ROAD SHOW — Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU was on the town hall circuit this week, but you could be forgiven for not having noticed. Remember the town halls of yore? There was this one, where someone suggested he should be hanged for treason. Or this one, where a man heckled him for several minutes, calling him a “liar and a weak leader.” And, of course, let us not forget “peoplekind.” Let us never forget “peoplekind.” Those town halls were packed, unpredictable, often raucous affairs that, by all accounts, Trudeau seemed to relish. — This week’s town halls were … not that. He has held three so far, with more apparently on the agenda next week. They have been comparatively small, and tightly controlled. The first was for carpenters’ union members in Ontario, the second for farmers in Quebec, and the third for health care students in Halifax. There have been no hecklers and nothing much to make headlines. One brave student in Halifax challenged him to commit to universal health care. He talked about dental care and pharmacare for a while, and got in a dig at the Conservatives. After the event, the host asked him for a selfie. In Quebec, someone asked him about the dramatic decline in honeybee colonies, about which he appeared to know precisely nothing. He made up for it later by explaining inflation at great length. Riveting stuff. — Is the change due to security concerns? It’s unclear, though the Prime Minister’s Office hasn’t been publicly disclosing the exact locations of the town halls ahead of time. A source would only say the PM wants to hear from people in different industries, and that he’s been itching to get back out on the road since the pandemic. “Really there’s nothing that energizes him more,” the source said. Which is funny, because we at Playbook maybe wouldn’t have chosen the word “energizing” to describe this week’s events. But that’s just us. — Speaking of town halls: Conservative Leader PIERRE POILIEVRE was also in Atlantic Canada for a town hall on Thursday, though it was more of a rally for supporters than anything else. He hit all the major talking points in rural Newfoundland, from approving LNG projects to fighting the Liberals’ gun-control bill to eschewing the World Economic Forum (big cheer), and capped it all off with the Diefenbaker quote he uses every chance he gets. Riveting stuff. PMPRB DRAMZ — A member of the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board (PMPRB) resigned in dramatic fashion on Feb. 20. MATTHEW HERDER explained his decision to quit in a letter he tweeted on Thursday packed with allegations. Before we get to Herder's claims, a refresher on what the quasi-judicial PMPRB is all about. The tl;dr is this: Back in 2017, then-health minister JANE PHILPOTT embarked on a journey to reduce drug prices. The government eventually proposed new regulations meant to accomplish that goal. They would force companies to be more transparent about the prices they charge. They'd require them to prove expensive drugs were worth the cost. And the PMPRB would rejig a list of "comparator countries" that help determine excessive prices. The regulations were delayed repeatedly during the pandemic. A court struck down all but the new list of comparator countries earlier this year. Ottawa didn't appeal. For months, the regulator has consulted on draft guidelines to implement the regulations. But that's been delayed, too. MÉLANIE BOURASSA FORCIER, the PMPRB's acting chair, quit abruptly last December and told Playbook she couldn't say much because of "legal obligations." Cabinet appointed THOMAS J. DIGBY, an intellectual property and transaction attorney, as the new chair on Feb. 1. (Big Pharma critics are wary of Digby's decades of experience working with the industry.) — Paper trail: The Breach published an explosive story by KELLY CROWE on Wednesday that alleged Health Minister JEAN-YVES DUCLOS "personally intervened" in the regulatory process last November by asking the PMPRB to suspend consultations. Crowe quoted from Duclos' letter to the PMPRB: “Many stakeholders have raised concerns and questions about the new guidelines and are seeking more information on the potential impacts and the implementation of certain key technical aspects.” Crowe's reporting insinuated that Duclos was something of a shill for industry. Herder's resignation letter only added fuel to the fire. — Herder's biggest claims: The federal government “failed to effectively defend” its regulatory changes in court. The delayed implementation “caused immense strain upon" the PMPRB and its staff. And Duclos “fundamentally undermined the Board’s independence and credibility” when he requested a suspension of consultations. "When government adds its voice to that of industry," Herder wrote, "all that lies before the regulator is an endless tunnel with no light." — The minister's response: A spokesperson for Duclos sent a statement to Playbook that thanked Herder for his "leadership and contributions." The minister's office said Duclos was simply following the rules — and only wrote to the PMPRB because the Patent Act mandates consultations between the minister and regulator on new drug price guidelines. It's right there in Sec. 96 (5). | 
