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A daily look inside Canadian politics and power. | | | | |  | | By Maura Forrest |
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Welcome to Ottawa Playbook. I’m your host, Maura Forrest. Today, we offer you a short quiz, because it’s a Friday in January and why not? Also, we bring you the key differences between the job of speaker in Canada and the United States. And the Ontario Liberals do a post-mortem. |  | DRIVING THE DAY | |
WHO SAID IT — The cost of living is set to dominate political discourse in 2023, and the Conservatives and NDP are both hoping to score points by painting the Liberal government as out of touch regarding the plight of everyday Canadians.
Conservative Leader PIERRE POILIEVRE and NDP Leader JAGMEET SINGH have both made it clear they’re going after working-class voters who feel they can’t get ahead. And during the past several months, we couldn’t help but notice that their talking points seem to, well, overlap. So today, because there’s nothing going on and what else were we going to write about, we present to you this brief quiz. We challenge you to guess whether each of the following quotes was uttered by Poilievre or Singh. Feel free to send us your guesses at ottawaplaybook@politico.com. We’ll list the answers in Monday’s Playbook.
- “It is our job… to turn that hurt into hope, to inspire people that a real improvement in their lives is possible.”
- “So many working families across the country are angry because they feel like they are doing everything right but keep falling further behind.”
- “What [inflation] translates to for real people is that it’s getting harder and harder to afford the everyday costs of life. Groceries, putting gas in the car — everything is getting more expensive and families are really hurting.”
- “I think we have to ask ourselves: ‘Why are people so angry?’ … And the answer is that they’re hurting.”
- “People are doing everything right, but they just can’t keep up with rising costs – and their mortgage and credit payments are about to get even more expensive.”
- “Workers have every right to demand raises for soaring food, homes & fuel prices.”
- “Monthly payments on mega mortgages are rising, even as house prices are falling, so people cannot even sell their homes to pay off their debts.”
- “My parents always taught me that in Canada, it doesn't matter who you know, it matters what you do. If you work hard you can achieve your dreams. That is the hope I want for… all Canadian families.”
- “Our focus is on fighting for people.”
- “I said to the kids, ‘You’re older now. You don’t watch Disney anymore. Let’s cut that Disney+ subscription. So, we cut it. It’s only C$13.99 a month that we’re saving, but every little bit helps.”
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Nah.
But the PMO has announced that Japanese Prime Minister KISHIDA FUMIO will visit Ottawa next Thursday, part of a weeklong trip that will include stops in Paris, Rome, London and Washington, D.C. — On the agenda for discussions during the Ottawa visit: Canada’s recent Indo-Pacific strategy and Japan’s new national security strategy. | | For your radar | | | 
Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) during the third day of the House speakership election. | Francis Chung/POLITICO | ORDER IN THE HOUSE — The ongoing stalemate in Washington over the election of the speaker of the House of Representatives has, inevitably, yielded much self-congratulatory reflection north of the border. Predictable as that may be, there’s a fair argument to be made that the jobs of speaker in Canada and the U.S. are alike in name only. Here are a few of the key differences: — Power: The U.S. speaker is the leader of the House of Representatives and of the majority party. The speaker is also second in the presidential line of succession, after the vice president. In Canada, the House speaker is … an MP who tells other MPs to behave. — Elections: Canadian speakers are elected via secret ballot, unlike the very public display unfolding in the U.S. The election of the speaker also doesn’t fall strictly along party lines. For example, former Speaker PETER MILLIKEN, a Liberal MP, was re-elected to the role even after the Conservatives took power in 2006. — Desire for the job: GOP Leader KEVIN MCCARTHY really wants to be speaker. But in Canada, newly elected speakers still make a show of resisting the gig, letting party leaders drag them to the speaker’s chair. — Digs: U.S. speakers may have real power, but the speaker of the House of Commons gets to live at “The Farm” in the Gatineau Hills, the one-time country retreat of former prime minister WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE KING that still showcases many of his, ahem, quirkier qualities, including his obsession with mirrors. So there’s that. — Booze: Canada’s speakers release an official scotch. U.S. speakers do not. Enough said. (But for more on that, here’s the National Post’s ADRIAN HUMPHREYS.) POST-MORTEM — The Ontario Liberals have released a review of their disappointing 2022 election campaign, and in a word, it’s candid. — A quick reminder: The Liberals won just eight seats in the June 2 election, under then-leader STEVEN DEL DUCA, compared to the NDP’s 31 and the Progressive Conservatives’ landslide 83 seats. Here are a few quotes that stood out from the 13-page debrief, based on interviews and survey responses from party members, staff, volunteers and candidates.
- “At the time of the 2022 election, voter apathy was at an all-time high. Civic duty is no longer enough to get people to the polls. Partisan politics isn’t what it used to be.”
- “More and more Ontarians are becoming issue-based voters. Simplistic solutions to real problems are gaining traction and that has been demonstrated in the waves of populist movements we have seen around the globe.”
- “We learned that a strong majority of participants felt our Leader was unpopular and that the OLP campaign failed to address this issue.”
- “We heard the Leader was often insulated from the ground realities of the election campaign, including in his own riding.”
- “Many members and candidates felt we were trying to be too much of everything – and through that, we lost our way.”
- “The majority of participants we heard from in rural areas felt the platform completely disregarded non-GTA ridings."
You can read the full report here. And for more context, here’s the Toronto Star’s ROBERT BENZIE and ROB FERGUSON. | | WHO'S UP, WHO'S DOWN | |
Who’s up: Nobody is doing anything, and therefore nobody is up. That is all.
Who’s down: Transport Minister OMAR ALGHABRA, who topped off a week of Sunwing-related headlines by tweeting a screenshot of a Thursday morning call with the airline, only to delete the screenshot hours later. For posterity, the folks on the call were Sunwing’s ANDREW DAWSON, MELANIE FILIPP and SAM TAYLOR, along with Summa Strategies’ KATE HARRISON, registered as a lobbyist for the airline. On Thursday, Alghabra told Global News the government plans to strengthen protections for air passengers after the Sunwing debacle. The House of Commons transport committee will meet Monday afternoon to launch a study of the holiday travel nightmare. | | MEDIA ROOM | | — Top of POLITICO: Biden to mark Jan. 6 anniversary by warning the Big Lie remains. — The Toronto Star’s editorial board has published an indictment of the government’s “11th-hour amendment” to its gun-control bill, which the paper claims has “unnecessarily reignited the gun debate in this country.” — For QP Briefing, CHARLIE PINKERTON got hold of a list of nearly 150 meetings Ontario Premier DOUG FORD held with political and private-sector leaders following his re-election last year. — The CBC’s LAUREN PELLEY has the latest on the presence of Omicron subvariant XBB.1.5 in Canada. — A group loosely linked to the “Freedom Convoy” movement is planning to appeal its eviction from St. Brigid’s church in Ottawa, the Ottawa Citizen’s JACQUIE MILLER reports. — STEPHEN MAHER was on The Big Story pod to talk about the year ahead in Canadian politics. They discuss Maher’s recent feature in The Walrus with pollster FRANK GRAVES. | | PROZONE | |
For POLITICO Pro s, here’s our latest policy newsletter from ZI-ANN LUM: It’s a race to shame airlines.
And here’s POLITICO’s energy team with a look at the Biden administration’s fall 2022 regulatory agenda. In other news for Pro readers: — Japan's trade chief calls for new global trade rules. — FAA names Boeing safety panel spurred by 737 MAX plane crashes. — California on alert for floods and mudslides as powerful storms hit state. — The little-known weapon knocking down Iranian drones over Kyiv. — Buttigieg will not run for Stabenow's Senate seat in 2024. | | PLAYBOOKERS | |
Birthdays: HBD to retired Sen. NANCY RUTH, former NDP MP PETER STOFFER, broadcaster TRACY MOORE and former B.C. MLA BARRY PENNER.
Celebrating Saturday: Sen. RAYMONDE GAGNÉ, former Quebec MNA LISE THÉRIAULT and former MP PETER BRAID. Celebrating Sunday: Journo and podcaster WENDY MESLEY; Waterloo Regional Chair and former MP KAREN REDMAN is 70. Send birthdays to ottawaplaybook@politico.com. Spotted: CHRISTY AGOR, chargé d’affaires at the U.S. embassy in Prague, wearing Team Canada colors alongside Canada’s ambassador to the Czech Republic, AYESHA REKHI, following Canada’s victory over the U.S. at the World Juniors semifinal … Nova Scotia Premier TIM HOUSTON and New Brunswick Premier BLAINE HIGGS, cheering on Team Canada ahead of last night’s gold-medal game against Czechia. LORRAINE ANDERSON, Canada’s high commissioner to Cameroon, meeting with African Development Bank executive director EDMOND WEGA … MARILYN GLADU making a New World Order joke … Ontario Economic Development Minister VIC FEDELI joining FLAVIO VOLPE to reveal Project Arrow at CES in Las Vegas. Service Canada looking to procure Insights Discovery personality tests for Atlantic region employees … The RCMP, looking for a band leader to help cadets play instruments “and not necessarily making musicians” out of them. Liberal MP MICHAEL COTEAU, conducting media interviews about the price of chicken. OC Transpo, doing great. Media mentions: CTV Ottawa’s MEGAN SHAW is joining Syntax Strategic later this month … TIM LAM is Canada’s National Observer’s new audience and subscriptions director. | | On the Hill | |
— Find the latest House committee meetings here.
— Keep track of Senate committees here. The House of Commons resumes Jan. 30; the Senate returns Jan. 31. | | TRIVIA | |
Thursday’s answer: PETER MILLIKEN is the longest serving Speaker of the House of Commons, holding office for 3,776 days — that’s 10 years and four months.
Props to KEVIN DEN HEIJER, ALISON UNCLES, ADRIAN LEE, ANNE-MARIE STACEY, DAVID GRANOVSKY, BARB WRIGHT, ALLAN FABRYKANT, LAURA JARVIS, GOZDE KAZAZOGLU, PATRICK DION, SAM MACPHAIL, ROBERT MCDOUGALL, KEVIN COLBOURNE, JENN KEAY, BRAM ABRAMSON, JOHN DILLON, PHIL GAUDREAU, DOUG RICE, AMY BOUGHNER and MURRAY WILSON. Today’s question: Name the longest-serving female MP in Canadian history. 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
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