MONEY, PLEASE — Toronto's deep-pocketed Tories are planning a fundraiser at an opulent Forest Hill mansion next Tuesday. The evening's co-hosts are corporate heavyweights DAVID CYNAMON and MICHAEL LIEBROCK.
Cynamon is co-founder and executive chair of K2 Pure Solutions (and a former owner of the Toronto Argonauts). Liebrock is managing director of investments and asset management at the Stronach Group, which is chaired by BELINDA STRONACH. Elections Canada records reveal Cynamon to have mixed party allegiance over the years. He has donated thousands to the Liberal Party, including JUSTIN TRUDEAU's leadership campaign. But Cynamon has given more to Conservatives, and also dug deep for ERIN O'TOOLE's 2017 leadership bid. (Fun fact: Cynamon donated to the Greens in 2020.) Liebrock most recently chipped in C$500 to the 2021 campaign of Tory MP ADAM CHAMBERS. He's also given to O'Toole, MAXIME BERNIER, KEVIN O'LEARY and KELLIE LEITCH. Liebrock has never given a red cent to the Liberals. — Cover charge: The Tory event posting doesn't include a minimum donation, but the fundraiser is registered with Elections Canada — which means attendees will need to pony up at least C$200 to rub shoulders with whomever is in the room. The fun starts at 8 p.m. BUDGET WISHLIST — Climate change and inflation are making Northwest Territories Premier CAROLINE COCHRANE’s requests for basic infrastructure funding in Canada’s North more dire. Cochrane is meeting with Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU in Ottawa today to relay her requests IRL ahead of the federal budget next year. Warming temperatures have depleted permafrost in the territory, which is shrinking the window to build ice roads to link communities not connected by all-season roads. “You have to get the supplies you need, for the government needs, for building houses … the fuel for the community, the food for those communities, the personal shopping that people have to expend,” she told Playbook. Cochrane said one community she recently heard from said its winter ice road that usually lasts one month has been halved to two weeks. — Inflation and industry: The Northwest Territories contains 23 of the 31 critical minerals deemed “essential” to Canada’s economic security and green transition. What the territory doesn’t have is basic infrastructure such as roads — a drawback for project investors. — Beyond groceries and gas: Cochrane said construction for those roads used to be priced at C$1 million per kilometer. Now it's up to C$3-4 million per kilometer. CEMENTING THEIR VISION — The Liberals have tabled new child care legislation to enshrine the principles of a Canada-wide early learning and child care system into federal law. What does that mean, exactly? “It makes it harder for any future government to cancel or cut child care,” Families Minister KARINA GOULD told reporters Thursday, rather bluntly. If the Conservatives want to cancel Ottawa’s agreements with the provinces and territories to reach C$10-a-day child care by 2026, they’ll have to pass legislation to do it. “Conservatives wouldn’t be able to hide this,” Gould said. “They would have to very publicly tell Canadians that they do not believe in affordable childcare.” — By way of comparison: She pointed to the former Conservative government’s decision to scrap PAUL MARTIN’s child care deals with the provinces — which were not accompanied by legislation — shortly after they took power in 2006. — How are those agreements coming along? Gould said all provinces but one are on track to hit their commitments to cut child care fees by 50 percent by the end of 2022. The one exception is Manitoba, which is supposed to get there early next year. Manitoba has also promised to hit C$10 a day by March 2023, well ahead of the 2026 deadline. — When will you be paying C$10 a day? That depends a lot on where you live. Quebecers currently pay less than that under that province’s subsidized daycare program. The Yukon also has a universal $10-a-day child care program in place already. Newfoundland has promised to hit the $10 mark by the end of next year, with Nunavut and P.E.I. following in 2024. Ontario is aiming for September 2025. Everyone else is looking at March 2026. | 
