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Presented by Inuvialuit Regional Corporation: A daily look inside Canadian politics and power. | | | | |  | | By Nick Taylor-Vaisey and Zi-Ann Lum | Presented by Inuvialuit Regional Corporation | Send tips | Subscribe here | Follow Politico Canada Thanks for reading the Ottawa Playbook. I'm your host Nick Taylor-Vaisey, with Zi-Ann Lum and Maura Forrest. Today, we start with inner turmoil at a federal regulator. Plus, an inside look at the high-stakes work of a management consultant at the height of the pandemic.
|  | DRIVING THE DAY | | FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — The federal agency that prevents excessive drug prices is without a chair just as it works to put the finishing touches on guidelines for new pricing regulations. MÉLANIE BOURASSA FORCIER , the acting chair of the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board for more than a year, abruptly resigned Monday. Playbook asked Forcier for comment. She declined, mostly: "Due to my legal obligations, I cannot explain or even indicate the reasons for my departure." — It's a process: The PMPRB has lacked a permanent chair since MITCHELL LEVINE's term expired in November 2021. Three board members remain, but they can't simply elect a new chair and vice-chair. Both of those positions are Cabinet appointments. A job posting to fill the PMPRB vacancy claimed the government intended to launch a review of applications last February. Until Cabinet appoints a new chair, the agency is operating without a CEO. — Terrible timing: Forcier stepped down the same day the PMPRB closed a public consultation on draft guidelines meant to give effect to new pricing regulations fiercely opposed for years by pharmaceutical companies. The tl;dr of it is this: Back in 2017, former health minister JANE PHILPOTT embarked on a journey to reduce drug prices. The government eventually proposed new regulations meant to accomplish that goal. They would force companies to be more transparent about the prices they charge. They'd require them to prove expensive drugs were worth the cost. And the PMPRB would rejig a list of "comparator countries" that help determine excessive prices. The regulations were delayed repeatedly during the pandemic. A court struck down all but the third regulation earlier this year. Ottawa didn't appeal. Further reading: CBC reporter KELLY CROWE chronicled the epic climbdown in the face of intense industry opposition . — It's not over yet: Just this week, the Federal Court of Appeal upheld the regulator's right to redraw the list of countries used to measure global drug prices. But the pharma industry still has a bone to pick with the PMPRB. One of its loudest voices, Innovative Medicines Canada, pulled no punches in a lengthy rebuttal to the draft guidelines . IMC wants the PMPRB to "suspend and fundamentally reconsider" the draft guidelines and "establish a more robust consultation process in 2023." The lobby group also wants the government to "intervene to provide more leadership and oversight." — What's next: The regulator's goal was to issue final guidelines before the end of the year. If it has any plans to change course, it hasn't announced those publicly.
| | | | A message from Inuvialuit Regional Corporation: The Government of the Northwest Territories is fighting Indigenous rights at the Supreme Court. Inuvialuit people are taking action to protect our children and youth – but Premier Caroline Cochrane is seeking to stop us at the Supreme Court. Click here to learn more and help put an end to the centuries long policy of removing Indigenous children from their families, culture and communities. It is time to put Indigenous children back in Indigenous care. | | | | | TODAY'S HIGHLIGHTS | | — PM Trudeau will chair Cabinet at 10 a.m., attend question period at 2 p.m., and deliver remarks at the Special Chiefs Assembly of the Assembly of First Nations at 4 p.m. — Canada is conducting a diplomatic mission in Haiti from Dec. 7 to 9, led by BOB RAE, Canada’s ambassador to the United Nations. 9 a.m. Labor Minister SEAMUS O’REGAN will be in Washington, D.C. for the launch of the Multilateral Partnership for Organizing, Worker Empowerment, and Rights. 10:05 a.m. Former prime minister STEPHEN HARPER moderates a panel at the International Democrat Union forum in Washington: "China – Potential Partner or Intractable Opponent?" 10:15 a.m. Conservative leader PIERRE POILIEVRE delivers a speech via video at the AFN meeting. 10:30 a.m. NDP leader JAGMEET SINGH will speak at the AFN meeting. 11 a.m. Families Minister KARINA GOULD will hold a press conference to unveil new legislation on early learning and child care. 12:45 p.m. Bank of Canada Deputy Governor SHARON KOZICKI will deliver an economic progress report at the Institut de développement urbain du Québec in Montreal. 1 p.m. Justice Minister DAVID LAMETTI will speak at the AFN meeting. 2:45 p.m. At the IDU forum, Harper sits down in conversation with Jamaican PM ANDREW HOLNESS . 3 p.m. Indigenous Services Minister PATTY HAJDU will speak at the AFN meeting. 3:30 p.m. Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister MARC MILLER will speak at the AFN meeting. 4:30 p.m. AFN National Chief ROSEANNE ARCHIBALD will speak at the AFN meeting.
| | For your radar | | POWER PERISCOPE — Sitting in a motorcade with a Cabinet minister 3,800 miles away from Ottawa has its advantages. They get chatty. “Look around the Cabinet,” International Trade Minister MARY NG tells POLITICO in a profile interview . “I’m the only person that looks like me.” Ng’s star is rising but her profile isn't as high as some of her Cabinet peers. She’s charged with the same portfolio that launched the careers of her predecessors, Deputy Prime Minister CHRYSTIA FREELAND and Innovation Minister FRANÇOIS-PHILIPPE CHAMPAGNE. The reward for her monthly travel to Asia, work fending off U.S. protectionism under the presidencies of DONALD TRUMP and JOE BIDEN has been, well, more of it. “Perhaps it is an advantage that I just get to put my head down, do the work,” she says. — What’s changed: Her stock increased last month when Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU announced her new assignment: overseeing a C$750-million infrastructure development fund in the Indo-Pacific. The fund is a bet to strengthen relations by giving countries a Canadian alternative to China’s Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. It’s part of Trudeau’s C$2.3-billion roadmap for the region. And being the lone Chinese Canadian in Cabinet has given her a new challenge. When Chinese President XI JINPING scolded Trudeau on the summit sidelines there, blaming the Canadian leader for leaking details of a conversation to the media, it was left to Ng to assuage anxieties in diaspora communities worried about becoming scapegoats as a result of Canada’s tougher rhetoric on China. Read more about the rise of a well-connected insider now tasked with Canada’s trickiest overseas assignment .
| | PAPER TRAIL | | CALLING IN A RINGER — As the world scrambled for Covid vaccines in late 2020, a management consulting firm with a mailing address at a UPS store in an Orleans shopping plaza helped carve out Canada's biomanufacturing strategy. KSAR & Associates scored a C$179,387.50 contract in September 2020 with a tall task. The job was to assist Innovation, Science and Economic Development deputy minister SIMON KENNEDY in expanding the country's biomanufacturing capacity by "mobilizing key industry players" and "creating key partnerships" with a goal of attracting investment. When all was said and done, KSAR collected C$416,489.75 for its troubles. So what did the work accomplish? — Food for thought: A few months after the feds signed on the dotted line, then-Maclean's journalist SHANNON PROUDFOOT went deep on the influence of consultants on the business of government in Ottawa . At the time, the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada had published a report decrying the "shadow public service" created by billions in spending on "outsourcing." The House government operations committee is currently studying the issue , though most critics are focusing on IT and customer-service operations — not policy. Which brings us back to KSAR, contracted by ISED in "an extraordinarily high‑pressure environment characterized by tight deadlines and rapidly evolving circumstances." — Fingerprints: The consultant helped the department develop and implement a plan for the biomanufacturing sector's role in the pandemic, an ISED spokesperson tells Playbook. The department launched a permanent life sciences and biomanufacturing branch in 2021. An online directory lists dozens of current employees . KSAR advised on the organizational structure, work objective, and mandate of that corner of bureaucracy. When it came to attracting investment, the KSAR consultant "directly supported negotiations with several multinational pharmaceutical firms, including through the development of negotiating positions for Canada, which informed discussions and final agreements."
| | | | A message from Inuvialuit Regional Corporation:   | | | | | MEDIA ROOM | | — A Radio-Canada scoop revealed the Mounties awarded a 2021 contract to Sinclair Technologies, an Ontario-based company owned by Hytera Communications — which is itself owned in part by the Chinese government. Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU said Wednesday the government is "reviewing" the contract . — Chatelaine launches the 2022 Doris Anderson Awards , the magazine's "annual celebration of Canadians who demonstrate the same go-get-’em grit and ingenuity as our most iconic editor-in-chief." Top of the list: BIRGIT UWAILA UMAIGBA. — From the Toronto Star, not the Onion: "Ontario Liberals court Green leader MIKE SCHREINER for party leadership" — On SEAN SPEER's latest Hub Dialogues pod , MATT TAIBBI talks about "the decline of trust in the mainstream media, his own shift to independent journalism, and whether Pierre Poilievre can win an election campaign while eschewing the Parliamentary Press Gallery."
| | PROZONE | | If you’re a , don’t miss our latest policy newsletter from MAURA FORREST and ZI-ANN LUM: A new tone on rate hikes In other Pro headlines:
— Biden administration launches effort to cut emissions from federal buildings
— FDA grants priority review to Pfizer's RSV vaccine for older adults
— Liberal Sweden put to the test as trans-Atlantic trade war looms
— Dems plot their own government funding plan as talks stall
— D.C. attorney general sues Amazon over driver tips
| | PLAYBOOKERS | | Birthdays: HBD to MPs SHANNON STUBBS and YVAN BAKER, 43 and 45 today. Sen. STEPHEN GREENE and former Nunavut premier JOE SAVIKATAAQ are also celebrating. Former Toronto mayor JOHN SEWELL is 82. Birthdays, gatherings, social notices: Send them our way . Spotted: Ontario Premier DOUG FORD calling out Mississauga mayor BONNIE CROMBIE , who topped a recent Probit survey that polled Ontarians on their preferred Liberal leader. For the record, Crombie just won reelection at city hall. (h/t BRIAN LILLEY) — Riding redistribution commissions in Newfoundland and Labrador , Saskatchewan and Manitoba released revised maps. — The House finance committee's website is bursting with more than 700 pre-budget submissions . All the usual suspects are there: newspaper owners , homebuilders , big unions , business consultants , Elon Musk's car company , a popular Swedish furniture maker , and the charity that wants Canada's population to hit 100 million by 2100 . — The Royal Canadian Mint has released images of the new C$2 coin with a “bold new look,” meant to honor the late QUEEN ELIZABETH II. As Playbook previously surmised, the “bold new look” consists of a black outer ring “reminiscent of a mourning armband,” according to the Mint. — Rural Economic Development Minister GUDIE HUTCHINGS, catching up with former Cabinet colleague BERNADETTE JORDAN (who's now national director of philanthropy at Shelter Movers). Movers and shakers: The new director of media relations in PIERRE POILIEVRE's office is SEBASTIAN SKAMSKI. The Queen's Park veteran was once a summer intern in the issues management office of STEPHEN HARPER's PMO. Former Alberta energy minister MARG MCCUAIG-BOYD joins Counsel Public Affairs as a principal. The New Democrat is based in Edmonton. Cocktail circuit: Members of the Squamish Nation will hold a reception at the Shaw Centre at 5:30 p.m. to celebrate Sen̓áḵw, Canada’s largest Indigenous-led housing development. The event is hosted by KHELSILEM, elected chairperson with the Squamish Nation Council, and MINDY WIGHT, CEO of the Nch’ḵay̓ Development Corporation. Housing Minister AHMED HUSSEN is a special guest. Media mentions: The Globe and Mail's PATRICK BRETHOUR is off the tax policy beat . He'll join the Globe's editorial board. Farewells: NDP leader JAGMEET SINGH marked the passing of Phil Edmonston , the party's first Quebec MP. Edmonston won a 1990 by-election. Send Playbookers tips to ottawaplaybook@politico.com .
| | On the Hill | | → Find the latest on House committee meetings here . → Keep track of Senate committee meetings here . 10 a.m. The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions makes its semi-annual announcement on the Domestic Stability Buffer. 10:30 a.m. The Senate transport and communications committee will continue clause-by-clause consideration of Bill C-11, the Online Streaming Act. The meeting will break at 12:30 p.m. and continue at 3:30 p.m. 11 a.m. National Security and Intelligence Advisor JODY THOMAS is a witness in the first half of the House national defense committee as MPs continue their study of Arctic security. Auditor General KAREN HOGAN visits in the second half when the topic moves to her office’s audit of Arctic water surveillance. 11 a.m. The House public safety committee meets to continue taking Bill C-21 through clause-by-clause consideration. 11 a.m. The House health committee will hear from Liberal MP SHERRY ROMANADO about Bill C-224, which proposes a national framework for preventing and treating cancers linked to firefighting, and from Conservative MP MIKE LAKE about Bill S-203, which proposes a national autism framework. 11:30 a.m. The Senate legal and constitutional affairs committee meets to continue its study of self-induced intoxication in relation to the Criminal Code. 3:30 p.m. Northern Affairs Minister DAN VANDAL and Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister MARC MILLER will be witnesses at the House Indigenous and northern affairs committee to take questions about Supplementary Estimates (B). 3:30 p.m. Mastercard’s regulatory advocacy executive JESSE MCWATERS and Bitcoin angel investor BRAD MILLS will be at the House industry committee as it continues its study of blockchain technology. 3:30 p.m. The House operations committee will continue its study of the ArriveCAN application. 6:30 p.m. The special joint committee on the declaration of emergency meets to hear from LEAH WEST, Carleton University assistant professor of international affairs, and University of Toronto law professor KENT ROACH. Behind closed doors: The House status of women committee meets to review a draft of its study into resource development and violence against Indigenous women and girls; the Senate foreign affairs committee meets privately to discuss “future business”; the House procedure and House affairs committee has hybrid proceedings and operational security expansion of the parliamentary precinct on its schedule… More behind closed doors: The House natural resources committee continues its review of its report examining Canada’s energy transformation; MPs on the House justice committee meet to review a report summarizing their study of Bill C-28 ; the House veterans affairs committee has “committee business” on its private agenda as well as a review of its study of survivor pension benefits; and the Senate social affairs committee meets to study the federal framework for suicide prevention.
| | | | A message from Inuvialuit Regional Corporation: Indigenous children belong in Indigenous communities, but The Government of the Northwest Territories is fighting us at the Supreme Court. By appealing Bill C-92, Premier Cochrane is seeking to block Inuvialuit efforts to improve the welfare of our children and youth.
Instead of standing with Indigenous Peoples, the Government of the Northwest Territories is defending the same policies that led to residential schools and the Sixties Scoop.
Meaningful reconciliation requires more than words. The Inuvialuit People are calling on the Government of the Northwest Territories to drop their intervention against Bill C-92 at the Supreme Court, and put Inuvialuit children back in Inuvialuit care.
Click here to learn more about our plan to support Inuvialuit children in their own communities. With your help, we can put an end to the centuries long policy of removing Indigenous children from their families, culture and communities. | | | | | TRIVIA | | Wednesday’s answer: In Centre Block's Jean-Marc-Poliquin Lounge, next to the "Hot Room" where reporters toil, this quotation is engraved on a fireplace mantle: “But words are things, and a small drop of ink, falling, like dew upon a thought, produces that which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think.” Props to BOB GORDON, DOUG RICE, NANCI WAUGH, JOHN ECKER, LAURA PAYTON, ROBERT MCDOUGALL, ALYSON FAIR, and BRAM ABRAMSON. As several readers noted, the quotation is a line penned by LORD BYRON. Today’s question: Prime Minister BRIAN MULRONEY's government established the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board. Who was the health minister at the time? Send your answer to ottawaplaybook@politico.com Want to grab the attention of movers and shakers on Parliament Hill? Want your brand in front of a key audience of Ottawa influencers? Playbook can help. Contact Jesse Shapiro to find out how: jshapiro@politico.com Playbook wouldn’t happen: Without Luiza Ch. Savage, Mike Zapler and 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 | | | | |  |
