SUMMER SPIN CYCLE — Your Playbook host recently discovered a time-honored tradition of constituency politics sitting in his mailbox: The summer householder. MONA FORTIER, the Treasury Board president who represents one of the safest Liberal seats in the nation, flooded her Ottawa–Vanier riding with a booklet of promises and priorities. — Mission accomplished: Fortier opens with a shot of macroeconomic spin. "Canada has seen the strongest job recovery out of all countries in the G7. Our historic investments for Canadians, have allowed us to have a strong and resilient economy." The householder repeats what JUSTIN TRUDEAU and CHRYSTIA FREELAND have told every audience they face: Canada has recovered 112 percent of jobs lost in the pandemic, and the unemployment rate sits at 5.5 percent. — Ranking what's next: Fortier fronted five Budget 2022 commitments at the top of her midsummer update. Most important was a predictable pledge: "making it easier for Canadians to purchase a home." But tucked just underneath was "delivering dental care," phrased as "keeping our promise" — short form, perhaps, for instead of "pushed by the NDP in a lengthy Confidence and Supply Agreement to implement new health-care policy that includes complex federal-provincial negotiations that we don't talk about in booklets like this." Ottawa–Vanier may be as safe as they come for the Liberals. But their reminder to locals that they've promised subsidized dental care this year for kids under 12 whose families' household incomes fall below C$90,000 is likely popular in a riding that includes lower-income areas like Lowertown and Vanier (and, yes, Rockcliffe Park, one of Canada's wealthiest neighborhoods). — 3, 4, 5: The third-highest local priority: "Helping our businesses expand and grow." Rounding out the Top 5: "Ensuring that the richest pay their fair share" and "Investing in a brighter future by cementing Canada's position as a global leader in EV production." 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GUNS, GUNS, GUNS — As Pro s learned in a newsletter last week, Public Safety Canada quietly published a request for information on Canada's federal procurement website that sought industry views on a planned buyback program for "over 1,500 models of assault-style firearms and other weapons, components and parts of weapons, accessories, cartridge magazines, ammunition and projectiles." On May 30, Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino promised to consult industry on the initiative, with further details available later this summer. The Liberals first announced the prohibition of those firearms on May 1, 2020. Mendicino promised to start buying back AR-15 rifles before the end of 2022. “It’s going to be hard. But we are going to get it done,” he said in May. — The timeline: Industry has until Aug. 3 to respond to the request for information. — Where to find the guns: The RFI estimates the total haul of prohibited weapons eligible for the buyback program comprises 80 percent of registered rifles in the country. The government expects to find the majority of those firearms in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario — and the "vast majority" in urban areas. Public Safety confirmed to Playbook that the government expects to buy back about 150,000 firearms, including 110,000 that were registered as restricted weapons and 40,000 that were non-restricted and non-registered. — Who's up for the job? Bureaucrats are seeking feedback from vendors who might have the capability to bid on future contracts related to the collection and transportation of firearms, as well as tracking, storage solutions, package inspection, destruction and the post-destruction recycling process. The government is also “considering the use of equipment to render firearms inoperable at first point of contact,” according to the request for information. That could mean permanently bending the barrel before the weapon is even transported. — The speed of government: The document asks potential suppliers to suggest package inspection techniques and technology, with an aim of inspecting 1,000 to 1,500 shipped packages per day: "Scalability will (be) key to this requirement." — Sound off: One of the government's last questions for industry is sure to produce headaches for public servants down the road. "Are there any potential gaps in the current program design and, if so, how can they be addressed?"
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