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A daily look inside Canadian politics and power. | | | | |  | | By Maura Forrest | Send tips | Subscribe here | Email Nick | Follow Politico Canada Thanks for reading the Ottawa Playbook. I'm your host, Maura Forrest, with Zi-Ann Lum and Nick Taylor-Vaisey. Today, we bring you up to date on Bill S-5, which we promise isn’t THAT boring. A new report zeroes in on companies that took the emergency wage subsidy during the pandemic and paid out billions in dividends. And have you heard the Liberals are united? |  | DRIVING THE DAY | | | 
On Parliament Hill, a long and winding road. | Sean Kilpatrick / The Canadian Press |
THE END IS (MAYBE) IN SIGHT — The biggest bill you’ve never heard of is approaching the finish line.
The House of Commons environment committee is convening today for its umpteenth meeting to review Bill S-5, which would overhaul the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) for the first time in more than two decades. The committee is finally (maybe, possibly) entering the home stretch, meaning the bill could soon be sent back to the House of Commons a final time. It’s already been passed by the Senate. — But that doesn’t mean things couldn’t still get spicy. “We are hoping that what was kind of a sleepier bill does start to get a little bit more of a shot in the arm,” Environmental Defence’s CASSIE BARKER tells Playbook. In the smallest of nutshells, Bill S-5 would for the first time give Canadians a legal right to a healthy environment. It would also require the government to consider the cumulative effects of toxic substances on human health and the environment. The bill would also create a publicly available Watch List of hazardous substances. — But it’s a massive, technical bill. The environment committee has already spent nine hours over five meetings going through all the clauses, and it’s not done yet. Barker said some of the most interesting debate — at least from her perspective — is still to come. Several environmental and health groups are hoping the committee will pass amendments to the bill, to be tabled by the NDP and the Bloc Québécois, that would require labeling of harmful chemicals on products, even those that haven’t been deemed toxic under the act. “It seems like a bit of a no-brainer,” Barker said. The groups also want to see strict timelines for banning or restricting substances once they’re deemed toxic. And they want to include air quality standards in the right to a healthy environment. NDP environment critic LAUREL COLLINS tells Playbook she’s also hoping to improve transparency around confidential business information regarding health and environmental risks. “Right now a lot of that information is deemed confidential without any due process,” she said. — The background: Environmental groups already celebrated some wins when the legislation was amended by senators last spring. One change, unsuccessfully opposed by industry groups, altered the original language of the bill, which stated that Canadians’ right to a healthy environment “may be balanced with relevant factors, including social, economic, health and scientific factors.” The amended bill simply states that Canadians have a right to a healthy environment “subject to any reasonable limits.” In a brief presented to the House of Commons committee, Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters argued that the “ambiguous language” in the amended bill has “the potential to lead to new litigation avenues that would fundamentally change how CEPA is enforced.” — The deeper background: The CEPA bill has taken a long and winding road to get this close to Royal Assent. The environment committee recommended modernizing the law back in 2017. The Liberal government promised to take action after the 2019 election, but a bill tabled in 2021 died on the order paper. The legislation was reintroduced in the Senate last year. Collins said the bill is a step in the right direction, but claimed the legislation lacks teeth because it doesn’t deal with enforcement. “You can put the right to a healthy environment in the legislation… but without enforcement, how do you uphold that?” she said. | | TODAY'S HIGHLIGHTS | |
— Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU is in “private meetings.”
— Defense Minister ANITA ANAND and Innovation Minister FRANÇOIS-PHILIPPE CHAMPAGNE are in Washington, D.C. today and tomorrow “to advance the Canada-U.S. economic and national security partnership,” per a news release. — Governor General MARY SIMON is in Finland. 10 a.m. International Trade Minister MARY NG will be at Carleton University in Ottawa to host a roundtable with Black Entrepreneurship Program partners. 11 a.m. Conservative MPs FRANK CAPUTO, ROB MOORE, RAQUEL DANCHO and PIERRE PAUL-HUS hold a press conference in West Block. 12 p.m. (9 a.m. PST) Fisheries Minister JOYCE MURRAY and Environment Minister STEVEN GUILBEAULT will deliver opening remarks at the IMPAC5 Leadership Forum in Vancouver. Natural Resources Minister JONATHAN WILKINSON will also attend. 3 p.m. Deputy Prime Minister CHRYSTIA FREELAND will be in Toronto to hold an economic roundtable with business and labor leaders as part of pre-budget consultations. 3:30 p.m. Auditor General KAREN HOGAN and Correctional Service of Canada Commissioner ANNE KELLY will appear at the House public accounts committee to take questions about one of the watchdog’s audits. 4 p.m. International Development Minister HARJIT SAJJAN will speak at Cooperation Canada’s Innovation and Impact awards ceremony. 7 p.m. NDP Leader JAGMEET SINGH will be in Quebec City to attend the launch of the African-Québécois Arts Festival. | | For your radar | |
THUMPING FOR TRANSPARENCY — Canadians for Tax Fairness wants big companies that took the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS), and dodged billions in taxes, to go public with how much money they received in pandemic supports.
The non-profit advocacy organization has a new report out today, which zeroes in on 37 companies that received the CEWS and have spent a combined C$81 billion on dividends, C$41.1 billion on share buybacks and C$51.1 billion on company acquisitions during the pandemic. “The 37 companies that received CEWS funding distributed almost six times as much money to wealthy corporate owners as they paid into public accounts,” the report states. — Naming names: Brookfield Asset Management, Imperial Oil, Suncor Energy, TELUS and Thomson Reuters are among the companies scrutinized by the report. The report’s findings will likely give the NDP’s clarion call to introduce a windfall profit tax some extra oomph — and may put more pressure on the Liberals to go further than their pitch to bring in a two percent corporate tax on share buybacks. KATRINA MILLER, executive director of Canadians for Tax Fairness, said 80 percent of the companies reviewed in the report have at least one subsidiary based in a tax haven. “The U.S just put in a minimum book profits tax to limit corporate tax avoidance and Canada needs to do the same,” she said. HORSE RACE — Pollara Insights published its latest catnip for political junkies. The pollster's biggest takeaway from a survey hot off the presses? "Nothing is happening." Ugh. So Boring. We know some of you scoff at horse race coverage. True, there is no federal election today. This survey is a snapshot. Whatever. We're nerds and we know many of you are, too. Yes, even you. — Topline numbers: The Liberals and Conservatives are tied, if you believe the 3,016 decided voters who responded to Pollara's call for an opinion between Jan. 23 and Feb. 6. They're knotted at 32 percent apiece. The NDP is hanging in at 20 percent, and the Bloc Québécois manages 37 percent in Quebec. Pollara's four-month tracking graph shows nearly a straight line for each major party — i.e. very little movement up or down. No momentum. Static. Booooring. — Regional results: These are smaller samples with higher margins of error. But the two leading parties are also tied in Ontario, 35-35. The Tories are ahead in Alberta, but stuck just below 50 percent. Liberals enjoy similar margins in Atlantic Canada. — The seat projections: We are not PHILIPPE J. FOURNIER, whose polling analysis you crave every time you hear the name Abacus or Nanos or Léger. But we did punch Pollara's latest findings into KYLE HUTTON's handy do-it-yourself ElectoMatic riding results projector. Hutton's Rube Goldberg machine spat out these results: 147 Liberal, 117 Conservative, 33 NDP, 2 Green. JAGMEET SINGH would lose his seat. RUTH ELLEN BROSSEAU would regain hers in rural Quebec. Liberals would win six seats in Alberta. Conservatives would gain precisely one seat in the Greater Toronto Area. — A broader view: 338Canada's poll aggregation gives the Tories a four-point national edge, which projects a slim Conservative minority. Like, slim. 144-140 slim. Check it out. | | On the Hill | |
COME TOGETHER — “United” was the word of the day following a meeting of the Quebec Liberal caucus on Wednesday morning. Quebec lieutenant PABLO RODRIGUEZ used the word nine times in a scrum following the meeting, so you can be sure it’s true.
It was the latest chapter in an embarrassingly public spat between Montreal-area MPs and the rest of the caucus over Bill C-13. The legislation would amend the Official Languages Act to, among other things, require federally regulated businesses in francophone regions like Quebec to offer services in French. Last week, Montreal MPs ANTHONY HOUSEFATHER and MARC GARNEAU, who serve large English-speaking communities, tried unsuccessfully during a committee meeting to remove language from their own government’s bill that referred to Quebec’s Charter of the French Language, recently updated by the province’s controversial Bill 96. Their bid was defeated by opposition MPs. — But now, supposedly, everyone is united. Apparently even Garneau has said it. We will note that Housefather, who’s in Washington, D.C. this week, did not use the word “united” to describe how he’s feeling. “My views on the bill and amendments have been presented at committee and in interviews and are very clear,” he said in a brief message to Playbook. “I do not speak for others.” — Be that as it may, the powers that be insisted Wednesday that the bill is going to pass. “We have put forward a proposal with C-13 which protects linguistic minorities across the country, with particular emphasis on the protection of French, and we know that this is the right balance,” Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU told reporters. “We will continue to move forward with this project.” — Will there be consequences for the MPs who broke ranks? Questions from reporters on this topic led to a testy exchange with government whip STEVEN MACKINNON. “Are you the whip?” he demanded of a reporter who was pressing him. “Is it you who decides what we should do?” | | MEDIA ROOM | |
— Canada’s premiers will meet Friday to discuss the federal government’s proposed health care deal, the CBC’s JOHN PAUL TASKER and RICHARD RAYCRAFT report.
— Many of the biggest energy companies in the world are scaling back renewable energy pledges following their most profitable year ever, the CBC’s PETE EVANS reports. — Globe reporter NIALL MCGEE was on The Decibel pod to talk about China’s reach into Canada’s battery minerals industry. — Stat’s HELEN BRANSWELL speaks with experts who have fretted about H5N1 for a generation. — Liberal MP CHANDRA ARYA takes the prize for most taxpayer funds spent on “protocol” gifts. Global’s ALEX BOUTILIER and MARC-ANDRÉ COSSETTE have the details. — On the Star’s This Matters podcast: What AMIRA ELGHAWABY’s apology says about Islamophobia. — And EZRA LEVANT says Environment Minister STEVEN GUILBEAULT violated his constitutional right to free expression when he blocked him on Twitter. The National Post’s TOM BLACKWELL dives into the “intriguing” legal challenge. | | PLAYBOOKERS | |
Birthdays: HBD + 1 to Liberal MP JENNA SUDDS.
Send Playbookers tips to ottawaplaybook@politico.com. Spotted: JOHN MCKAY, at the U.S. House of Representatives’ HUNTER BIDEN probe (h/t ALEX PANETTA) … International Trade Minister MARY NG greeting FATHER AMMONIUS from St. Mark Coptic Orthodox Cathedral outside West Block before Question Period. BRETT HOUSE, with some sass for Canada’s inter-parliamentary delegation … Speaker ANTHONY ROTA, meeting with EU heads of mission in Canada. BLAKE DESJARLAIS and HEATHER MCPHERSON, demonstrating that “*most* Albertans know how to shake hands.” Movers and shakers: ALEXANDRA HILKENE, HEATHER BARLOW and NIKITA SINGH have joined Enterprise Health. Media mentions: JESSICA SMITH CROSS has offered her resignation as editor-in-chief of QP Briefing and iPolitics. CHARLIE PINKERTON has quit QP Briefing “on a matter of principle.” JACK HAUEN, AIDAN CHAMANDY and SNEH DUGGAL (who is on maternity leave) have been laid off. LAURA PENNELL, formerly an adviser to CHRYSTIA FREELAND, took over as publisher last month. | | PROZONE | |
If you’re a , don’t miss our latest policy newsletter from ZI-ANN LUM: When U.S. lawmakers talk critical minerals.
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Former Twitter global head of trust and safety Yoel Roth testifies during a House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing on social-media bias on Capitol Hill Feb. 8, 2023. | Francis Chung/POLITICO | In other Pro headlines:
— House GOP's Twitter hearing reveals wanted list: Hunter Biden, big tech and the FBI.
— WHO: Don’t assume bird flu risk to humans will remain low.
— Businesses face worldwide push for more tax disclosure.
— Chinese ambassador slams EU trade policy, issues warning on Taiwan approach.
— ECB tells banks to increase their capital buffers a bit, again. | | On the Hill | |
→ Find the latest on House committee meetings here.
→ Keep track of Senate committee meetings here. 9 a.m. The Senate agriculture committee meets to continue its study of soil health in Canada. 9 a.m. The Senate fisheries committee meets to hear testimony from the Prince Edward Island Fishermen's Association about the independence of commercial inshore fisheries. 9 a.m. The Senate energy committee will hear from representatives of the Canadian Gas Association, the Canadian Fuels Association and others on issues related to the committee’s mandate. 10:30 a.m. Generation Squeeze founder PAUL KERSHAW will hold a press conference in West Block to launch Get Well Canada, an alliance “to remind FPT leaders that health doesn’t start with medical care.” 11 a.m. Peruvian Ambassador ROBERTO RODRIGUEZ will be a witness at the House foreign affairs committee to take questions about the current situation in Peru. 11 a.m. The House science committee meets to continue its study of citizen scientists. 11 a.m. The House health committee meets to pick up on MPs’ study of children’s health. 11 a.m. CSIS, the RCMP and Communications Security Establishment will be at the House committee on procedure as it continues its study on election interference. 11:30 a.m. United Nations Development Programme administrator ACHIM STEINER will be at the Senate foreign affairs committee, along with five department officials from Global Affairs Canada. 11:30 a.m. The Senate legal and constitutional affairs committee will study Bill C-233 and Bill S-212. 3:30 p.m. The House environment committee meets to take Bill S-5 through clause-by-clause consideration. 3:30 p.m. Auditor General KAREN HOGAN and other officials will be at the House public accounts committee to discuss the AG’s report that found Correctional Service Canada failed to identify and eliminate systemic barriers that persistently disadvantage certain groups of offenders. 3:30 p.m. The House international trade committee meets to hear testimony from the United Steelworkers Union, Global Compact Network Canada and KAIROS: Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives about Canadian mining firms abroad. 6:30 p.m. The House veterans affairs committee meets to continue its study of a national strategy for employment after service. — Behind closed doors: The House transport committee meets to review a draft report investigating labor shortages; the House finance committee meets privately to talk about its pre-budget consultation study; the House fisheries committee quietly meets to discuss the impacts of the climate crisis; the House heritage committee meets to discuss two reports; the House status of women committee meets; the Senate banking committee meets to review a draft report; the Senate social affairs committee meets to discuss its study of a federal framework for suicide prevention; the special joint committee on medical assistance in dying meets to review a draft report. | | TRIVIA | | Wednesday’s answer: It was MARCI IEN who said of her decision to run for office: “I thought, ‘I want to show people that this is possible.’ I’ve said this time and time again, but it’s true: If people can see themselves, they will strive. I want to continue to pave the way.” Props to MARCUS MATTINSON and ROBERT MCDOUGALL. Today’s question: On campaign trails over time, this MP has defeated KIM CAMPBELL, MARC EMERY, KENNEDY STEWART and SVEND ROBINSON. 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 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 | | | | |  |
