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A daily look inside Canadian politics and power. | | | | |  | | By Zi-Ann Lum and Nick Taylor-Vaisey | Send tips | Subscribe here | Follow Politico Canada Welcome to Ottawa Playbook. We're your hosts, Nick Taylor-Vaisey and Zi-Ann Lum. Serenity now: we’re closing out the year with a Seinfeld-inspired edition of Playbook. First though, sincere thanks for reading this newsletter. Our team is nothing without each reader who makes Ottawa Playbook part of their sunrise routine — insiders and outsiders, PMO and OLO, the lobbyists and the lobbied. We read every email. We'll see you in 2023.
|  | DRIVING THE DAY | | HAPPY FESTIVUS! — This morning we’re borrowing a tradition from Seinfeld. On this day each year, the curmudgeon FRANK COSTANZA tormented his boy, GEORGE , with a family celebration that featured an austere pole (not a tree; tinsel is distracting), a spirited airing of grievances, and feats of strength. (Here's a primer.) Playbook imagines how power players in the nation's capital would bellow at the rest of the Hill about all the ways they've been disappointed over the past year. — Justin Trudeau: "I'M NOT STEPPING DOWN YET. I'LL TELL YOU WHEN I'M STEPPING DOWN. WHEN I KNOW, YOU'LL KNOW. TRUST ME. HONESTLY." — Pierre Poilievre: "I didn't even WANT that byelection in Mississauga. We spent zero cents on Facebook advertising. Canada is so broken that I could've won with a SINGLE VISIT. But the media would've made excuses for Trudeau. I HEARD ABOUT YOUR SECRET 'GALLERY' DINNER AT THE HISTORY MUSEUM." — Jagmeet Singh: "You keep writing that I have no leverage with the Liberals! Just because I can't afford to fight an election! I got your kids clean teeth. CLEAN TEETH!" — Chrystia Freeland: "I could be frontrunner for PM. I could go work for NATO. I'm foreign minister whenever I want. I even stuck around as a WEF trustee to keep my options open. I can do anything I want. STOP SAYING I DON'T 'CONNECT' WITH 'PEOPLE'!" — François-Philippe Champagne: "Have you ever seen anybody work as many rooms as me? Ask any CEO who got a check from me this year. Frankie Bubbles means business!" — Kamal Khera: "I ALSO SIT AT THE CABINET TABLE!!" — Mélanie Joly: "I'm the foreign minister. People are surprised to hear that. But TONY BLINKEN told me so IN FRENCH. And he's a big deal, Chrystia. Do I have to go to the Brookings Institution to prove this?!" — Angry public servant: "You want me to work in an office HOW MANY DAYS A WEEK? I'll jump on a bus for 60 minutes each way when PCO Clerk JANICE CHARETTE gives up her chauffeur and gambles on the O-Train!" — Random PMO staffer/"Senior government official"/"A source with direct knowledge who was not authorized to speak publicly": “You, reporter. I don’t care if my copied and pasted message points are unrelated, unprintable gobbledygook. Off record, all consultations you didn’t ask about are ongoing.” Did someone forward Ottawa Playbook your way? Click here to sign up for your own edition. It’s free!
| | HALLWAY CONVERSATION | | FESTIVUS POLL — Before they activated their out-of-office messages for the holidays, we asked bureau chiefs on the Hill what story from this year deserves a closer look in 2023. HEATHER SCOFFIELD, Toronto Star Ottawa bureau chief: We need to know more about who our friends are. If 2022 was the year when “friend-shoring” was the lens through which Canada will do diplomacy and business, then 2023 has to be the year when media explore who’s in, who’s out, what subsidies or promises they’ve received, how they’ll operate, and how Canadians will benefit. JOANNA SMITH, Canadian Press Ottawa bureau chief: I hesitated to suggest this at first, out of a traditional reluctance to avoid journalists becoming the story. But I feel strongly that the many problems with Canada’s access-to-information regime deserve greater attention. CP Ottawa bureau reporter JIM BRONSKILL, himself a skilled and experienced user of the system, has been following this issue closely. I doubt most Canadians, and even many journalists, understand how bad things have been allowed to get, and what we are missing out on as a result. The public inquiry into the Emergencies Act showed us the power of being able to access unvarnished versions of the truth through documents. Building such transparency into the routine workings of the federal government could help better inform the Canadian electorate — and perhaps restore some trust in institutions. MERCEDES STEPHENSON, Global News Ottawa bureau chief: Canada’s military capabilities. The Canadian Armed Forces are struggling with personnel, aging equipment and ongoing culture issues that pose questions about Canada’s ability to engage in a world where security is increasingly a priority and the shortcomings and defense spending are starting to generate frustration and concern among allies. China because foreign interference and intimidation creates concerns not only for our security but our democracy, and China has become increasingly assertive. MAiD because it is quite literally life and death for people, but there is a lot of concern about appropriate safeguards, the extension to people suffering due to mental health and the risk for people who are economically or socially vulnerable and not having their needs met through the healthcare system or social supports.
| | For your radar | | LAST-MINUTE GIFTS — Are you in a mad dash to find that special something for that special someone, but running out of time? Playbook has your back, courtesy of the federal government's auction website. GCAuction is your source for gently used goods that one way or another fell into federal hands. It's a win-win: You get a great deal, Ottawa beefs up its coffers! Here are the hottest items still open for bidding on Christmas Eve Eve. — The truck: This 2010 Dodge Ram 1500 ST Quad Cab 4WD has run up a paltry 96,025 km in more than a decade. Sure, the front bumper is rusted and dented, the rear bumper is damaged, every door has scuffs and scratches, the windshield is chipped, and the key needs a little jostling to fit in the ignition. But it could be in your loved one's driveway for just north of C$9,000 — for now. — The luxury car: Perhaps your giftee's tastes are more refined? This 2015 Mercedes-Benz C-Class C250 might fit the bill. It's fully loaded with all the basics, and the odometer sits at a mere 22,559 km. This German-made masterpiece even comes with a little trivia, having been "used for noise emissions and brake testing purposes." Last we checked, the leading bid topped C$20,000. — The piano: Got a musician in your clan who can tickle the ivory? This Heintzman sitting in the custody of a Saskatchewan correctional institute is a steal (so far) at C$50. Bids are open until Dec. 28. Consider this a Boxing Week blowout deal. — The treadmill: This Matrix Fitness model goes for thousands brand new. It can be yours for only hundreds. Bidding ends Dec. 29, so you'll be fulfilling your perennial fitness-related new year's resolution before you're back to work in January. — Questions? Feel free to email the most government address imaginable: tpsgc.dgsircnepgcsurplus-isbncrgcsurpluswh.pwgsc@tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca. Yes, that's real.
| | PAPER TRAIL | | FROM THE TENDERS — The Public Health Agency of Canada is hiring a research team to study "Post COVID-19 Condition" — jargon for long Covid. The contract follows up on a Budget 2022 commitment of C$20 million over five years to the Canadian Institutes of Health Research to study the long-term effects of Covid. Bidding is open for a month. The one-year contract starts March 1. — Vaccine analysis: PHAC plans to contract out a chunk of social media monitoring to the PULSAR Platform run by a U.K.-based "social listening and audience intelligence" firm. One of PULSAR's jobs: "Explore existing hypotheses to understand the key factors and signals that indicate vaccine confidence and hesitancy, and what drives the conversation." Another: "Identify sub-communities that align with the Public Health Agency of Canada’s communities of interest, for example, Indigenous peoples or millennial males." Wait, the goal is to make sense of Covid discourse on social media? Godspeed, PULSAR. — The cost: PHAC says the total estimated value of the PULSAR contract "should not exceed C$339,000."
| | WHO'S UP, WHO'S DOWN | | Who’s up: People who make EV charging infrastructure. Who’s down: Freedom Convoy lawyer BRENDAN MILLER, slapped with a C$2-million lawsuit for defamation.
| | MEDIA ROOM | | — Top of POLITICO this morning: Extremists at the vanguard of a siege: The Jan. 6 panel's last word. — Climate change reporter KATE ALLEN is on the This Matters pod to answer this question: Will COP15 be a “Montreal moment” in the fight to save the planet’s biodiversity? — RUPA BANERJEE, Canada Research Chair in economic inclusion, employment and entrepreneurship of Canada’s immigrants, shares thoughts with Maclean’s on the year ahead: More than 465,000 people will move to Canada in 2023. We aren’t ready. — The Globe’s JOE CASTALDO writes on the trials and frustrations of Competition Bureau Commissioner MATTHEW BOSWELL. — From HOWARD ANGLIN at the Hub: The top 10 non-Christmassy Christmas movies — Finally, Walrus executive director JENNIFER HOLLETT pointed us to this NORA LORETO feature: The surprising history of Christmas carols.
| | PROZONE | | For POLITICO Pro s, here’s our latest policy newsletter from ZI-ANN LUM: Happy new regs In other news for Pro readers: — New York will launch recreational weed sales on Dec. 29.
— Toomey blasts USTR 'green steel club' plan as trade power abuse.
— Five ways lawmakers smacked down Biden’s Pentagon plans.
— Data brokers raise privacy concerns — but get millions from the federal government.
— Covid-19 and overdose deaths drive U.S. life expectancy to a 25-year low.
| | PLAYBOOKERS | | Birthdays: HBD today to historian MARGARET MACMILLAN and Globe columnist ANDREW COYNE. Also celebrating today: GEILLS TURNER and former NDP MP RATHIKA SITSABAIESAN. Some celebrations before we’re next in your inbox: Dec. 24: BBC correspondent LYSE DOUCET, former premiers LORNE CALVERT and DANIEL JOHNSON JR., former lieutenant governor JAMES BARTLEMAN. Dec. 25: Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU and Conservative MP BLAINE CALKINS. Dec. 26: Retired Canadian Forces lieutenant-general ANDREW LESLIE and Liberal MP EMMANUEL DUBOURG. Dec. 29: Toronto MP JULIE DZEROWICZ. Dec. 30: Senators DENNIS PATTERSON and JOSÉE VERNER. Dec. 30: Senator PIERRETTE RINGUETTE. Jan. 2: NDP Leader JAGMEET SINGH. Send birthdays to ottawaplaybook@politico.com. Spotted: Housing Minister AHMED HUSSEN's deputy chief of staff and director of policy, TIA TARIQ, recusing herself … BEN HARPER, son of STEPHEN, describing mainstream media's purpose in a word: activism. Harper the younger scored an RT from KEN BOESSENKOOL. Proof Strategies pairs 2022's political hits and misses with the year's best music. Globe photojournalist MELISSA TAIT snapping photos of One Yonge Street the moment workers were removing “Toronto Star” letters from the building. Movers and shakers: Bennett Jones partner MICHAEL SMITH, former counsel to GM Canada, is lobbying for Volkswagen. Industry Minister FRANÇOIS-PHILIPPE CHAMPAGNE is all but certain the German automaker will set up shop in Canada. The company is interested in the Strategic Innovation Fund and "investigation of other potential financial incentives."
| | On the Hill | | — Find the latest House committee meetings here. — Keep track of Senate committees here. It’s quiet inside the House and Senate. The House of Commons resumes Jan. 30 and the Senate returns Jan. 31.
| | TRIVIA | | A tip of the hat at the end of this newsletter and the close of 2022 to all of you who play Ottawa Playbook trivia. Thanks for filling our inbox — and for keeping us honest! Thursday’s answer: During this week in 1967, then-justice minister PIERRE TRUDEAU said, “We take the position that there is no place for the state in the bedrooms of the nation.” He was introducing the omnibus Bill C-150, which sought to modernize the Criminal Code. WYATT JAMES SCHIERMAN wrote about it here. And reader BRAM ABRAMSON pointed us to this recent book on the legislation. Props to AMY BOUGHNER, NANCI WAUGH, SHEILA GERVAIS, ROBERT MCDOUGALL, JOANNE PLATER, BOB GORDON, KEVIN COLBOURNE, MORGAN LARHANT, SAM MACPHAIL, MARY JANE ALLAN, LAURA PAYTON, RYAN HAMILTON and JOHN DILLON. A few quiz masters from Wednesday we skipped over: WAYNE EASTER, JENN KEAY, ROBERT MCDOUGALL, ANDREW SZENDE, BILL PRISTANSKI, MARY JANE ALLAN, JOHN ECKER, PATRICK DION, JOSEPH CHAMOUN and NANCI WAUGH. Friday question: The 52nd season of the Rideau Canal Skateway got underway Jan. 14, 2022, with 41 days of skating. In the history of the NCC Skateway, tell us — what was the earliest opening day? Send your answer to ottawaplaybook@politico.com Playbook wouldn’t happen: Without Luiza Ch. Savage and Sue Allan. 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 | | | | 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 | | | | |  |
