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Presented by MDA Space: A daily look inside Canadian politics and power. | | | | |  | | By Kyle Duggan | Presented by MDA Space | Send tips | Subscribe here | Email Ottawa Playbook | Follow Politico Canada Thanks for reading Ottawa Playbook. Let's get into it. In today's edition: → The fireworks continue with a second day in a row of hearings where lawmakers grill GC Strategies execs. → Next week now: The fight over the April 1 carbon tax hike heated up Wednesday with more to come when Parliament returns. → Playbook has more details on the renewable industry’s CBSA woes.
|  | DRIVING THE DAY | | ARRIVESLAM — GC Strategies is back in the hot seat today facing more questions about the hottest-burning scandal in town. DARREN ANTHONY, a partner at the company, testifies at 11 a.m. before the Commons operations committee for what’s likely to be another tense firing round over the pandemic travel-information app that has become synonymous in Parliament with sloppy government procurement and dubious subcontracting. “Obviously we want to get to the bottom of what is the worst financial scandal of the history of the Government of Canada,” Conservative MP GÉRARD DELTELL said in French during Wednesday’s hearing. “This is a contract that was supposed to start at about C$80,000 ended up in an orgy of spending of over C$60 million, which is over 750 times more expensive than what was expected. This is not right.” — Company on the defense: KRISTIAN FIRTH, another GC Strategies partner, appeared for a third time before the committee and, after he was sworn in, told MPs that the AG’s scathing report into the ArriveCAN app was “inaccurate” and that he and his family have faced harassment in the wake of the media frenzy. “Virtually everything reported about my company in the media and stated about me and my company has been false,” he said. The audit flagged shockingly bad financial record keeping by the government, such that the lack of paper trail means the exact final price tag is still a mystery, although Auditor General KAREN HOGAN’s best guess was C$59.5 million. But Conservative MP GARNETT GENUIS accused Firth of lowballing the figures he provided, arguing they didn’t seem to add up. — Related reading: National Post’s RYAN TUMILTY has the rundown from inside the committee room. — Scandal widens: It wouldn’t be a Canadian scandal if it didn’t feature strange incremental twists making the storyline slightly ever more complicated. It came to light that the AG’s own office fired employees taking government contracts on the side. That story came on the heels of revelations a government employee landed a multimillion-dollar contract to work on the pandemic-era mobile app. — Overhaul needed: At an Alberta event where he was promoting his government’s dental care plan, Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU vowed changes to procurement when asked whether he retains confidence in the government’s contracting practices given the ethical lapses. He told reporters the government is “rethinking” how it does contracting and procurement, and is planning “significant changes.” “This is an unacceptable situation and there needs to be changes on this,” he said.
| | | | A message from MDA Space: MDA SPACE – Same trusted mission partner. New space. Our new name – MDA Space – is a natural identity evolution that honours the past, recognizes the present, and further positions the company to lead in a new era of space innovation. With a 55-year record of firsts and 450+ missions, MDA Space is a trusted space mission partner to the rapidly expanding global space industry, building the space between proven and possible. www.mda.space | | | | | For your radar | | CARBON POSTURING — Conservative Leader PIERRE POILIEVRE gave a heads up of what next week in the Commons could look like, warning his party will force “multiple” votes to needle the Liberals and NDP on the April 1 carbon tax hike. — Red-letter date: “The final vote will be next Thursday. Mark your calendars,” he said in a written statement Wednesday. “If Trudeau insists on hiking the tax on food, heating and gas, then it’s time for Liberal and NDP MPs to stand up to JUSTIN TRUDEAU to bring home lower prices.” The fuel charge goes up by C$15 a tonne in 18 days, adding another 3.3 cents to a litre of gasoline, and rebates are expected to rise for most families as well. But next week is the only sitting week of the month for the House and features several opposition days, with the last week of the month scheduled as another break week. — When you’re explaining…: Trudeau defended the carbon pricing regime Wednesday and spent a fair chunk of time responding to a reporter’s question as he waved his arms around explaining in an animated fashion how the system works and why it’s needed. — Riposte: In campaign-tone, Trudeau said at a news conference in Calgary that it’s easy for “short-term thinker politicians to say, ‘Oh, we'll get rid of the price.’” “They don't talk about the fact that they're also going to get rid of that check, the Canada carbon rebate,” or about how “they're going to actually use the heavy hand of government through regulations, or through subsidies or some other way to pick winners and losers in the economy.” — Provinces weigh in: Newfoundland and Labrador Premier ANDREW FUREY — the only Liberal premier left in Canada — added his name to the list of provincial leaders this week calling for Trudeau to scrap the tax with an open letter addressed to the prime minister. “Trudeau is facing a provincial revolt as a growing number of premiers have echoed common sense Conservatives' demands to spike the hike,” Poilievre said. Alberta Premier DANIELLE SMITH met with Trudeau Wednesday and told reporters Alberta is in “lobbying mode” in the lead up to the April 1 deadline, and that Canadians should be, too. “This would be the time for people to call the federal government, call their MPs and put some pressure on them,” she said. “If we’re really concerned about affordability and inflation, the tax is just too high.” — Political posturing: Ontario Premier DOUG FORD chimed in as well: The Liberals are going to be “annihilated,” “done like dinner” if they don’t stop the tax hike and “start putting money back in people’s pockets instead of filling their pockets.” The tax is designed to be revenue neutral at the consumer level in general, but for an individual, it depends on how much fossil fuel they use. Trudeau also deflected and defended when asked about whether he’s listening to Smith’s repeated calls for him to fire his environment minister, STEVEN GUILBEAULT, saying he has “tremendous faith” in him. Smith responded at her newser that it would be more constructive to fed-prov relations if someone else was given the post, a source of tension Playbook has covered before.
| | ALSO FOR YOUR RADAR | | SOLAR SQUEEZE — Canada’s border agency’s stepped-up enforcement of a ban on forced-labor products is casting a shadow over the solar energy sector. Canada Border Services Agency has detained at least two dozen containers of solar components amid intensified screenings during roughly the past month, Playbook has learned. — Bad timing: Thousands of solar components are stuck in limbo. The Canadian Renewable Energy Association says Canada could run out of rooftop solar panels ahead of construction season. FERNANDO MELO, the association’s federal policy director, said the sudden move is a “major obstacle” that could deal a blow to roofing companies that install panels, distributors that sell solar goods and could even go up to multibillion-dollar international corporations and to Crown corporations. — Risks for workers: He warned that if CBSA begins wide-scale enforcement it could put some 200 small businesses at risk of layoffs as the supply chain jams up. “This is about folks facing job losses,” he said. “We've been fighting hard to get people into our industry.” — The context: Last month, he said CBSA sent a memo to ports of entry listing solar panels as a “priority” commodity for review for whether shipped goods could have been made by forced labor. Melo said he does not believe the sudden stepped-up enforcement stems from Bill S-211, the Fighting Against Forced Labour and Child Labour in Supply Chains Act, which came into effect in January. The border agency would not reveal information about any detained goods, citing customs law provisions about ongoing investigations. But it did say it has not yet reclassified any shipments under the tariff code for forced labor goods. Canada bans the import of forced-labor goods, but has yet to successfully enforce the rules. The U.S. stands out in a sharp contrast, detaining thousands of solar-panel shipments made by Chinese companies since June 2022.
| | Where the leaders are | | — Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU is in southern Ontario to meet with union workers at 11 a.m. He has a short media avail scheduled for 12:30 p.m. and then meets with seniors at 3:30 p.m. — Deputy Prime Minister CHRYSTIA FREELAND is in Ottawa with no public events scheduled. — Conservative Leader PIERRE POILIEVRE, NDP Leader JAGMEET SINGH and Bloc Québécois Leader YVES-FRANÇOIS BLANCHET have not released their public itineraries. — Green Party Leader ELIZABETH MAY will attend private meetings in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
| | DULY NOTED | | Industry Minister FRANÇOIS-PHILIPPE CHAMPAGNE is heading to Italy for G7 meetings.
| | MEDIA ROOM | | — “It’s time for Trudeau to stand up to TikTok,” PETER MENZIES argues on The Hub. — The IRPP’s Centre of Excellence on the Canadian Federation and the Institute on Governance have published a report urging the federal government to appoint an expert panel to investigate how public institutions at all levels in Canada performed during the pandemic. — “If you live in Canada, you’re probably part of the Loblaw ecosystem, whether you like it or not,” DAVID MOSCROP writes in a piece for The Walrus. “Loblaw is on a mission to capture your dollars from cradle to grave.” — “Katestagate is now in full effect,” ERICA IFILL writes in The Hill Times. Kate Middleton’s whereabouts is also discussed on CBC’s “Front Burner” pod and "The Big Story” pod. — JEN GERSON debriefs a federal briefing on the Online Harms Act. “If you love the idea of Human Rights Tribunals, imagine that they keep their powers, but now JORDAN PETERSON gets to appoint all the members.”
| | PLAYBOOKERS | | Birthdays: Smart Prosperity Institute’s MIKE MOFFATT celebrates today, birthday twinning with former CBC journalist-turned Navigator managing principal CHRIS HALL. Send birthdays to ottawaplaybook@politico.com. Spotted: International Development Minister AHMED HUSSEN issuing a photo receipt of his meeting with Madagascar’s Transport and Meteorology Minister MANAMBAHOAKA VALÉRY FITZGERALD RAMONJAVELO. Fisheries Minister DIANE LEBOUTHILLIER and Agriculture Minister LAWRENCE MACAULAY, in Boston to promote Canadian seafood. Sen. PETER BOEHM at Organization of American States meetings in Washington where talks, he says, are focused on the “same issues” that topped the agenda 20 years ago … Foreign Affairs Minister MÉLANIE JOLY and Mental Health and Addictions Minister YA'ARA SAKS visiting the Palestinian village of Al Mazra’a Al Qibilya in the West Bank on the final day of her Middle East tour. In New York City at the 68th annual Commission on the Status of Women: Indigenous Services Minister PATTY HAJDU, Liberal MPs MARIE-FRANCE LALONDE, ARIELLE KAYABAGA and LEAH TAYLOR ROY … One the sidelines of the trip: Sens. RATNA OMIDVAR, MARILOU MCPHEDRAN, ANDREW CARDOZO, KRISTA ROSS, KIM PATE, DONNA DASKO and IRIS PETTEN meeting with U.N. Ambassador BOB RAE. Tory MP LAILA GOODRIDGE at the New Brunswick legislature for a roundtable on veterans’ mental health … NDP MP LEAH GAZAN with Native Women's Association of Canada CEO LYNNE GROULX. Movers and shakers: MAGGIE RODRIGUES has joined the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness. Media mentions: KIRK LAPOINTE announced he’s returning to Glacier Media to write weekly. In memoriam: Former MP KIM RUDD has died. She represented the riding of Northumberland-Peterborough South from 2015-2019. Ahead of the last election, Rudd shared news of her cancer diagnosis when she announced she would not run again. “Sometimes life throws curve balls and mine is no exception,” she said at the time. Calgary political scientist ROGER GIBBINS died earlier this week. The Calgary Herald’s obituary is here. The Canada West Foundation, which Gibbins led from 1998 to 2012, remembered the educator in his own words: “The changes and challenges in western Canada should be of more than idle curiosity for Canadians living elsewhere in the country,” Gibbins said. “I believe that the story about the evolution of western Canada is, at its very core, the story about the evolution of Canada. What might appear at first blush to be a regional story is, in fact, a national story, maybe the national story of our times.”
| | | | A message from MDA Space:   | | | | | PROZONE | | Our latest policy newsletter for Pro s: Did Covid teach us anything? In other headlines for Pros: — US nuclear regulator links with Canada and the UK to share reactor reviews. — USTR to scale back digital trade concerns in annual report. — EU takes the ax to green farming rules. — In Washington, House passes TikTok bill, as eyes turn to Senate. — U.S. Energy Department to deploy $750M for clean hydrogen projects.
| | ON THE HILL | | → Find House committees here. → Keep track of Senate committees here. The House and Senate are on a constituency break until Monday.
| | | TRIVIA | | | Wednesday’s answer: MACKENZIE BOWELL owned the Belleville Intelligencer. Props to JONATHAN BUCHANAN, RANDY MORRIS, GERMAINE MALABRE, JEFFREY VALOIS, JIM CAMPBELL, ROBERT MCDOUGALL, MATT DELISLE, LAURA JARVIS, JOHN ECKER, BOB GORDON, HELEN DARBY, JOE BOUGHNER and MARCEL MARCOTTE. Today’s question: Which former provincial finance minister delivered their March budget speech at an auto-parts facility? 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: POLITICO Canada editor Sue Allan, editor Willa Plank and Luiza Ch. Savage.
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