DIGITAL TAX ISOLATION — The pressure is on for Canada to drop its plans to push ahead on a digital services tax on large tech firms. CHRYSTIA FREELAND is likely getting an earful about it this week, as G-20 finance ministers meet in Gandhinagar, India, today. G-7 counterparts already huddled on the sidelines Sunday. Freeland was hearing about it back home, anyway. Business Council of Canada President GOLDY HYDERwarned Freeland in a letter that the move will open up trade retribution from the U.S., and pointed to the other political calendar Canadian lawmakers should always consider. “The timing would also coincide with the beginning of the U.S. election cycle, a period in which cross-border irritants such as the DST can become dangerously politicized by officials seeking election.” The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, too,issued a Friday warning, and U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai has been raising the issue for a while now as well. — On the outs: Canada found itself isolated last week in pressing forward with January implementation. But some analysts have warned the deal could fall victim to domestic U.S. politics — that Republican opposition and lack of enthusiasm among Democrats makes ratification in Congress difficult to imagine. — Noteworthy readout: India’s finance ministry tweeted that minister NIRMALA SITHARAMAN met with Freeland on the sidelines and talked progress on “trade-related negotiations between India and Canada.” Freeland mentioned Canadian pension funds are “keen to explore investing in Indian Infrastructure Funds as India offers a stable investment climate.” — Wheels up: Finance and central banking aren’t the only G-20 meetings on tap in India this week. Natural Resources Minister JONATHAN WILKINSON will head to the G-20 energy ministers meeting on July 22. Environment follows the week after. The official leaders summit happens in September. CALL ME MAYBE — PIERRE POILIEVRE says he’s waiting on Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU to announce details of a public inquiry into China’s alleged role in Canadian elections.The Conservative leader says he’s offered input on timelines and the mandate of an investigation. “We have names ready to share,” Poilievre said Friday during a media availability in a Vancouver grocery store. “We’re sitting next to our phone waiting for him to call.” — Over the weekend: The New York Times brought readers up to speed on the evidence of China’s interference in Canadian politics. “They just vanished, vaporized, disappeared,” former MP KENNY CHIU said of support from ethnic Chinese voters in his British Columbia riding during the 2021 campaign. The Times story appeared days after a Wall Street Journal feature about pressures on the Liberal government to confront the allegations. UP AND VANISHED — It’s Canada’s slowest fast-moving file. And one of the few hot issues revving up in summertime with Parliament not sitting. Now that the government’s high-risk, high-reward Online News Act has become law, broadcasters and newspapers are starting to feel the pain from that gamble materializing. Canadian news publications are warning /reminding their readers to find them through other channels as their links disappear from Facebook, Instagram and Threads. Meta’s move to block news in response to the law is rolling out with explanations to users of why the content is gone, and a growing number of provincial and municipal governments are pulling ads from its platforms in protest, with B.C. the latest addition to the list. — Watch for: Whether many more governments and companies follow in their footsteps, or the show of force peters out. Yet to be answered is whether the Liberal Party will ever follow suit in a show of support for the legislation it campaigned on, or if marketing through Meta’s platforms is now too crucial for success in Canadian politics to put that on pause for any amount of time. But the big question is who will cry uncle first. — The next frontier: While this fight drags out in Canada, south of the border, the American news wire service Associated Press signed a deal with ChatGPT creator OpenAI, licensing its archive of news stories. C-18 makes no mention of generative AI, but it could be the next hurdle for Canada’s news industry to grapple with once the dust from the news block-a-thon settles. Know someone who would like Ottawa Playbook? Please direct them to this link . Five days a week, zero dollars. | 
