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Presented by Meta Canada: A daily look inside Canadian politics and power. | | | | |  | | By Nick Taylor-Vaisey and Zi-Ann Lum | Presented by Meta Canada | Send tips | Subscribe here | Follow Politico Canada Welcome to Ottawa Playbook. I'm your host, Nick Taylor-Vaisey with Zi-Ann Lum. Today, Canada's charities want a budget do-over. We break it down. Plus, it's a big day for climate policy as STEVEN GUILBEAULT sets out a national adaptation strategy. Also, the daily committee rundown you know and love. Did someone forward you this Playbook? Click here to sign up for your own subscription to this free newsletter.
| | | | A message from Meta Canada: Meta, in partnership with Journalists for Human Rights, is honoured to announce the Afghan Journalist-in-Residence Project, a US$1.1 million program that will create 10 one-year placements for Afghan journalists in newsrooms across Canada. Participating newsrooms include The Canadian Press, CTV News, Global News, the Toronto Star and Hamilton Spectator. | | | |  | DRIVING THE DAY | | BUDGET MULLIGAN — That's what vocal members of Canada's charitable sector are hoping for in Bill C-19, the massive budget implementation act championed by Finance Minister CHRYSTIA FREELAND. And they might just get what they want. The Liberal budget aimed to "implement the spirit" of Sen. RATMA OMIDVAR's Bill S-216 — a piece of legislation that's popular with charities because it makes it easier for them to fund nonprofit partners that don't qualify for charitable status. (For the uninitiated, here's a primer on the difference between charities and nonprofits in Canada. Charities must focus on narrowly defined activities. Examples include food banks, universities, places of worship, and animal shelters. Nonprofits focus on "social welfare, civic improvement, pleasure, recreation, or any other purpose except profit.") But what should've been a legislative layup only ended up making things worse, says Imagine Canada president and CEO BRUCE MACDONALD. — What needs fixing: MacDonald paints a dreary picture of the relationship between Canadian charities and the nonprofits they fund all over the world. "The landscape for the last almost 50 years has been a bit of a patriarchal, colonial mindset, where Canadian charities — in the context of working overseas, or in an Indigenous community — have to exert this idea of direction and control. They're not really respectful working relationships. And it's time for all of this to change." Translation: Tax laws force charities to dictate how the people they fund do their work — an approach that assumes the charity, not people on the ground, knows best. It's also a lot of compliance paperwork — so much that it shifts resources away from programming itself. — The unintended consequences: Omidvar's S-216 shifts the balance. The bill's preamble says it'll "promote local capacity-building, ownership and participation and collaborative decision-making." Charities were onside as that bill passed through the Senate and entered the House. But they say the Income Tax Act amendments buried in C-19 actually add more administrative costs and unnecessary federal oversight. — The lobbying blitz: Imagine Canada and the McConnell Foundation led a delegation of a dozen nonprofit and charitable reps that plastered MP inboxes with urgent meeting requests. They zeroed in on parliamentarians who have experience with the charitable sector or sit on the influential House finance committee. Oh, and don't think they forgot about Cabinet. Last week, they managed 25 meetings in three days. They met with Cabmins STEVEN GUILBEAULT and MONA FORTIER, Tory MPs ED FAST and ADAM CHAMBERS, Bloc Québécois MP GABRIEL STE-MARIE, and NDP MPs NIKI ASHTON and LORI IDLOUT. They have several more meetings planned in the coming days. "This is actually an opportunity to demonstrate that the House can support non-partisan issues in a non-partisan way," says MacDonald. — What they heard: "There was an openness to hearing the concerns," MacDonald said of the Liberals on the other side of the blitz. — Freeland's response: A weekend statement from the minister's office to Playbook didn't commit to a C-19 amendment, but the door appears wide open. The government says it wants to minimize administrative burdens, ensure accountability for charitable spending and give charities flexibility on supporting nonprofits that aren't themselves charities. — The kicker: “We are working closely and collaboratively with Senator Omidvar to ensure this objective in Bill-19.” Keep an eye out for a bit of a rewrite. — What's next: MacDonald is testifying this morning at the House finance committee. PREPARING FOR THE WORST — Environment Minister STEVEN GUILBEAULT takes to the low-lying shores of a Montreal flood zone today to launch a round of consultations that will shape the Liberals’ upcoming national adaptation strategy planned for release in the fall. Though new future-proofing housing, infrastructure and Canada’s supply chain against climate risks such as extreme flooding, droughts and wildfires will require (massive) funding, Playbook confirms today isn’t a big-money government announcement day from Guilbeault and the gang. A new discussion paper will be dropped to set up consultations. — Also on Guilbeault’s to-do list today: Playing host to a “national adaptation strategy symposium” that the government has organized on Zoom to get the ball rolling. Joining that enviro minister is Emergency Preparedness Minister BILL BLAIR and Guilbeault’s parlsec TERRY DUGUID. They’re speakers on a 11:40 a.m. panel that promises a “high-level update” on “potential short-term actions.”
| | Talk of the town | | TRIVIA NIGHT, IN REAL LIFE — Playbook Trivia is going non-virtual: Thursday, June 9 at the METROPOLITAIN in Ottawa! Gather your team, then send us an RSVP to reserve a table. Space will be limited.
| | | | A message from Meta Canada:   | | | | | CONSERVATIVE CORNER | | WHERE ARE THEY NOW — Tory leadership contenders are fanning out in earnest. The House may be in, but the three sitting MPs in the race are hitting the road. — PIERRE POILIEVRE: He's in St. John's for an evening rally at the Holiday Inn. A pair of his Saskatchewan caucus colleagues, ANDREW SCHEER and COREY TOCHOR, are hosting a membership drive in Yorkton. — LESLYN LEWIS: She's touring Toronto's inner suburbs. Sunday brought events in Etobicoke and North York. Today, Lewis is in your host's beautiful hometown of Scarborough. Next up is a Quebec swing. — SCOTT AITCHISON: He's in British Columbia's lower mainland: Burnaby on Sunday, Victoria today and Vancouver tomorrow. PATRICK BROWN spent the weekend in Calgary, where he claimed to attend 15 membership drive events. After a stop in Toronto, JEAN CHAREST plans to follow Aitchison to the west coast. He's booked weekend events in West Vancouver, New Westminster, Nanaimo and Victoria. Have you seen a Tory leadership candidate out in the wild? What was the vibe? Were you swayed? Are you looking for another event near you? Let us know at ottawaplaybook@politico.com.
| | TODAY'S HIGHLIGHTS | | — PM JUSTIN TRUDEAU will meet with Regina Mayor SANDRA MASTERS. — Canadian Foreign Minister MÉLANIE JOLY was scheduled to attend a meeting of the EU-Canada Joint Ministerial Committee, fresh from the G-7 and NATO foreign ministers’ meetings in Germany. POLITICO's Brussels Playbook notes: "Coming as it does just after last week’s EU-Japan summit, the talks with Canada shows the EU is paying special attention to relations with two like-minded G-7 partners." 8:30 a.m. Statistics Canada will release wholesale trade figures and its monthly survey of manufacturing for March. 9 a.m. The Canadian Real Estate Association releases April home sales figures. 10 a.m. Procurement Minister FILOMENA TASSI, minister of public services and procurement, will announce the laureate of the Block 2 architectural design competition. She will be accompanied by JOHN RALSTON SAUL, honorary adviser to the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada 12:30 p.m. Cabinet Ministers MARK MILLER, PATTY HAJDU and DAVID LAMETTI will hold a press conference: "an update on support for Indigenous communities regarding the ongoing impacts of residential schools." 6 p.m. Pacific The B.C. government holds a virtual public information session on the Canada-U.S. negotiations for the Columbia River Treaty. 7 p.m. B’Nai Brith Canada hosts a virtual multi-cultural evening with IRWIN COTLER and former Knesset member KAMAL MREEH.
| | PAPER TRAIL | | SEMANTIC CENTS — The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada has the tall task of creating awareness campaigns for financial protection measures in this economy. Last December, they looked to public opinion research to vet if their “Make change that counts” campaign, well, made sense. Enter Leger, awarded a C$46,636.86 contract to find the barnacles. — Into the weeds: The final report, delivered mid-February, didn’t contain any “hidden disasters” — leaving some takeaways about the nuances of how the words “financial plan” and “budget” land with different audiences. — “Intimidating” term : “Some participants, particularly in the French-language groups, found the term financial plan to be intimidating and said budgeting was a less intimidating term and more relatable and easier to envision.” Most anglos, on the other hand, found the two terms interchangeable. The campaign launched in March.
| | For your radar | | ONTARIO DEBATES — The last debate of the provincial campaign gets underway this evening at 6:30 p.m. PC leader DOUG FORD, NDP leader ANDREA HORWATH, Liberal leader STEVEN DEL DUCA and Green leader MIKE SCHREINER will square off. Moderators include the TVO's STEVE PAIKIN, who has been moderating debates since approximately 1867; and the Toronto Star's ALTHIA RAJ, who co-moderated the 2019 federal debate and a 2018 Ontario PC leadership debate. — Format notes: Paikin told Global News that his goal is to stay reasonably hands-off. “My co-moderator Althia Raj and I will start from a premise that the viewers want to hear from the leaders, and not us … So, you’re not going to hear questions that go on forever, and you’re not going to see moderators being overly belligerent with the leaders.” No sad trombone , then? What a pity. — The Twitter talk: Traxxion Strategies president KARL BÉLANGER kicked up a fuss over a line in the debate's press release "The debate is open to all major party leaders running candidates in all Ontario ridings that currently have an elected MPP sitting in the provincial legislature." Bélanger's quibble? The Liberals are two short of a full slate. — How to watch: Every major network is airing it in Ontario and streaming it online. — Related reading: From The Globe's DUSTIN COOK: Four things to look for in the Ontario leaders’ debate.
| | MEDIA ROOM | | — Top of The New York Times this morning: Grief and Anger Sweep Through Buffalo a Day After a Racist Massacre. — THE BRIDGE talks about Peterborough. “Is this the new norm?” ICYMI, here’s The Star’s RAISA PATEL: Politicians of all stripes are being pounded by disinformation and conspiracy theories. What can Canada do? — From MICHELLE DA SILVA and MARK RENDELL: What does the Bank of Canada do, and how does it work? — Having struggled to collect accurate information in recent years, pollsters are making historic changes to their operations for the U.S. midterms. POLITICO’s STEVE SHEPARD reports from the American Association for Public Opinion Research’s annual conference in Chicago. — We’re on our second listen of ARMINE YALNIZYAN on The Herle Burly, not only because it begins with an ode to her music room. — The Hub Roundtable weighed in on the sad trombones. In a separate conversation, SEAN SPEER and DAVID FRUM talk about the collapse of cryptocurrencies. — The Calgary Herald reports: Flush with cash, Alberta NDP running early election-style ads. — HELENA BOTTEMILLER EVICH and MEREDITH LEE have the download on the infant formula shortage that has grown over months to become Topic A in Washington.
| | PROZONE | | For POLITICO Pro s, our Friday policy newsletter by ZI-ANN LUM and ANDY BLATCHFORD is jam-packed: The week ahead: Down-low on the to-and-fro. In other headlines for Pros: — Hochul vows to battle hate, gun violence after Buffalo massacre.
— EU and U.S. pitch ‘policy dialogue’ for Big Tech crackdown.
— How the war caused a commodity cash-call crunch.
— NFTs fall under gaze of global tax enforcement team.
— Crypto reckoning looms as investors lose billions.
| | ASK US ANYTHING | | TELL US EVERYTHING — What are you hearing that you need Playbook to know? Send it all our way.
| | PLAYBOOKERS | | Birthdays: HBD to Liberal MP SEAN CASEY. Spotted: Heritage Minister PABLO RODRIGUEZ, NDP leader JAGMEET SINGH, Toronto Mayor JOHN TORY and Edmonton Mayor AMARJEET SOHI at the Junos … NDP MP BLAKE DESJARLAIS, giving lawn bowling a go … Royal toes tapping at Canada House in London (h/t LAUREN SPROULE) … Canadian Ambassador KIRSTEN HILLMAN, at a party celebrating Ian Bremmer’s new book “The Power of Crisis.” Minister of Mental Health and Addictions and Associate Minister of Health CAROLYN BENNETT, Liberal MPs MICHAEL COTEAU and ROB OLIPHANT, celebrating the career of former Ontario premier KATHLEEN WYNNE. MARYSCOTT GREENWOOD, breaking bread in Ottawa with PIERRE PYUN, MARLENE FLOYD, BLAIR DICKERSON, GARY CLEMENT and JAMES MAUNDER. JOCELYN LUBCZUK: “CANCER FREE.” Media mentions: DAVE SEGLINS of CBC News is a recipient of the 2022 Ochberg Fellowship … Canadian journalist KATHY GANNON is retiring after 35 years of covering Afghanistan and Pakistan for The Associated Press. She discusses her career in this NPR interview. GEORGE ABRAHAM and ANDREA HOUSTON have joined the Board of Governors of the National Newspaper Awards. On July 1, BEV WAKE will take over as executive director of the NNAs with ANDRIA SAMIS as program director. More news from the NNAs: The STUART M. ROBERTSON Award for Breaking News is being named in honor of the Toronto-based media lawyer who died in March … The beat reporting category will now be renamed in recognition of JOAN HOLLOBON … The local reporting category will honor E. CORA HIND. Movers and shakers: Bloc MP SÉBASTIEN LEMIRE announced in the House on Friday that ex-journaliste JEAN-FRANÇOIS VACHON has joined his office as a comms assistant. We’re late to this, but economist STEPHEN GORDON has been named chair of Département d'économique, Université Laval: “Since I don't want my colleagues to to be embarrassed by their chair, this account will now feature much less spicy takes than what regular readers might be used to,” he tweeted as he shared the news. Former NDP MP SVEND ROBINSON signed up to lobby for the LGBT Purge Fund. Fun fact: His business's mailing address is located in Cyprus. Crestview's ALEXANDER BYRNE-KRZYCKI is lobbying for 777 Partners, the investment firm that owns Flair Airlines and wants the feds to know about "challenges posed to newer carriers." Sussex Strategies' DAN LOVELL is repping Ultra Safe Nuclear Corporation, which is in the business of small modular nuclear reactors. Farewells: David Milgaard, who spent 23 years behind bars for a crime he didn't commit and was a fierce advocate for the wrongfully convicted, died at 69. Justice Minister DAVID LAMETTI tweeted: “David Milgaard was a tireless advocate for the wrongfully convicted, who desired to see the system change after being wrongfully convicted himself. I am deeply saddened to know that he will not live to see this happen. May we continue this incredibly important work in his memory.”
| | On the Hill | | | | | | A message from Meta Canada: Together, Journalists for Human Rights and the Meta Journalism Project will help to open up new career opportunities for these veteran journalists and contribute towards their resettlement in Canada. Journalists for Human Rights and the participating newsrooms will review applications and select the 10 placements later this year. We hope these new positions will enrich our newsrooms and communities, further enhancing Canada’s diverse and vibrant news ecosystem. For more details on the program, please see our blog post. | | | Keep up to House committee schedules here. Find Senate meeting schedules here. 11 a.m. The House transport committee is scheduled to talk about red tape and costs on rural and urban Canadian airports. Officials from Air North, Canadian Airports Council, Canadian Chamber of Commerce and others will appear. 11 a.m. The House finance committee is focused on Bill C-19. On deck: Canada's Building Trades Unions, Canadians for Tax Fairness, Cider Canada and Imagine Canada. 11 a.m. Information Commissioner CAROLINE MAYNARD will be at the House ethics committee on main estimates. 11 a.m. The House foreign affairs committee will hear from Global Fund To Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria before moving in camera to talk about its report on Ukraine. 11 a.m. The House human resources committee is studying the housing accelerator fund and will hear from mayors, Blue Door Support Services and others. 11 a.m. The House agriculture committee is meeting in camera to discuss a report. 11 a.m. The Standing Joint Committee for the Scrutiny of Regulations is reviewing statutory instruments. 2 p.m. Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations MARC MILLER will be at the Senate Aboriginal Peoples committee to discuss The Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. Miller will appear at 3. 3:30 p.m. The House heritage committee is behind closed doors to talk business and a draft report on Covid-19. 3:30 p.m. The House official languages committee is in camera to talk about a draft report. 3:30 p.m. Ditto the House health committee. 3:30 p.m. The House natural resources committee is studying energy transition and will hear from Canadian Colleges for a Resilient Recovery, Canadian Labour Congress, Colleges and Institutes Canada, Environmental Careers Organization of Canada, Future Skills Centre and the Conference Board of Canada. 3:30 p.m. The House finance committee has a second meeting on the books Monday to continue its discussion of C-19. 3:30 p.m. The House national defense committee will be discussing rising domestic operational deployments and challenges for the Canadian Armed Forces 5 p.m. Immigration Minister SEAN FRASER is at the Senate official languages committee . 6:30 p.m. Former interpreters to the Canadian Armed Forces, MASOOD MATIN HOTAK, ABDUL JAMY KOHISTANY and MOHAMMED ZARIF MAYAR will appear at the special committee on Afghanistan. 6:30 p.m. The Special Joint Committee on Medical Assistance in Dying will hear from Disability Justice Network of Ontario, The Canadian Bar Association and other individuals. At 8:30 p.m. it’s scheduled to go in camera to discuss committee business.
| | TRIVIA | | Friday’s answer: MALAK KARSH came up with the idea for the Canadian Tulip Festival. Props to PETER MCKINNEY, BEN ROTH, JENN KEAY, BOB GORDON, GANGA WIGNARAJAH, MICHAEL SUNG, LAURA JARVIS, HARRY MCKONE and ROBERT MCDOUGALL. Monday’s question: Name the former Cabinet minister whose book begins with these sentences: “The PM was late. Building in me was a creeping realization that this was the beginning of the end. It was here. The time had come.” 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. | | | | 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 | | | | |  |
