COMING TODAY — Environment Minister STEVEN GUILBEAULT will give a first glimpse of the Liberals’ plan for an emissions cap on the oil and gas industry, MIA RABSON reports for the Canadian Press . The two options: “an industry-specific cap-and-trade system or a modified carbon pricing system to set a ceiling for emissions from the oil and gas sector.”
TURBINE UPDATE — Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU spoke with Ukrainian President VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY Sunday, in the wake of Ottawa’s decision to return parts of a Russian natural gas pipeline to Germany. After the call, Zelenskyy said on Twitter that he’d “reiterated that the international position on sanctions must be principled.” Zelenskyy publicly condemned Canada’s decision to waive sanctions on Russia and return the turbines last week. A readout from the Prime Minister’s Office phrased the exchange a little differently, saying that both leaders “discussed the importance of maintaining strong unity amongst allies and continuing to impose severe costs on Russia.” — Related: Deputy Prime Minister CHRYSTIA FREELAND also spoke up about the controversial decision this weekend. Speaking from a G-20 meeting in Bali, Indonesia, Freeland said it was the right decision to return the turbines, as “Germany's ability to sustain its support for Ukraine could be at risk.” Conservative MPs suggested on Friday that Freeland might not have supported the decision, as she had yet to speak publicly about it. WE’RE NOT DISCUSSING JUSTIN TRUDEAU’S HAIR — Look, other folks may be chattering about Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU ’s new haircut, but we here at Playbook have better things to do. We only bring you the most pertinent, informative, substantive content (please see podcast section above), and this clearly does not meet the bar. Sure, it made international headlines. The Daily Mail claimed the change was a surprise because “the 50-year-old has always kept his hair the same mid-length style” (where have you been, Daily Mail?). Fox News declared that “social media went wild” with comparisons to Jim Carrey’s look in Dumb and Dumber. — So sure, we could jump on the bandwagon and speculate about whether Trudeau’s haircut means an election is coming in three months or three years, or whether it’s a sign of increasing maturity or declining follicle health. But no — we will rise above! — A small aside: (Did we feel obligated to ask the Prime Minister’s Office if the PM had anything to say on the matter? We did. Did it make us feel good about ourselves? It did not. But remember when he grew a beard and literally everyone including the BBC was talking about What It Meant? We had to ask. Anyway, the PMO didn’t get back to us, which was fine because we’re not really covering this anyway. We’re rising above!) — We’ll give the last word here (not that we’ve devoted any words to this at all) to SARAH RITCHIE of the Canadian Press, who said all that needed to be said about this in a pool report Friday: “He’s got a new haircut. It’s… very short.” Indeed. — Oh, and the actual last word goes to comms expert COREY HOGAN, who seized the opportunity to publish his theory that if GERARD KENNEDY had gotten a better haircut, JASON KENNEY would have been prime minister of Canada. Read it. It’s a wild ride. ELECTORAL MAP — In keeping with our tradition of bringing you the latest in electoral boundary drama, we’ve got the lowdown on changes that may be in store for Newfoundland and Labrador. The province only has seven federal ridings, but its electoral boundaries commission is recommending new names for three of them. — First: St. John’s South — Mount Pearl (formerly St. John’s West) could soon forgo cardinal directions altogether and be renamed Cape Spear, in honor of the most easterly point in North America. (St. John’s East, on the other hand, will still get to be St. John’s East, even though it doesn’t stretch as far east as the riding that used to be St. John’s West. Got it?) — Second: Coast of Bays — Central — Notre Dame? Too complicated, the commission says. They want it changed to Notre Dame — Bay d’Espoir. — Third: Bonavista — Burin — Trinity could change to Terra Nova — The Peninsulas, since a revised boundary proposal would have it include most of three major peninsulas: Burin, Bonavista and Bay de Verde. — Redrawing the lines: Most of the proposed boundary changes have to do with more and more Newfoundlanders leaving rural areas for the city. The commission is suggesting some of the ridings around St. John’s should get smaller, while some of the rural ridings should expand. — And what about Labrador? No change, says the commission. With just 26,000 residents, Labrador is the least populous riding in Canada. Back in the day, it was combined with one of the Newfoundland districts, but it’s been its own riding for the last 35 years. “The Labrador region’s history, geography and community of interest, as well as the strength of its many distinct Indigenous communities, warrant the continuance of a separate electoral district,” the commission concluded.
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