| | | | |  | | By Nick Taylor-Vaisey and Zi-Ann Lum | Presented by Google | Send tips | Subscribe here | Email Nick | Follow Politico Canada Thanks for reading the Ottawa Playbook. I'm your host, Nick Taylor-Vaisey, with Zi-Ann Lum. Today, we share field notes from last night’s Politics & The Pen, then reveal who’s spending what on TikTok. We also asked a designer to weigh in on Canada’s new passports.
|  | Talk of the town | | | 
The scene at the Chateau Laurier in Ottawa on Wednesday night. | Nick Taylor-Vaisey | SCHMOOZEFEST — You'll never have a hard time finding a place on Ottawa's social calendar to wear a suit. But a black-tie event that draws journalists, authors, politicians, lobbyists and assorted (Ottawa) glitterati to celebrate the finest in political writing? Well, there's only one Politics & The Pen. It's the kind of event where the untrained eye might conclude Hill bubble elites are belly-laughing and deal-making away Canada's future in tuxedos and evening gowns. Out-of-touch insiders living up the fat-cat life. The truth? Much of the ballroom at the Chateau Laurier struggles with imposter syndrome, desperately searches for somebody they know, and even in some cases changes into their tux in the washroom down the hall. Not exactly the lifestyle of the rich and famous. Not that everybody is insecure. This is, after all, a room packed to the hilt with journalists, authors, politicians, lobbyists and assorted (Ottawa) glitterati who embrace an open bar. It's the kind of place where you hear TOM CLARK's booming voice on the way to the bar. Where BEVERLEY MCLACHLIN is wandering solo through the crowd at the pre-dinner reception. Where a certain former ambassador and a certain former chief trade negotiator warmly renew acquaintances before finding their table. — The jokes: Treasury Board President MONA FORTIER and NDP MP DANIEL BLAIKIE had the night's toughest assignment: stand-up comedy to open the show. The odd couple didn't match the 2022 routine served up by former CTV colleagues MARCI IEN and SEAMUS O'REGAN. Polite chuckles vastly outnumbered uncontrollable guffaws. The biggest laugh went to NDP leader JAGMEET SINGH, whose star turn in an intro video included a plea that Boston consul general RODGER CUZNER please foot his grocery bill. "For some reason I've been banned from every Loblaws across Canada," he punchlined. Har har. Out-of-context lines: "NATO is working just as we intended — without us," said Fortier. One of the biggest sticking points at the bargaining table during high-stakes negotiations and a massive public service strike: "How many of DOMINIC LEBLANC's relatives we needed to hire." AND THE WINNER IS — The evening crescendoed with the Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for political writing, a C$25,000 award named in honor of the Windsor MP who died in 1998 of a brain hemorrhage after collapsing in the House. The 2023 winner was CHRIS TURNER, author of How to Be a Climate Optimist: Blueprints for a Better World (Random House Canada). The Calgary author had a message for the decision makers in the room: “If you haven't solved climate change, you haven't solved any other issue.” — The jury's citation: “The climate debate is inherently pessimistic, and while Chris Turner doesn’t pretend that crafting policy to slow global warming is easy, he presents a compelling argument: gloom and doom is not an effective strategy. How to Be a Climate Optimist is a self-help guide for the planet and a masterclass in brisk, vivid storytelling. Turner gives us a crisp, upbeat tour d’horizon of gee-whiz innovation coupled with a strongly argued case that we — politicians, voters, and citizens — just need the will to reach for the solutions taking shape before our eyes.” — The PoliLEGO treatment was … immediately available.
| | For your radar | |
DONOR WATCH — The Liberals have posted a party fundraiser on June 17 headlined by Foreign Minister MÉLANIE JOLY. Vaudreuil-Soulanges MP PETER SCHIEFKE will host Joly at the Falcon Golf Course in Hudson, Que. The organizer is RAMI KHORIATY, Schiefke's longtime political attaché, director of operations and campaign manager.
CULTURE WAR #343728 — Did anybody really come to Ottawa to argue about passport design? Could legions of fire-fighting issues managers ever have expected they'd have to defend a stylized depiction of a man raking leaves? Does anybody beyond the extremely online and permanently argumentative Twitterati even know what we're talking about? Immigration Minister SEAN FRASER and Families Minister KARINA GOULD unveiled a redesigned Canadian passport — both covers and everything in between — at an Ottawa airport event Wednesday that stirred up traditionalists, history buffs and Trudeau haters who all think this government never saw a treasured national symbol they couldn't erase. "It's just so friggin' ugly," tweeted PIERRE POILIEVRE comms boss BEN WOODFINDEN. "No other word to describe it." The pages within the passport have been overhauled. — Out with the old: Indigenous symbols, SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN, the Fathers of Confederation, "The Last Spike" on the transcontinental railway, Canada's Arctic exploration, grain exports and oil extraction on the Prairies, Halifax's Pier 21, the Peace Tower, Niagara Falls, the Vimy Ridge memorial, Old Quebec, the RCMP, the Grey Cup and Stanley Cup, NELLIE MCCLUNG and the "Famous Five," TERRY FOX, BILLY BISHOP, HMCS Sackville, Korean War soldiers, the National War Memorial, Cape Spear, and the Bluenose. — In with the new: Bears in a flowery meadow, a boy jumping into a lake as canoeists paddle nearby, children carrying pumpkins, still more children building a snowman near a perching snowy owl, an Arctic scene featuring a person and a polar bear, Canada geese and a moose enjoying their natural habitat, a bird watching a young girl tapping a maple tree in early spring, a man raking leaves as a squirrel plays with a nut, a gondola rising up a ski hill as a skier races past, and narwhals poking their heads above water. — Center stage: Never one to waste a decent opportunity to call the prime minister out of touch, Poilievre pinpointed the Vimy erasure during a feisty first round of question period as evidence of an anti-veteran agenda. "He is erasing them, and with that he is insulting all of our veterans." A reminder here that the historic symbols date to 2012, when former PM STEPHEN HARPER's government emphasized them over more traditional flora and fauna. ALTHIA RAJ reported extensively on the issue at the time. JUSTIN TRUDEAU attacked Conservatives during QP for cutting veterans affairs budgets when they were in office. It went on like that for a while. | | | HALLWAY CONVERSATION | | | | 
Canadian passport pages have been revamped to mixed reviews. | Sean Kilpatrick, The Canadian Press | THIS IS ALL TOO MUCH — Playbook asked a bona fide designer, DENNIS BOYLE, to judge the art on its merit. The Vancouver-based Boyle sits on the national executive of Design Professionals of Canada. Here's his take, edited for length and clarity. What were your first impressions? The document comes off to me as sort of safe with its delivery. There is the overt absenteeism of other historical elements that have been strategically deliberately removed, which begs the question as to why those have been left out or left behind. Not to be confused with someone who's attached to the past or needing history to be part of the document, but I think that most, myself included, have always understood this particular document as an expression of those things to do with the legacy of the country. And if they're reinventing the document, they're also adjusting the brand of the country when they do that. If you were to take these illustrations out of the context of a passport, they strike me as the kinds of imagery, by way of tone and style, you might see in a young adult or even a children's book, by the stroke weight, the way that they're rendered. Who could ever get mad about someone jumping in a pond? How would you design these pages? What I think is my criticism of this is that it's so literal, it almost says, "Did you get it?" They're canvases, each page. They're gonna get roughed up around a security gate. They're just gonna get stamped. I wonder if these images are so pretty and delicate that they really only need to be backdrop information by way of landscapes. You could take everything from the northern territories, to the Maritimes, to southwest B.C., and identifiable pieces to those things. Inherently you're talking about diversity, you're talking about change. And the color palettes could morph throughout that. You could start to storytell without showing a single literal figure, or person, or mammal.
| | | | A message from Google:   | | | | | TODAY'S HIGHLIGHTS | | |  The G-7 Niigata runs until May 13. | AP | — Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU will host a working lunch with the President of Moldova, MAIA SANDU. — Deputy PM CHRYSTIA FREELAND is in Niigata, Japan, for the G-7 Finance Ministers and central bank governors meeting. 10 a.m. The standing committee on procedure and House affairs takes another crack at a panel that was canceled last week due to lack of committee resources. The topic: Foreign election interference. Witnesses include MARK BOURRIE, MICHEL JUNEAU-KATSUYA, THOMAS JUNEAU and — in a solo slot on the third panel of the meeting — JENNI BYRNE. 10 a.m. NDP Leader JAGMEET SINGH holds a media availability in West Block to discuss the cost of prescription medicines. 10:30 a.m. Bloc Québécois Leader YVES-FRANÇOIS BLANCHET holds a media availability in West Block after tabling a motion in the House related to immigration. 11 a.m. Former Cabinet minister CATHERINE MCKENNA will be at the House transport, infrastructure and communities committee’s study of McKinsey’s role in the creation of the Canada Infrastructure Bank. 3:30 p.m. The official portrait unveiling ceremony for the Speaker of the Senate, GEORGE FUREY. 3:30 p.m. The Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation is under study again at the House public accounts committee. CRA commissioner BOB HAMILTON is on the roster. | | PAPER TRAIL | | | | 
Ottawa announced a ban on TikTok from government devices earlier this year. | Mario Tama/Getty Images) | CHEF’S KISS — Canada’s cybersecurity agency paid C$46,283 to advertise on TikTok this year, most it of paid after the platform was banned from government devices in February. $0: How much money the CSE spent on TikTok ads in 2022. $32,616: The amount the Communications Security Establishment spent on an online disinformation advertising campaign on TikTok in March alone, according to a sessional paper response tabled in the House this week. The campaign “was not stopped immediately following the ban on government devices.” Feb. 27: Launch day for National Defence’s “Talk to a Recruiter” TikTok campaign, aimed at Canadian and permanent residents between 18 and 34. The campaign was to run until March 19. Feb. 28: Ottawa introduces a TikTok ban on government devices. Five: The number of organizations advertising on TikTok at the time the ban was announced: CSE, Employment and Social Development Canada, Global Affairs Canada, Public Health Agency of Canada and the Department of National Defence. March 31: The date CSE’s TikTok campaign ended. “TikTok is one of several social media channels being used to inform Canadians about how disinformation causes doubt and confusion and can make it difficult for Canadians to seek factual information Canadians can trust,” read the sessional paper, responding to a question by Conservative MP JAMIE SCHMALE. There’s disinformation on TikTok, it said. “For this reason, it is relevant and necessary to advertise there.” — Obvious concerns: Public Services and Procurement Canada said it handles all advertising contracts through third parties on behalf of departments, minimizing potential security risks for government devices. — Other big TikTok ad spenders: The Royal Canadian Mint paid C$50,684.80 in 2022. Parks Canada spent C$628.57 and Canadian Heritage dropped C$28,865 last year. Telefilm Canada stopped advertising on TikTok on Oct. 9, 2022, but not before spending C$79,945 that calendar year. CBC/Radio-Canada responded to Schmale’s query by emphasizing its status as an arms-length Crown corporation. It explained its approximately 30 TikTok accounts are a “very effective way to reach younger Canadians who don’t use our other platforms.” The broadcaster said its TikTok spend was $827,552.52 between January 2022 and March 21, 2023. | | | MEDIA ROOM | | |
— Here's our Washington colleagues on last night's cable carnage: Trump turns CNN town hall into televised combat.
— Also from POLITICO: The nerd’s guide to carbon capture and the EPA power plant rule. — Top of Newswatch via TONDA MACCHARLES: Internal report reveals Trudeau government’s blunders during the fall of Kabul. — Storm’s a brewin’ around remote work again. Policy Options’ KATHRYN MAY reports the new PSAC deal puts a “beleaguered bunch” of managers first in the line of fire. — “Ultimate insider” KEN BOESSENKOOL chats with the Calgary Herald’s DON BRAID about how he tried to get DANIELLE SMITH kicked out of last year’s UCP leadership race. — GUY SAINT-JACQUES, Canada’s ex-envoy to China, argues in the Globe that this week’s diplomatic expulsions could pave “a new beginning” with Beijing. — Also in resets: Liberal MP ANTHONY HOUSEFATHER channels optimism to The Hill Times’ IAN CAMPBELL about the heritage committee study name that Meta’s NICK CLEGG hates. | | PLAYBOOKERS | |
Birthdays: HBD to Conservative MP JOHN BRASSARD and to former Senator NANCY GREENE RAINE, who is 80!
HBD + 1 to ANDREW BALFOUR. Do you have a birthday coming up? Does a colleague? Send us the dates and we'll tell the world. Spotted: Wednesday night Conservative hockey. People's Party of Canada Leader MAXIME BERNIER, seemingly set to announce his candidacy in a coming Manitoba byelection. Tory MP MICHELLE REMPEL GARNER, substacking about the federal government's unwillingness to disclose a spending breakdown for a fund meant to make cultural connections at missions abroad (the Canadian Taxpayers' Federation has long made similar complaints. A 2020 program evaluation noted the lack of a formal governance structure). Movers and shakers: Northern Graphite, a mining company that hopes to attract federal funding for an eastern Ontario project that could contribute to Canada's battery supply chain, tapped Navigator consultant CHRISTINA SALITURO to make its case on the Hill. Burrard Strategy principal MARK MARISSEN, a longtime political operative and recent Vancouver mayoral candidate, is repping the fish farming multinational Cermaq Canada. | | | PROZONE | | |
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Canada and India share action items.
In top news this morning:
— Biden rule tells power plants to cut climate pollution by 90 percent — or shut down.
— Inside the Biden EPA's proposed power plant rule. In other Pro headlines:
— Mining permits, critical to U.S. energy plans, have trended down.
— 5 things to know about the next EU-U.S. tech summit.
— Audit watchdog found 'unacceptable' issues in China inspections.
— Biden's biggest climate rule yet threatens red-state Democrats.
— Read the EU's draft cyber certification for cloud. | | On the Hill | | → Find the latest House committees here → Keep track of Senate committees here 9 a.m. The Senate fisheries committee meets to study Canada’s seal population. 9 a.m. The Senate agriculture committee continues its study on soil health in Canada. 9 a.m. The Senate energy committee meets two days after releasing their hydrogen report. 9 a.m. The Senate internal economy, budgets and administration committee meets. 10 a.m. Emergency Preparedness Minister BILL BLAIR holds a press conference in Sir John A. Macdonald Building to release Canada’s National Risk Profile. 10 a.m. The standing committee on procedure and House affairs takes another crack at a panel that was canceled last week due to lack of committee resources. The topic: Foreign election interference. Witnesses include MARK BOURRIE, MICHEL JUNEAU-KATSUYA, THOMAS JUNEAU and JENNI BYRNE. 10 a.m. NDP Leader JAGMEET SINGH holds a media availability in West Block to discuss the cost of prescription medicines. 10:30 a.m. Bloc Québécois Leader YVES-FRANÇOIS BLANCHET holds a media availability in West Block after tabling a motion in the House related to immigration. 11 a.m. Green Party Co-Leader ELIZABETH MAY joins the David Suzuki Foundation and Canadian Associations of Physicians for the Environment for a press conference at the Sir John A Macdonald Building to draw attention to emission reductions. 11 a.m. Sport Minister PASCALE ST-ONGE holds a media availability in Ottawa to announce new measures “to improve accountability and encourage sustainable culture change in sport.” 11 a.m. Former Cabinet minister CATHERINE MCKENNA will be at the House transport, infrastructure and communities committee’s study of McKinsey’s role in the creation of the Canada Infrastructure Bank. 11 a.m. The House foreign affairs committee meets to study Bill S-8 and will hear from witnesses including Senator Peter Harder and Ukrainian Canadian Congress’ Ihor Michalchyshyn. 11 a.m. The House health committee continues its study of breast implants oversight. 11 a.m. The House science committee will spend the first half of its meeting studying the government’s graduate scholarship and post-doctoral fellowship programs before going in-camera to review draft reports. 11:30 a.m. The crypto-asset mining clauses of Bill C-47 are the topic of study at the Senate banking committee with the Fasken, EY and Deloitte lawyers behind the Digital Asset Mining Coalition as witnesses. 11:30 a.m. The Senate legal and constitutional affairs committee meets to study Bill C-47. 11:30 a.m. The Senate foreign affairs committee meets to study Bill C-47. 11:30 a.m. The Senate social affairs committee also meets to dig into Bill C-47. 1:30 p.m. Bloc Québécois MP ANDRÉANNE LAROUCHE holds a media availability in Room 135B of the West Block to talk about Bill C-319, her private member’s bill to increase old age security at age 65. 1:50 p.m. National Defense Minister ANITA ANAND will scrum with reporters in West Block about department and Canadian Armed Forces measures to address sexual misconduct. 3:30 p.m. A portrait of Senate Speaker GEORGE FUREY will be unveiled in the Senate foyer. 3:30 p.m. The House international trade committee launches its study of U.S. countervailing and anti-dumping duties on Canadian exports of certain softwood lumber products. 3:30 p.m. The Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation is under study again at the House public accounts committee. CRA commissioner BOB HAMILTON is on the roster. 3:30 p.m. The House fisheries committee meets to continue its study of foreign ownership and corporate concentration of fishing licenses and quota. 3:30 p.m. The House heritage committee meets to study safe sport in Canada. 5:15 p.m. International Trade Minister MARY NG holds a virtual media availability following India’s Industry and Commerce Minister PIYUSH GOYAL’s visit to Canada. 6:30 p.m. Governor General MARY SIMON will deliver a keynote speech at the Canadian Bar Association’s Aboriginal Law Conference at the Delta Hotel. 6:50 p.m. The House veteran affairs committee emerges from an in-camera discussion to hear from four witnesses on the experience of women veterans. — Behind the scenes: The House status of women committee meets to go over a draft of their women and girls in sport study; “Fossil fuel subsidies” is again on the House environment committee’s in-camera agenda. | | TRIVIA | |
Wednesday’s answer: DOUG BLACK offered the following advice to new arrivals as he was retiring from the Senate: “Sit back — no one’s pushing you out of here — for a period of time and intervene where you feel you must, but watch, learn, listen, not only the process, but the people, politics, media, the interplay of the role.”
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