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A daily look inside Canadian politics and power. | | | | |  | | By Maura Forrest | Send tips | Subscribe here | Follow Politico Canada Welcome to Ottawa Playbook. I'm your host, Maura Forrest, with Sue Allan. Greetings from Ottawa, where the storm recovery continues. Today, is Canada being left out of Indo-Pacific agreements? Also, we bring you a field report from Davos, and the latest on the Conservative leadership race. 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 ABOUT US? — There’s a cool new club in town, and Canada’s not a member. On Monday, U.S. President JOE BIDEN announced a new trade arrangement with a dozen Indo-Pacific countries during a visit to Tokyo. The pact is meant to deepen U.S. ties in Asia and counter China’s influence in the region, after the Trump administration pulled the U.S. out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership in 2017. The Indo-Pacific Economic Framework isn’t a conventional trade deal. Notably, it doesn’t give members increased access to the American market, raising doubts about its practical utility. But it was a key feature of Biden’s first trip to Asia since taking office. The members of the framework are the United States, India, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and Brunei. LYNETTE ONG, professor of political science at the University of Toronto, told Playbook she was surprised to see Canada wasn’t on the list. “This is becoming a bit of a trend that the U.S. is not bringing Canada on board on a lot of Indo-Pacific agreements,” she said. “I think Ottawa should rightly be concerned.” — The background: Last September, Canada was excluded from a new intelligence pact between the U.S., the U.K. and Australia, known as AUKUS. At the time, Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU dismissed it as nothing more than an arrangement to share nuclear submarine technology with Australia. — On the other hand: “This is not something to panic over,” said ERIC MILLER, president of Rideau Potomac Strategy Group. He said the U.S. thinks about Canada in the context of North America, where the USMCA is already in force, and not as an Indo-Pacific partner. “It’s not malice,” he said. “This is where it always falls on Canada to be assertive when it comes to participating in regional frameworks.” CHINA POLICY INCOMING — POLITICO reported Monday that U.S. Secretary of State ANTONY BLINKEN will unveil the Biden administration’s China strategy on Thursday, which is expected to build on that of former President DONALD TRUMP. Last week, Foreign Affairs Minister MÉLANIE JOLY told POLITICO’s EU Confidential podcast that she will release Canada’s long-awaited Indo-Pacific strategy in the “coming weeks.” She noted she’d had a call with Chinese counterpart WANG YI last month. KRISTEN HOPEWELL , Canada research chair in global policy at the University of British Columbia, said it makes sense for Canada to await the U.S. policy on China before declaring its own. “Canada is a middle power and so we have limited capacity acting alone vis-à-vis China,” she told Playbook.
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Zelenskyy to Davos audience: "Wake up in the morning with the question: What have I done for Ukraine today?” | AP | WHAT HAPPENS IN DAVOS — VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY gave a virtual address on Monday to the inaugural summer gathering of the World Economic Forum. The Ukrainian president told the audience of global leaders that he begins each morning with a report on the previous day’s Ukrainian deaths. Message to world leaders: “Ukraine is short on time … Wake up in the morning with the question: What have I done for Ukraine today?” Message to CEOs in Davos: “Your brands should not be associated with war crimes.” Message to those who want to rebuild Ukraine: “Set a precedent for rebuilding the country. That will send the message to anyone who wants to destroy a neighbor that it is not worth it.” Our field report arrives via POLITICO’s team in Davos, which is producing a pop-up WEF Playbook. Headline on this morning's edition: CEOs in lycra. — Playing catch-up: The last in-person World Economic Forum was in January 2020, just before the beginning of the pandemic. As POLITICO’s SUZANNE LYNCH explained Sunday in the kickoff Davos Playbook, the World Economic Forum is working to strike a tricky balance: “how to marry the optics of the world’s most powerful people gathering in an exclusive Swiss resort, with the need to do good for the world, or as the WEF’s official news release puts it: ‘make an impact in tackling global challenges and improving the state of the world.’” — What’s what: The big themes of the week: Ukraine, inflation, the deepening food security crisis and climate change. — Who’s who: Some 2,000 participants are expected in Davos, but only one G-7 leader. We know Industry Minister FRANÇOIS-PHILIPPE CHAMPAGNE will be in attendance. This seems as good a time as any to point to The Line and MICHELLE REMPEL GARNER’s feature from February: I went to Davos. The World Economic Forum is not running Canada. Other bold-face names: German Chancellor OLAF SCHOLZ (the only G-20 leader to have confirmed so far), NATO boss JENS STOLTENBERG, EU Commission President URSULA VON DER LEYEN, ECB President CHRISTINE LAGARDE; Prime Minister of Belgium ALEXANDER DE CROO; President of Israel ISAAC HERZOG. — In related viewing: POLITICO editor-in-chief MATTHEW KAMINSKI interviewed GAVI’s SETH BERKLEY, Oxfam International’s GABRIELA BUCHER, Wellcome Trust’s JEREMY FARRAR and Moderna CEO STÉPHANE BANCEL. “Something done early is better than something bigger done late,” Farrar said. Watch here. — In related listening: Our crew in the mountains is also producing a daily podcast, Davos Confidential.
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Kukpi7 (Chief) Rosanne Casimir (in white) watches as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stops in the crowd at the Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc Le Estcwicwéy̓ memorial. | Darryl Dyck | ONE YEAR LATER — Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU was in Kamloops, B.C. on Monday to attend the Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc Le Estcwicwéy̓ memorial on the one-year anniversary of the discovery of hundreds of suspected unmarked graves at a former residential school. The finding rocked the country and was followed by similar discoveries at other sites. “Some of the children who went missing would have been grandparents or great-grandparents. They would have been elders, knowledge-keepers and community leaders,” Trudeau said. “It is on all of us to remember them and to honor them.” — Missteps: Trudeau was criticized last year for traveling to Tofino, B.C. with his family on the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on Sept. 30, after having been invited to the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation. He sought to make amends by traveling to Kamloops in October, where he was publicly rebuked by Kukpi7 (Chief) ROSANNE CASIMIR. On Monday, Casimir praised Trudeau for returning to Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc, though he was heckled by people in the crowd. The prime minister said residential schools are not just a part of Indigenous history, but also a significant part of Canadian history. "These were schools with graveyards. Schools with cemeteries. That was something that was the vivid illustration to Canadians that they could no longer ignore, that they could no longer shrug off," Trudeau told reporters after the close of the ceremony. "This is a moment for us to realize that as great as Canada is as a country, we made some terrible mistakes in the past and we have to make them right." MARK YOUR CALENDARS — Defence Minister ANITA ANAND has until May 30 to make public a long-awaited report on addressing sexual misconduct in the military, Global News reports. Anand received the final report from former Supreme Court justice Louise Arbour on Friday. Arbour is expected to provide recommendations about setting up an independent system for handling complaints of sexual misconduct. Anand has said her top priority as defense minister is ensuring everyone in the Canadian Armed Forces “feels safe, protected and respected.” KENNEY’S (REALLY) OUT (ALMOST) — First JASON KENNEY surprised everyone when he announced last week he’d step down as United Conservative Party leader after winning a leadership review by a razor-thin margin. Then he clarified that he’d step down once a new leader is elected — so not just yet. Then questions started flying about whether he might run again in the next leadership race. But on Saturday, the Alberta premier put that to bed in his weekly radio show (which was launched in March, totally unrelated to the upcoming leadership review, of course). So Kenney is actually leaving — sometime, eventually. — In related listening: Calgary Sun columnist RICK BELL joined DAVE BREAKENRIDGE on the 10/3 pod where he suggested there was a lesson for the UCP in all this. “This isn’t just about Jason Kenney. … The attitude of what I call ‘Toryland’ — self-entitled, crony-infested pit that Conservative politics has become — that has to go.” — For more on what comes next in Alberta: POLITICO’s ZI-ANN LUM and NICK TAYLOR-VAISEY have you covered. And a small update: DOUG SCHWEITZER is out.
| | CONSERVATIVE CORNER | | THE NEW GUY — The Conservatives have named a new finance critic after ED FAST lobbed a grenade at leadership candidate PIERRE POILIEVRE last week. Their new guy is DAN ALBAS, who — funny coincidence! — endorsed Poilievre back in February, calling him “hard working, smart and a superb communicator.” — ICYMI: Fast, who is co-chairing JEAN CHAREST’s leadership campaign, sent out a blazing email last week, as reported by Global News. He said Poilievre’s supporters in the Conservative caucus told him to “just shut up” after he criticized the presumed frontrunner’s promise to fire the Bank of Canada governor. Fast said he then asked interim leader CANDICE BERGEN to relieve him of his duties as finance critic so he could “speak freely” about Poilievre’s “risky and wrong-headed policies.” — Speaking of Poilievre’s policies: On Monday, as the Davos summit got underway, the leadership contender repeated a pledge to “ban ministers and other top officials from involvement with the World Economic Forum.” It’s not the first time Poilievre has winked at a conspiracy theory about global elites planning to establish an authoritarian world order. The Twitter-verse was quick to point out that former prime minister STEPHEN HARPER attended the forum multiple times. Poilievre is also making an announcement about gas prices today at 1 p.m. in Laval, Que. IN OTHER NEWS — The Conservative Party has tapped MARC-OLIVIER FORTIN to moderate this week’s French-language leadership debate on Wednesday in Laval. Fortin was the party’s campaign manager for Quebec during the 2021 election, under former leader ERIN O’TOOLE. He has previously served twice on the party’s leadership election organizing committee, according to chair IAN BRODIE. — Membership drive: The leadership campaigns have until June 3 to sign up new members ahead of the vote. The Toronto Star’s STEPHANIE LEVITZ reports that party officials say membership sales are approaching a record-breaking 400,000, which would eclipse the 270,000 sold during the 2020 leadership race. That number is raising concerns among the campaigns about how the party will distribute and count all the ballots in time to declare a winner on Sept. 10.
| | TODAY'S HIGHLIGHTS | | Innovation Minister FRANÇOIS-PHILIPPE CHAMPAGNE is in Europe to attend the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. He will also meet with “key European industry stakeholders and business leaders in the manufacturing and technology sectors,” per a news release. 9 a.m. (Pacific) Defense Minister ANITA ANAND will visit the Ukrainian Cultural Centre in Victoria and make an announcement about additional military aid for Ukraine. Anand will later visit CFB Esquimalt and participate in a panel discussion on systemic racism and discrimination with members of the Defence Team. 9 a.m. (Pacific) Official Languages Minister GINETTE PETITPAS TAYLOR will hold a press conference in Vancouver to launch public consultations for the next action plan on official languages. 10:30 a.m. (Pacific) Governor General MARY SIMON will visit Oaklands Elementary School in Victoria. 10:45 a.m. (Pacific) Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU will hold a press conference in Metro Vancouver. 12 p.m. (Pacific) The GG will speak with students enrolled in the University of Victoria’s Indigenous Language Revitalization Program and the Joint Degree Program in Canadian Common Law and Indigenous Legal Orders. 1:30 p.m. (Pacific) Trudeau and B.C. Premier JOHN HORGAN will make an announcement about the 2025 Invictus Games. 5 p.m. (Pacific) The PM will visit a food bank and meet with volunteers.
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| | | | STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING: What's really happening in West Wing offices? Find out who's up, who's down, and who really has the president’s ear in our West Wing Playbook newsletter, the insider's guide to the Biden White House and Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details that you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today. | | | | | | | MEDIA ROOM | | — Ahead of his one-year anniversary on the Supreme Court, Justice MAHMUD JAMAL spoke with CTV News' OMAR SACHEDINA about the importance of race and representation in law during a half-hour news special that aired last night. — The Hill Times has been on a mission since late 2021 to confirm CHRYSTIA FREELAND’s staff roster. LAURA RYCKEWAERT reports that she checked the government’s electronic directory service, LinkedIn, lobbying reports, the federal conflict of interest and ethics commissioner’s public registry to come up with this list. — PAUL WELLS shares questions he would have asked PIERRE POILIEVRE had the Conservative frontrunner agreed to be interviewed. — Speaking of Poilievre appearances, The Hub Roundtable dissects the MP’s appearance on Jordan Peterson’s podcast. SEAN SPEER notes that the frontrunner has yet to grant an interview with traditional media (see above): “His entire campaign thus far has been executed through a combination of big rallies and alternative media … that’s kind of broadly similar to Trump’s communications, isn’t it?” — The CBC’s JORGE BARRERA tells the story of DANIEL ROBINSON: “He spent one night at the Edmonton Remand Centre on an unpaid driving fine. He never returned home.” — And in an excerpt from his new book, CHRIS TURNER shares what fuels his climate optimism. Hear him talk about it here.
| | PLAYBOOKERS | | Birthdays: HBD to author and activist MAUDE BARLOW and to human rights activist ALEX NEVE, who is 60 today! Movers and shakers: The PM announced two new members of the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians on Friday: Conservative MPs ROB MORRISON and ALEX RUFF. The committee is chaired by Liberal MP DAVID MCGUINTY. The other members are Liberal MPs PATRICIA LATTANZIO, IQRA KHALID and JAMES MALONEY, Bloc MP STÉPHANE BERGERON, NDP MP DON DAVIES, and Sens. DENNIS DAWSON, FRANCES LANKIN and VERNON WHITE. All seats on the committee are now filled. SEAMUS O’REGAN bid adieu Friday to operations director UDITA SAMUEL: “She’s an embodiment of why, when you add women, you change politics.” Spotted: Former finance minister BILL MORNEAU with a date to deliver the keynote at the C.D. Howe Institute’s annual directors’ dinner June 1. Sen. KAREN SORENSEN, celebrating her May 20 birthday. ALEX WELLSTEAD, chronicling his first sub-20 5K in Milton. A few moments you may have missed in the House last week: — Calgary MP LEN WEBBER, giving a shout-out to his daughter Lauren who is working in Ukraine with the United Nations World Food Programme. “Quashing the Russian war machine is the fastest and quickest way we can help reduce the number of hungry around the world,” he told MPs. — Toronto MP JULIE DZEROWICZ, honoring JOANNA CHIU for winning the Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing and the Politics and the Pen organizing team for its gala in support of the Writers' Trust of Canada. — Barrie MP JOHN BRASSARD, sharing his plans to award 70 volunteers in his riding with commemorative medallions in honor of the Queen’s platinum jubilee. Media mentions: Broadcaster SHELAGH ROGERS has been awarded the annual Symons Medal for making an exceptional contribution to Canadian life. Farewells: NDP MP NIKI ASHTON paid tribute to CLIF EVANS, who died earlier this month. He sat in the Manitoba legislature from 1990 to 1999 and had been serving as a member of Ashton’s constituency team. “Clif was one of my mentors,” she told the House. “He will be missed by many.”
| | HOUSE BUSINESS | | Keep up to House committee schedules here. Find Senate meeting schedules here. 10 a.m. The House finance committee continues its study of the budget implementation bill with witnesses including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce’s MARK AGNEW, Montreal Economic Institute’s MIGUEL OUELLETTE and Access Copyright’s ROANIE LEVY. 11 a.m. The House heritage committee meets to study Bill C-11, the Liberals’ proposed reform of the Broadcasting Act to regulate online streaming platforms. The meeting is scheduled to run until 4:30 p.m. and will include appearances by PETER MENZIES, MICHAEL GEIST, TROY REEB and many others. 2:30 p.m. The House human resources committee will hear from a dozen department officials off the top of its meeting on the Budget Implementation Act.
| | PROZONE | | In news for POLITICO Pro s: — Biden’s Taiwan defense pledge inflames U.S.-China relations.
— Experts say Ukraine war shows we need a new way to feed the world.
— D.C. attorney general sues Mark Zuckerberg over Cambridge Analytica.
— The U.K. data protection watchdog fines Clearview AI £7.5M.
— White House touts environmental spending for low-income, minority communities.
— Brussels publishes proposed rules for sustainable fuels.
| | TRIVIA | | Friday’s answer: A new issue of stamps from Canada Post features DAVID MILLER’s illustrations of endangered whales. Props to BEN ROTH, ROBERT MCDOUGALL and MICHAEL SUNG. Tuesday’s question: Who wrote, “Everyone would gather on the 24th of May, sitting in the sand to watch the fireworks display?” 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 | | | | |  |
