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A daily look inside Canadian politics and power. | | | | |  | | By Maura Forrest | Send tips | Subscribe here | Email Maura | Follow Politico Canada WELCOME TO OTTAWA PLAYBOOK. I’m your host, Maura Forrest. DOUG FORD is in and ANDREA HORWATH and STEVEN DEL DUCA are out. Today is deadline day for signing up new members in the Conservative leadership race. And how far should we go to beef up security on Parliament Hill?
|  | DRIVING THE DAY | | | 
Ford: 'What started as an idea turned into a movement.' | Chris Young | FOUR MORE YEARS — Maybe the most (only?) surprising thing about last night’s Ontario election results was how quickly and decisively DOUG FORD won his second majority in a rout that cost his two main opponents their jobs. Polls closed at 9 p.m., and it took precisely 11 minutes for CTV News to declare the Progressive Conservatives had won. Global News went further, projecting a majority PC government, also at 9:11 p.m. CBC News held off another eight minutes, declaring a PC majority at 9:19 p.m. — And that was basically that. Ford was elated, having expanded his majority from 2018. By 11 p.m., the Progressive Conservatives were leading or elected in 83 ridings, far beyond the 63 they needed for a majority. “Thanks to you, what started as an idea turned into a movement. A political movement that changed the landscape of this province and this country forever,” Ford said in his victory speech. “Together, we’re reimagining our party, we’re reimagining our province, and tonight, we have changed what it means to be a Progressive Conservative in Ontario.” — ANDREA HORWATH resigned as NDP leader in an emotional speech after winning re-election in her Hamilton riding. The NDP will remain the official Opposition, though they were reduced from the 40 seats they won in 2018. — STEVEN DEL DUCA is also out as Liberal leader after failing to win his seat, with the Liberals once again falling short of official party status. The Globe and Mail’s TEMUR DURRANI had this telling snapshot from Del Duca’s headquarters ahead of his concession speech: “Ontario Liberals have muted Progressive Conservative Doug Ford’s speech before Steven Del Duca takes the stage for his own speech. ‘good 4 u’ by Olivia Rodrigo is playing in background. The crowd has dwindled from 40 to 30 for an event that was expecting 200 people.” — Ford wasn’t the only leader left standing, however. Green Party Leader MIKE SCHREINER easily won re-election in his Guelph riding, though his party didn’t pick up any new seats. — Sad trombone: If you needed any additional confirmation that this election campaign failed to inspire, it looked like voter turnout was going to land somewhere around 43 percent by the end of the night. That would shatter Ontario’s previous record for low voter turnout, which was set in 2011 when just 48 percent of eligible voters cast a ballot. — Who’s next? Get ready for non-stop speculation as to who will take up the torch from Horwath and Del Duca. To get things rolling, we’ll just throw out this one name. Liberal MP NATHANIEL ERSKINE-SMITH had this to say about the provincial leadership on ERIN O’TOOLE’s Blue Skies podcast last month: “Down the road, would I be interested in that role over a national role? I think so, yeah.” FORD VS. KENNEY — Ford’s victory on Thursday marked quite a contrast from the effective ouster of Alberta Premier JASON KENNEY two weeks ago. Before the pandemic, it would have been hard to imagine such wildly divergent fates for Canada’s two most powerful Conservatives. So what did Ford get right that Kenney got wrong? There are different theories floating around. Here are a few: “Our personality-driven world gives an advantage to Mr. Ford. … [Mr. Kenney’s] combative, go-it-alone political personality was all well and good when the UCP was riding high. But as soon as there were questions about Mr. Kenney’s ability to win a next election, this lack of allies became a liability within the party.” — KELLY CRYDERMAN, for the Globe and Mail “Kenney’s fate was determined by establishment conservatives and members, many of whom place greater value on upholding ideological principle over the pragmatism needed when governing. Doug Ford’s jury is the entire electorate, many of whom dispense with partisan politics in favor of getting things done. A less critical ‘conservative’ eye, coupled with Ford’s atypical coalition of supporters (and a ho-hum opposition) has allowed him to get out of the woods in a way Kenney could not.” — KATE HARRISON , Conservative strategist and vice chair at Summa Strategies “Ontario was much more accepting of the lockdowns as a whole than Alberta as a whole, especially outside of the big cities. … The Ontario PC Party, having won in 2018 [after] having lost for 15 years, was so happy to be back in power, to be back in government, that the institutions in the party were saying, ‘Well, we’re not going to mess this up.’” — HAMISH MARSHALL, former national Conservative campaign manager, speaking on Full Comment with ANTHONY FUREY
| | | | DON'T MISS THE 2022 GREAT LAKES ECONOMIC FORUM: POLITICO is excited to be the exclusive media partner again at the Council of the Great Lakes Region's bi-national Great Lakes Economic Forum with co-hosts Gov. JB Pritzker and Mayor Lori Lightfoot. This premier, intimate networking event, taking place June 26-28 in Chicago, brings together international, national and regional leaders from business, government, academia and the nonprofit sector each year. "Powering Forward" is this year's theme, setting the stage to connect key decision-makers with thought leaders and agents of change to identify and advance solutions that will strengthen the region's competitiveness and sustainability in today's competitive climate of trade, innovation, investment, labor mobility and environmental performance. Register today. | | | | | | | AROUND THE HILL | | CONVOY LEGACY — Two former chiefs of the Ottawa Police Service say authorities need to reduce access to Parliament Hill in the wake of the Freedom Convoy. PETER SLOLY , who stepped down during the trucker protests amid criticism of his handling of the crisis, spoke publicly Thursday for the first time since his resignation in February. The Freedom Convoy was a “paradigm shift,” he told a House of Commons committee studying the security of the parliamentary precinct. “This was an unprecedented national security crisis for which our institutions were not fully prepared.” If the committee is any indication, it’s almost a given that the stretch of Wellington Street in front of Parliament Hill will remain permanently closed to vehicles — temporary barriers have blocked it off since the protests. Sen. VERNON WHITE, who served as Ottawa police chief from 2007 to 2012, said having the street open to traffic has long been a security threat. Several Liberal MPs on the committee voiced their support for leaving the street closed, with GREG FERGUS saying the question had largely been “mooted.” — How far is too far? But the former police chiefs are pushing for more than that. White said authorities should be thinking about a single access point for walking traffic to Parliament Hill. “We really need to think about hardening and reducing access while still allowing … for protests and gatherings, etc.,” Sloly said, urging the committee to look beyond incremental changes. “We have an exponentially changed society. We have an exponentially changing threat environment.” — Unprecedented: Sloly said there was no way the Ottawa police could have been fully prepared for the scale of the trucker protests in February. “We did not have an intelligence threat assessment that said what arrived… would require a full blockade of any portion of this city.” — Emergency measures: However, Sloly also said he didn’t request that the federal government invoke the Emergencies Act to break up the protest. At the time, the Liberals said they had invoked the act because police told them they needed the emergency powers. Ottawa’s current police chief, STEVE BELL, and RCMP Commissioner BRENDA LUCKI have also said they didn’t ask the government to invoke the act. What do you think? Should access to Parliament Hill be limited? Tell us at ottawaplaybook@gmail.com. FUTURE OF JOURNALISM — The heat is rising around Bill C-18, the government’s Online News Act, which would compel online platforms like Google and Meta to share revenue from posting news content with media outlets. This week, more than 100 independent Canadian news providers published an open letter to the government pushing for changes to the bill. The outlets, which include Canadaland, the Local, the Tyee, the Discourse and Queen’s Park Today, say they risk being excluded from the funding model as it’s currently designed, with all the benefits flowing to legacy media. — On Thursday: The Line’s JEN GERSON penned a scathing indictment of C-18. “It's a bill that will bake in an advantage for incumbent players, allowing government bureaucrats to pick winners and losers by how they structure the eligibility formula,” she wrote. “It will penalize those media outlets that want to build a sustainable, independent business without aid from government or ‘Big Tech.’” Her publication has signed on to the coalition of independent media, but Gerson stressed that “accepting government money — even under the cover of a deal with ‘Big Tech’ — is not and will never be the model for The Line.” — Meanwhile: The Canadian Press’s MARIE WOOLF reported Wednesday that Google has written to every MP and senator “expressing fears that the online news bill is being rushed through Parliament without proper debate or consideration.” Bill C-18 passed second reading in the House of Commons this week, and is now headed to committee.
| | CONSERVATIVE CORNER | | MOMENT OF TRUTH — Today is the last day for the six Conservative leadership candidates to sign up new members. Some impressive numbers have been floating around (i.e. a record-breaking 400,000 membership sales), but soon we’ll know the actual tally. And with luck, we’ll soon have a better sense of how the campaigns are actually doing, instead of just how they say they’re doing. Did PIERRE POILIEVRE’s impressive rallies turn into impressive membership sales? Did PATRICK BROWN’s strategy of making targeted appeals to ethnic communities pay off? Did JEAN CHAREST overcome concerns that he’s yesterday’s man? Playbook will be pestering the campaigns for details, but if you’re working for a Tory leadership campaign, you can save us the work! Get in touch at ottawaplaybook@politico.com. — In the meantime: Poilievre drummed up a little last-minute attention by introducing a private member’s bill on Thursday that he claimed would “scrap all vaccine mandates & ban any and all future vaccine mandates.” In the same tweet, he urged followers to buy a membership. The actual text of the bill makes clear this would only apply to Covid-19 vaccine mandates for federal workers and travel. Also, Poilievre is 73rd on the order of precedence for private member’s bills, meaning it’s safe to say he won’t, as he put it on Twitter, “make it happen.” Those pesky details! — In other news, Charest scored an endorsement Thursday from former justice minister ROB NICHOLSON.
| | | | 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. | | | | | | | TODAY'S HIGHLIGHTS | | 9 a.m. (Central) Intergovernmental Affairs Minister DOMINIC LEBLANC delivers a keynote address at the Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ Annual Conference. 9:30 a.m. Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU will participate in a private ceremony to mark the third anniversary of the release of the final report from the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. 10 a.m. Former Calgary mayor NAHEED NENSHI and Globe and Mail journalist MARSHA LEDERMAN are headline speakers for a “frank and compelling” Canada School of Public Service online event about social media, “including echo chambers, disinformation and the spread of strife.” 11 a.m. Government officials will provide an update on Covid-19 and monkeypox. 11:30 a.m. (London) Governor General MARY SIMON will participate in the Service of Thanksgiving for the Queen’s reign, part of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations. 12 p.m. Foreign Affairs Minister MÉLANIE JOLY will participate in an armchair discussion at the Toronto Metropolitan University’s Democracy Forum entitled “Ukraine, War and Peace.” 2:30 p.m. (Central) Conservative MP ANDREW SCHEER delivers a keynote address at the Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ Annual Conference. 4 p.m. Trudeau will deliver virtual remarks at the Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ Annual Conference.
| | ALSO FOR YOUR RADAR | | SETTLING SCORES — Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU defended his government’s record Thursday against criticism from former finance minister BILL MORNEAU, who said in a speech Wednesday that the Liberals were too focused on redistributing wealth and not enough on growth and competitiveness. Trudeau said Morneau played a key role in his government’s early wealth-redistribution programs, including a tax increase for the richest Canadians and a tax cut for the middle class. “Bill was a huge part of that, an important member of the team,” Trudeau said. “Then when the pandemic hit, we had to shift gears.” — Fast-forward: Trudeau said the government is now focused on helping families with the high cost of living, and pointed to the child care deals recently signed with the provinces. “We know that through supporting Canadians, through making sure that everyone has a real and fair chance to succeed, that’s how you create the best growth.” — For more on Morneau’s speech: POLITICO’s ANDY BLATCHFORD has you covered here and here. MOON SHOT — The Canadian Space Agency is funding seven “concept studies” — each awarded C$250,000 — to figure out how Canada could help establish a permanent human presence on the Moon. Once the reports are complete, five could be chosen to move to the next step: prototyping. Here are the successful companies and what they’re proposing: — CANADENSYS: Will develop a concept for a lunar greenhouse, and will look at possibilities for modular surface rovers, including ones that can transport humans. — CANADIAN SPACE MINING CORPORATION: Will study mineral prospecting in lunar orbit and on the surface. — HONEYWELL: Will develop a plan for a lunar communications network. — MDA LTD.: Will provide a road map for autonomous robots and rovers, and will provide a concept for a nuclear power system. — MPB COMMUNICATIONS INC.: Will study optical communications between Earth and the Moon.
| | MEDIA ROOM | | — Top of POLITICO this hour: Biden demands action on guns: ‘How much more carnage are we willing to accept?’ — MICHELLE HEWITT, co-chair of Disability without Poverty, was on The Decibel pod to discuss the need for a federal disability benefit. — POLITICO’s Global Pulse newsletter looks at unprecedented levels of global hunger. — The latest episode of ALTHIA RAJ’s pod features Public Safety Minister MARCO MENDICINO and longtime Ottawa City Councillor DIANE DEANS on the Emergencies Act. — The Hub’s SEAN SPEER finds lessons for today’s Conservatives in the Winds of Change conference of 1996.
| | PROZONE | | For POLITICO Pro s, our policy newsletter by ZI-ANN LUM and ANDY BLATCHFORD: Parsing Bill Morneau. In other headlines for Pros:
— Zelenskyy: Ukraine grain blockade will spark famine, migration.
— OPEC+ agrees to pump more oil ahead of possible Biden Middle East trip.
— How Sheryl Sandberg lost D.C.
— Chelsea Manning learns to live with crypto — sort of.
— Can a WTO summit fix the world’s problems? It’s a long shot.
— NASA reworks its spacesuit strategy while facing moon timeline pressure.
| | PLAYBOOKERS | | Birthdays: HBD to Conservative MP PIERRE POILIEVRE. Also celebrating today: Conservative MP MARC DALTON, P.E.I. Green Party Leader and MLA PETER BEVAN-BAKER (60!), former politician and diplomat ROGER SIMMONS, one-time MP and former mayor ANDRÉ BELLAVANCE and former Ontario Cabinet minister BUD WILDMAN. HBD + 1 to Summa Strategies’ ROB MACLACHLAN and Abacus consultant MEGAN ROSS (h/t DAVID COLETTO). Saturday birthdays: Conservative MP MIKE LAKE, former MP BERNARD BIGRAS and former politician and broadcaster BILL ROWE, who will be 80. Sunday birthdays: Former PM JOE CLARK will be 83! Also celebrating birthdays: Journalist and academic JOHN FRASER, broadcasters JOHN MOORE and PIERRE BRUNEAU and Liberal MP MARK GERRETSEN. Spotted: Governor General MARY SIMON and WHIT FRASER in London to take part in the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations. Countless staffers, leaving Ribfest on Sparks Street with containers stuffed with meat. Also perusing the options? Interim Tory leader CANDICE BERGEN. CAROLYN BENNETT ’s team, celebrating her 25th anniversary as an MP. Senator KAREN SORENSEN, Alberta bound at YOW … MP JOHN NATER, running into former Ontario Premier DAVID PETERSON at opening night of the 70th season of the Stratford Festival. MARCO MENDICINO, greeting Edmonton Mayor AMARJEET SOHI in Regina … The big city mayors saying farewell to Ottawa Mayor JIM WATSON, Winnipeg Mayor BRIAN BOWMAN and London Mayor ED HOLDER. Movers and shakers: MARGO GREENWOOD has been appointed interim scientific director of the Institute of Indigenous Peoples’ Health, part of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Her predecessor, CARRIE BOURASSA, was fired last year following a CBC investigation showing there was no evidence she had Indigenous ancestry. RAPHAEL BRASS is Bluesky Strategy Group’s newest vice-president. Media mentions: RUPA SUBRAMANYA is joining True North as a columnist and podcast host. Today, the parliamentary press gallery will present JOHN GEDDES, JULIE VAN DUSEN and HUGUETTE YOUNG with life member certificates. Mugs will be presented to Van Dusen, Young and 10 other journalists who have recently left the gallery: JENNIFER DITCHBURN, VIRGINIE GAGNON-LEDUC, REBECCA LINDELL, YVES MALO, TERRY PEDWELL, MICHAEL PETROU, JORDAN PRESS, DAVE SHYMANSKI, JANET SILVER and YVES TASSÉ.
| | TODAY'S HIGHLIGHTS | | Keep up to House committee schedules here. Find Senate meeting schedules here. 1 p.m. A trio of national defense officials are on the witness list at the House government operations and estimates committee as MPs pick up on their study of air defense procurement. 1 p.m. The House Indigenous and northern affairs committee meets to start MPs’ study on Arctic sovereignty, security and emergency preparedness of Indigenous peoples. Behind closed doors: 1 p.m. The House industry and technology committee meets to talk about “committee budget” and to review two draft reports. 1 p.m. The House status of women committee meets to review its draft report following its study of intimate partner and domestic violence. 1 p.m. The House justice and human rights committee meets to review its draft report reviewing the Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act. 1 p.m. The House veterans affairs committee will meet for three hours to review two separate draft reports concerning service dogs for veterans and the desecration of monuments honoring veterans.
| | Talk of the town | | VERY LAST CALL — Join us for real-life Playbook Trivia on June 9 at the METROPOLITAIN in Ottawa! Space is limited. Send us an RSVP.
| | TRIVIA | | Thursday’s answer: “My mother once said that this country felt like a home away from home for The Queen of Canada. Prime Minister, I am pleased to report that it still does and I am delighted to be back amongst you all” — that’s QUEEN ELIZABETH in 2010 at the start of her 22nd visit as Queen of Canada. Props to KEVIN BOSCH, GORDON PHANEUF, PETER MCKINNEY, KEVIN COLBOURNE, MICHAEL MACDONALD, ROBERT MCDOUGALL, GREG MACEACHERN, NANCY WAUGH, GANGA WIGNARAJAH, BEN ROTH and BRAM ABRAMSON. Friday’s question: Who was prime minister when the Pride Flag was first raised on Parliament Hill? Send your answers to ottawaplaybook@politico.com Playbook wouldn’t happen without Luiza Ch. Savage, 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 | | | | |  |
