of work following the development space, because development and defense really do go together, especially when it comes to conflict prevention. So I had an understanding of the work that was being done. But the mechanisms inside are something that I now have the opportunity to learn. So it was a great learning experience. You could spend all of your time talking about a single crisis somewhere in the world. Is it ever frustrating to have to move on to other agenda items competing for your attention? To be honest, what I find sometimes difficult is trying to explain to people the importance of making sure that we keep the support into all the other crises that we have around the world, and not just get focused on one. When we're talking about the pandemic, we have to talk about the challenges that are taking place [with the] Rohingya [people], and what's taking place in Ukraine. Equally, we need to talk about the crises in other places.
| | TODAY'S HIGHLIGHTS | | — PM JUSTIN TRUDEAU will attend the Ottawa Yom HaShoah Commemoration Service and deliver remarks. Minister of Diversity and Inclusion AHMED HUSSEN will also be in attendance and deliver remarks. 8 a.m. Canada Growth Summit 2022 opens at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. 9 a.m. Foreign Policy magazine holds its virtual climate summit on "The transition to net zero: Making good on COP26 commitments." 12:30 p.m. Indigenous Services Minister PATTY HAJDU will provide an update on the safe drinking water settlement agreement. Also in attendance: Chief WAYNE MOONIAS of Neskantaga First Nation; Chief DOREEN SPENCE of Tataskweyak Cree Nation; and Chief EMILY WHETUNG from Curve Lake First Nation. 2 p.m. Deputy PM CHRYSTIA FREELAND will attend question period. 7 p.m. (Atlantic) Tory leadership candidate LESLYN LEWIS is meeting supporters at the Nasis Lions Club & Community Centre in Fredericton.
| | ASK US ANYTHING | | WHAT ARE YOU HEARING that Playbook needs to know? Send it all our way.
| | PAPER TRAIL | | FROM THE TENDERS — On the heels of WestJet's announced merger with Sunwing, Transport Canada is outsourcing economic analysis of the deal. The winning bidder will focus on its impact on airfare, as well as other factors that could impact prices. The whole exercise is conditional on Transport Minister OMAR ALGHABRA launching a public interest assessment. Global Affairs Canada is building a new embassy in Dakar, Senegal. The department is looking for the people to build it … The National Research Council is buying a "collaborative robot" from Quebec-based Pneumac. (Sure, it seems friendly at first. But when the machines have risen and enslaved all of humanity, we'll look back skeptically at purchases like this.)
| | MEDIA ROOM | | REALITY CHECK — BUILD BACK DIRTIER: “Despite our vows to build a better world, pandemic-related stimulus packages totaling $17.2 trillion provided more support for dirty industries than green ones in 15 of the G20 countries.” That’s the prognosis of Corporate Knights, the green transition campaign group that bills itself as “the voice of clean capitalism.” The organization’s TOBY HEAPS isn’t a pessimist though, insisting: “We have the cash to put the solutions to work, with households, corporations and governments holding $510 trillion in financial assets. That’s triple the amount of 20 years ago, and more than five times global GDP.” — “The Conservatives have removed their patina of integrity and propriety to go full MAGA. Finally,” ERICA IFILL writes in The Hill Times. — APTN’s KATHLEEN MARTENS speaks with JACKIE MAURICE, the new CEO of the Sixties Scoop Healing Foundation. — CBC's ALEX PANETTA digs through a trove of American federal filings that sketch out Alberta's planned marketing offensive south of the border. — Q. from TAYLOR OWEN and SUPRIYA DWIVEDI in The Globe: Whose speech will Elon Musk’s Twitter be protecting, exactly? — Top of POLITICO this morning: It's Trump vs. Cruz in Ohio and Pa. Senate races. — Up on Maclean’s via BRIAN BETHUNE: Is it ethical to have kids in the climate crisis?
| | PROZONE | | For s, here’s our Pro Canada PM memo from MAURA FORREST and ZI-ANN LUM: Strengthening the 'weakest link' In other headlines for Pro readers:
— Moderna to ask FDA to authorize Covid-19 vaccine for young kids.
— Science and tech have long sidelined women and people of color. Alondra Nelson is here to fix that.
— Democrats introduce bills to rewrite 150-year-old mining law.
— Russian hackers' capabilities have plateaued, senior Ukrainian cyber official says.
— Poland and Bulgaria start life with no Russian gas.
— USTR chides China for IP concerns, despite Trump-era agreement.
— Freight rail staffing shortages starting to pinch ranchers and other goods shippers.
| | On the Hill | | 9 a.m. Environment Minister STEVEN GUILBEAULT will be on the hot seat at the Senate’s energy, environment and natural resources committee on Bill S-5, Strengthening Environmental Protection for a Healthier Canada Act. 10 a.m. U.S. Energy Secretary JENNIFER GRANHOLM will appear on Capitol Hill to discuss her department’s fiscal year 2023 budget. She’ll appear before the energy subpanel of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which is likely to key in on the transition to clean energy amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. 11 a.m. Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development JERRY DEMARCO will be at the House environment committee with many, many officials. 11 a.m. STEPHANIE CARVIN and CHRISTIAN LEUPRECHT are among the witnesses at the House public safety and national security committee as it studies the rise of ideologically motivated violent extremism in Canada. 11 a.m. The House public accounts committee meets in camera. 11 a.m. Officials from the House and the Parliamentary Protective Service will be at the House procedure committee to discuss Main Estimates. The second part of PROC will focus on expanding the federal jurisdiction for the Operational Security of the Parliamentary Precinct to include sections of Wellington and Sparks streets. 11 a.m. The House Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans will hear from Central Coast Indigenous Resource Alliance, Pacific Salmon Foundation, Fraser Salmon Management Council, B.C. Wildlife Federation and the Lower Fraser Fisheries Alliance and Watershed Watch Salmon Society. To be discussed: Science at DFO. 11 a.m. The House citizenship and immigration committee is meeting behind closed doors to consider a draft report. AGRI and FINA also meet in camera. 11:30 a.m. Foreign Affairs Minister MÉLANIE JOLY will appear at a Senate committee studying the Canadian foreign service and elements of the foreign policy machinery within Global Affairs Canada. 2:30 p.m. The U.S. Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Economic Policy Subcommittee holds a hearing: "Child care and other policy tools to combat bottlenecks and inflation." 3:30 p.m. The House foreign affairs and international development committee will continue its study on vaccine equity and IP rights. 3:30 p.m. Walmart Canada is among the witnesses at the House transport committee as it studies Canada’s supply chain. 3:30 p.m. The RCMP, Toronto Police Service and its board will be at the House ethics committee to talk about facial recognition technology. 3:30 p.m. The House human resources committee will hear from TARA COLLINS , 2018 winner of the Centennial Flame Research Award. As the name suggests, the award is financed in part by coins collected from the Centennial Flame. 4 p.m. Treasury Board President MONA FORTIER will be at the Senate’s National Finance Committee with officials. 6:30 p.m. DAVID WOLFE of Innovation Policy Lab will be among the witnesses at the House science and research committee, which is studying top talent, research and innovation. 6:30 p.m. Dr. JAMES DOWNAR and Dr. HARVEY MAX CHOCHINOV will each spend an hour with the Special Joint Committee on Medical Assistance in Dying. Keep up to House committee schedules here. Find Senate meeting schedules here.
| | PLAYBOOKERS | | Birthdays: HBD to Sen. LARRY SMITH, Conservative MP MARTIN SHIELDS and to JAMIE BAILLIE of Samuel Associates. Canadian Association of Journalists president BRENT JOLLY also celebrates. Spotted: BOB RAE hosting a NYC breakfast with Indigenous leaders, including AFN National Chief ROSEANNE ARCHIBALD and Tŝilhqot’in Chief FRANCIS LACEESE (Tl'esqox) … Movers and shakers: ARIELLE KAYABAGA is the new chair of the Liberal Black caucus.… LISA BAITON is the new president and CEO of CAPP. Media mentions: The Narwhal is launching "Political Climate," a weekly newsletter on green issues that'll come up in the Ontario election.
| | TRIVIA | | Wednesday’s answer: SOLANGE DENIS told then PM BRIAN MULRONEY during a protest on Parliament Hill: “I was made to vote for you and then it’s Goodbye Charlie Brown.” There is a write up of the 1985 exchange in The Dictionary of Canadian Politics. SEAN WEBSTER was first in our inbox. Props to PIERRE JURY, BOB PLAMONDON, RALPH LEVENSTEIN, JOHN DILLON, LEIGH LAMPERT, DAN MCCARTHY, MICHAEL SUNG, ROBERT MCDOUGALL, GOZDE KAZAZOGLU, GREG MACEACHERN, MICHAEL MCDONALD, BEN ROTH, PATRICK DION, VICTOR KRISEL, GREGORY THOMAS and SHEILA GERVAIS. Thursday’s question: “Zap you’re frozen!” is another zinger from the archives. Name the politician who said it first. Send your answers to ottawaplaybook@politico.com CORRECTION : Wednesday’s Playbook published the wrong time for an all-party corporate accountability press conference. Our listing would have had you there early. In fact, it started at 12:15 p.m. 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, Ben Pauker and editor Sue Allan.
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