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A daily look inside Canadian politics and power. | | | | |  | | By Nick Taylor-Vaisey and Maura Forrest | Send tips | Subscribe here | Email Nick | Follow Politico Canada Thanks for reading the Ottawa Playbook. I'm your host, Nick Taylor-Vaisey, with Maura Forrest. Today, we catch you up on the latest talk of foreign interference in elections — and where we go from here. Plus, Canada's greenhouse gas emissions are headed in the… right direction? Also, PHILIPPE J. FOURNIER on the latest in "just transition" polling.
|  | DRIVING THE DAY | | THREAT DETECTION — Could 2023 be the year federal political parties work together to investigate foreign interference in Canadian elections? We hear you laughing. You must've seen the committee meeting we told you about in Wednesday's Playbook. But indulge us, because this is reaching a fever pitch. — Flashback: "I worry about my country right now. I'm deeply concerned about my country right now, its politics and where it's headed. I worry about foreign interference in the upcoming election, and we're working hard on that." Those were former Privy Council clerk MICHAEL WERNICK's words in 2019 at the height of the SNC-Lavalin affair. Then-public safety minister BILL BLAIR did send every MP a 12-page memo in December 2020 that outlined China's attempts to interfere in Canadian affairs. — A refresher: The first story that really got everyone talking dropped three months after the 2021 campaign. Global's ALEX BOUTILIER reported stunning claims from the Conservative camp that 13 ridings were potentially targeted by the Chinese. A few months later on NATE ERSKINE-SMITH's podcast, former Tory leader ERIN O'TOOLE blamed the loss of "eight or nine" seats on interference — not enough to delegitimize the election, he said, but enough to leave a mark. O'Toole's campaign co-chair, WALIED SOLIMAN, tweeted last week that Tory concerns about potential interference were never taken seriously by security officials: "We were met with shrugged shoulders and complete ambivalence. It was truly unreal." Global News and the Globe and Mail have recently produced a steady drip of scoops on interference allegations, fueled by leaked documents and unnamed sources. — The first bombshell: Last November, Global's SAM COOPER reported on briefings delivered to the prime minister that alleged a foreign interference network worked to disrupt the 2019 federal campaign, including covert funding of 11 candidates. On Nov. 29, Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU told the House the elections "were not interfered with in a way that would have significantly changed the outcome." He also denied receiving information about covert funding. — The mother of all scoops: On Feb. 17, the Globe duo of BOB FIFE and STEVEN CHASE unloaded a devastating accounting, drawn from secret CSIS documents, of the Chinese government's apparent mission to see a Liberal minority government reelected in 2021. The documents claimed TONG XIAOLING, China's former consul-general in Vancouver, "boasted in 2021 about how she helped defeat two Conservative MPs." — The PM's latest: Asked about the allegations Wednesday, Trudeau said questions about the details of attempted interference are legitimate. "I think everyone should be worried about the fact that countries like China and Russia and others are continually trying to spread misinformation and disinformation trying to interfere in our elections — unsuccessfully, so far," he told reporters. Trudeau also went after opposition politicians who play "political games" to score partisan points. "Foreign governments and foreign actors are trying to undermine peoples' confidence in democracy itself," he said. Casting doubt on public servants who insist elections are free and fair in Canada "is not a good path to go down for society or for democracy." Hold on a sec, barked the PM's critics. The Globe story is based on leaked documents produced by the very same intelligence service that sounded the all-clear in 2021. Surely he could at least acknowledge the substance of the claims. — A voice of reason: Playbook got on the horn with STEPHANIE CARVIN, a Carleton prof and former federal national security analyst. "There's a reason why some of these documents are leaking. There have been pervasive foreign interference campaigns in this country for some time. We haven't done a lot about it," Carvin said. "We've seen a declining morale in security intelligence services because we're not acting on it. And there's no real will to go after some of the security challenges that CSIS is identifying in this report." — Carvin's questions for the PM: "Does he believe the report? Are there reasons to doubt it? What are the challenges?" — Get to the bottom of it: A former senior O'Toole adviser, MITCH HEIMPEL, sees only one way to get to the bottom of all of this: a public inquiry.
| | TODAY'S HIGHLIGHTS | | — The prime minister is in Halifax. — Deputy PM CHRYSTIA FREELAND is in India for the G-7 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting. Her itinerary lists bilats with several counterparts. 9:45 a.m. Transport Minister OMAR ALGHABRA is in the bellwether of Peterborough, where he'll join mayor JEFF LEAL to talk about high-frequency rail. 11:30 a.m. (12:30 p.m. AT) Trudeau participates in a town hall with university students. (Union workers in Ontario on Monday? Check. Farmers in Quebec on Tuesday? Check.) 1:30 p.m. (2:30 AT) Trudeau will hold a media availability. 2 p.m. (11 a.m. PT) Emergency Preparedness Minister BILL BLAIR is in Abbotsford, B.C., to announce disaster recovery funding. 5 p.m. (6:30 p.m. NT) Tory leader PIERRE POILIEVRE is in Newfoundland for a town hall with a gimmicky moniker: “Keep the Heat On, Take the Tax Off”
| | For your radar | | SNUBBED — The prime minister opened his remarks at the Government of Canada's official Black History Month celebration on Feb. 8 with a joke. Trudeau turned his attention to TV host and producer SABINE DANIEL, the event's emcee that evening at the National Arts Centre. The PM reminded the room that he'd convinced MARCI IEN to run for the Liberals shortly after she emceed the same event in 2020. “Keep an eye out, and we might find a riding for ya,” he said, inspiring chortling. Recall the prime minister's 2020 conversation with Ien confronted an awkward controversy about blackface. — A Big-L crowd: The Hill Times spotted a dozen Cabinet ministers in the mix, including Ien, PASCALE ST-ONGE, RANDY BOISSONNAULT, OMAR ALGHABRA, MONA FORTIER, DAVID LAMETTI, FILOMENA TASSI, MARY NG, BILL BLAIR, PABLO RODRIGUEZ, HARJIT SAJJAN and event host AHMED HUSSEN. The HT also saw Liberal MPs ARIELLE KAYABAGA, GREG FERGUS, PAM DAMOFF, PAUL CHIANG and YASIR NAQVI. Also in the crowd? ELIZABETH MAY and JAGMEET SINGH. But Playbook has confirmed neither received invitations. They crashed the party. — Who cracked the guest list? The Department of Canadian Heritage organized the NAC event, but referred questions about parliamentarian invites to Hussen's office. A spokesperson there refused to disclose the guest list. "The Office of the Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion sent an email to a variety of individuals to let them know about the event," they wrote. "However, due to privacy concerns we cannot disclose this information." For what it's worth, the Press Gallery scored an invite to report on the goings-on. Not so much for LESLYN LEWIS, the only Black Conservative MP in the House. CARBON TRACKER — Canada’s economy rebounded in 2021, but greenhouse-gas emissions didn’t keep pace, according to a new analysis that suggests the country’s climate policies are starting to take effect. According to data published today by the Canadian Climate Institute, Canada released 691 million metric tons of greenhouse gases in 2021. That’s up from 672 million metric tons in 2020, when the economy slowed dramatically due to the Covid pandemic. But it’s still substantially less than the 738 million metric tons emitted in 2019. In fact, setting 2020 aside, it would mark Canada’s lowest emissions since 1998. The federal government’s official emissions estimate for 2021 isn’t expected until April. — Hopeful note: The estimate is a “good news story” and suggests Canada’s climate policies — such as carbon pricing and methane regulations — are starting to “bite,” said DAVE SAWYER, principal economist with the institute. Still, he says the trend will need to accelerate if Canada is to meet its 2030 target to reduce emissions by at least 40 to 45 percent below 2005 levels. The 2021 estimate marks a decline of 6.7 percent below 2005 emissions. — What’s next: This is the first time the institute’s 440 Megatonnes project, which tracks progress on Canada’s climate policies, has released an estimate of overall emissions. In future years, it plans to publish estimates eight months ahead of the government’s official report. Normally, there’s a lag of 16 months before Ottawa publishes emissions data, which Sawyer said is a “major policy challenge.”
| | FROM THE DESK OF 338CANADA | | AND THE SURVEY SAYS — Talk of a “just transition” has definitely inspired anti-Trudeau rants and headline controversy in Alberta and Saskatchewan, but a new poll from Léger suggests the government measure is only on the radar of 16 percent of Canadians.
|  | — A closer look: We also know from the Léger poll that 52 percent of Canadians approve of moving Canada’s economy away from fossil fuels. Only 27 percent believe it is not the right approach — a near 2-to-1 advantage for those who support the clean energy transition. — In his latest column for POLITICO: 338Canada’s PHILIPPE J. FOURNIER surveys where Canadians stand on the environment and energy transition.
| | HALLWAY CONVERSATION | | KING FOR A DAY — Thought leader and policy thinker THOMAS D’AQUINO is the author of a new memoir, Private Power, Public Purpose. You can catch him on the latest episode of Hub Dialogues, in conversation with editor-at-large SEAN SPEER. Hear the interview here. “If you were king for a day, what would you do to reinvigorate the Canada-U.S. relationship?” Speer asks. Here is some of d’Aquino’s reply, which we’ve reprinted with permission: THOMAS D’AQUINO: If I were king for the day, I would say forget about this [free trade] renegotiation clause in 2026. Canada and the U.S. are very much interdependent. We are very important to one another for all of the reasons that you know, and not only the economics but also the security relationship. Therefore, we can’t think in terms of “Oh, yes, we signed an agreement, you call it USMCA, we call it CUSMA. Incidentally, before 2026, we have to sit down and renegotiate it.” That is in my view nonsense. We should be talking about a commitment that is very long term, maybe you say, I don’t know, we review it every 10 years or every 15 years, whatever the case may be. Or you have a clause in it that allows anybody at any time to raise any individual matters, which good free trade agreements should really be allowed to do. That’s number one. Number two … in the relationship between Canada and the U.S. — I know we work hard at this all the time — we have to do better [so that] Americans come to understand what a reliable partner we are. We don’t just have to refer to 9/11, which I wrote about in the book, but we have to refer to the future with critical minerals. We have to refer to a joint defense of the Arctic where we are bordered with a hostile nuclear power. We have to work together in promoting the international liberal order. These are all things that we have to do. If I were king of North America, I would say let’s have a change of government in Mexico — that would help. There we have a left-leaning leader who’s not really interested in North America. Let’s have a change of government there. … Let’s all work closely together and realize that the three countries working together could be the dominant regional power in the world, I would argue, for the next 50 years.
| | MEDIA ROOM | | — Top of POLITICO at this hour: U.S. diplomatic counter-offensive targets China’s ‘false information.' — The PMO's headache of the day: "A spokesman for Google says the tech company is blocking some Canadian users from viewing news content in response to the Liberal government's online news bill." — Former mayor NAHEED NENSHI joined the Daveberta pod to talk about Calgary in the upcoming Alberta election. — MP LEAH GAZAN talked to STEPHANIE TAYLOR about the idea of a “Red Dress Alert” when an Indigenous woman goes missing. — Here’s economist MARIANA MAZZUCATO in conversation with FT: “The McKinseys and the Deloittes have no expertise in the areas that they’re advising in.” — The Star’s SUSAN DELACOURT says it’s noteworthy how many times Liberals have evoked the ghost of DONALD TRUMP to denounce PIERRE POILIEVRE this past week. — “It is the season of false dichotomies as the pushback against culture change in the Canadian Armed Forces has begun,” STEVE SAIDEMAN writes on his blog.
| | PLAYBOOKERS | | Birthdays: Notre-Dame-de-Grâce–Westmount MP MARC GARNEAU celebrates 74 trips around the sun … HBD + 1 to economist FRANCES DONALD, who tweeted a single birthday wish for central bankers. Send Playbookers tips to ottawaplaybook@politico.com. Spotted: A $300 gift certificate for Athletic Propulsion Labs Shoes, received by BILL BLAIR adviser PAVAN SAPRA in his personal capacity at a Los Angeles taping of the Kelly Clarkson Show — and disclosed to the ethics commissioner, because this is Ottawa. A refund for a canceled British Airways flight last May from London to Accra, reported to the commissioner by Bloc Québécois MP YVES PERRON. Hand-painted 24-carat gold trim Moroccan glasses, gifted to PM Trudeau over the holidays by the Moroccan ambassador, manufactured by Poterie Serghini, and painted by Moulay Ahmed Serghini. WYATT SHARPE, a new page at Queen’s Park … NDP MP BLAKE DESJARLAIS, hyping Edmonton donair. Movers and shakers: General Motors tapped consultant MARTIN RUST to make its case on the Hill. On the agenda: the military's planned procurement of a new fleet of light duty vehicles, which could net a C$500-million contract. The automaker has a prototype. NICOLE SPARROW joined Enterprise as an Edmonton-based senior consultant. As chief of staff to children's services minister REBECCA SCHULZ, Sparrow was a key player in the rollout of the province's child-care deal with Ottawa. Media mentions: NICOLE FERIANCEK is the new editor-in-chief of the Ottawa Citizen and Ottawa Sun … CBC News anchor HARRY FORESTELL writes about undergoing brain surgery to help deal with Parkinson's.
| | PROZONE | | If you’re a , don’t miss our latest policy newsletter from MAURA FORREST and ZI-ANN LUM: PM: Rapid shutdown of Roxham Road ‘simplistic’ In other Pro headlines: — Canada eyes Singapore as hub for Indo-Pacific push.
— U.K. trade chief says ‘protectionist’ Biden IRA storing up trouble.
— FDA recommends more labeling transparency for plant-based milks.
— Buttigieg to visit scene of Ohio crash.
— U.S. government proposes listing California spotted owl as endangered species.
| | On the Hill | | The House returns on March 6. The Senate sits again March 7. → Find the latest House committees here → Keep track of Senate committees here 9 a.m. The parliamentary budget officer will post a new report titled “Supplementary Estimates (C) 2022-23.”
| | TRIVIA | | Wednesday’s answer: ANNE COOLS was the subject of a 1979 NFB short documentary: The Right Candidate for Rosedale. Props to JOSEPH PLANTA, LAURA PAYTON, STEPHEN AZZI, KEVIN BOSCH, ROBERT MCDOUGALL and PATRICK DION. Today’s question: Then-Nova Scotia premier STEPHEN MCNEIL called this politician a renaissance woman with a personality bigger than the town — “One, quite frankly, that made you come alive.” She also appeared in an NFB doc, this one released in 1989. 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 | | | | |  |
