| WORTH NOTING — Your Playbook host has a new profile of CHRYSTIA FREELAND's fight to convince Western allies to seize and transfer Russian assets to fuel Ukraine's rebuild. Tomorrow's Playbook will go deeper on this story. HOUSE WORK — This could be a stressful week for government staffers who have to dial into daily issues management calls. The House is back for five days before another two-week break, and the opposition has the run of the place for most of three days. The Liberals' main priority is Bill C-59, which implements parts of the 2023 Fall Economic Statement. They'll introduce a motion to fast-track debate. Conservatives and New Democrats will force votes on rather delicate subject matter for a Liberal caucus that spins internal division as diversity representative of Canada. — Supply day No. 1: Monday is the NDP's turn to make some noise about the war in the Middle East. The party's motion makes Conservatives furious. Some Liberals, too. New Democrats want the following: an immediate cease-fire and the release of all hostages; a halt to arms trade with Israel; "efforts" to stop illegal arms trade, including to Hamas; long-term funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency; prosecution of international law violations in the region; "unimpeded" humanitarian access to Gaza; and a scrapping of any cap on temporary resident visa applications for people fleeing war. The motion also includes a pair of clauses that serve as a Rorschach test for a Hill divided on what counts as balanced policy. → "Ban extremist settlers from Canada, impose sanctions on Israeli officials who incite genocide, and maintain sanctions on Hamas leaders." → "Officially recognize the State of Palestine and maintain Canada’s recognition of Israel’s right to exist and to live in peace with its neighbours." iPolitics counts at least four Liberal MPs who will side with the New Dems: SALMA ZAHID, SAMEER ZUBERI, IQRA KHALID and SHAFQAT ALI. Zahid said a "good number" of Liberal colleagues were on her side. NATE ERSKINE-SMITH is one of them. "I expect there will be a split," he told EVAN DYER at CBC News. "I think the government position will obviously matter a great deal to my colleagues." The Sun's BRIAN LILLEY tweeted that Cabinet talked it over on Saturday. The Prime Minister's Office wouldn't confirm or deny the meeting happened. The vote will go down later today. — Supply days No. 2 and 3: It's Tax Week in Toryland. → The Conservatives never have the votes to pass a motion to scrap the federal price on carbon, but 50-percent-plus-one isn't really the goal. They'll use an opposition day to cause a little bit of mischief. Tories will try to make life hell for any Liberal MP whose resolve on the carbon tax is weakening. A handful of Team Trudeau's caucus has actually broken ranks. KODY BLOIS, HEATH MACDONALD and BOBBY MORRISSEY voted for a tax exemption on farming activities. KEN MCDONALD voted for a previous Tory effort to scrap the carbon price. Liberal inboxes are likely jammed with anti-tax correspondence. A vote with the Conservatives would send a strong signal to the party leadership. → PIERRE POILIEVRE also wrote to Speaker GREG FERGUS on Sunday to request an emergency House debate on the matter, citing opposition from several premiers. → The CPC also has a motion on the order paper targeting the government's planned 2 percent hike of the alcohol sales tax. The scheduled increase was supposed to hit 4.7 percent before the feds folded to lobbyists who demanded a cap. The Tories mocked Beer Canada for accepting any increase at all. → The party has launched a so-called "national campaign" against the April 1 tax increases. POILIEVRE penned a letter that pressured MPs to side with his team. Conservatives launched a pair of ad spots. And, of course, there's the requisite data harvesting petition. CARBON FIGHT — JUSTIN TRUDEAU's carbon woes reach well beyond the House. On April 1, the price per metric ton of emissions will rise to C$80 from C$65. (Yes, we hear you, Liberals. The rebates for households also increase in lockstep with the levy.) Among premiers, only B.C.'s DAVID EBY is vocally on the PM's side. Eby called Poilievre's gambit a "baloney factory" on Friday. Manitoba's WAB KINEW has played coy. But every right-leaning preem except Quebec's FRANÇOIS LEGAULT is opposed to the increase. So is the only Liberal in the group. Newfoundland and Labrador's ANDREW FUREY urged the PM to hit pause. Trudeau's response: "I think Mr. Furey is continuing to bow to political pressure." What of SUSAN HOLT, the leader of New Brunswick's Liberals, who added her own voice to the chorus? Sure, it's an election year and Holt stands a good chance of winning. Her beef is with Premier BLAINE HIGGS more than Trudeau. But it's all momentum for the anti-taxers. — Inside the bubble: A former chief of staff in the Trudeau government made the cautious case for a pause last week. STEVIE O'BRIEN, now at McMillan Vantage, said the carbon levy is solid policy — but that's beside the point. "An increase at this time, in this political climate, would only bring more ire, and fuel the fire against the current government. I still think it's good policy. It's signature policy. But what the government needs to do, and needs to do a lot better, is explain how it works, what it is, and why it's impactful." Playbook suspects O'Brien is not alone among Liberals on the Hill. But don't expect an eleventh hour policy reversal, at least not yet. The prime minister doubled down last week on the sanctity of the carbon price. MULRONEY WEEK — The House will pay tribute to the late BRIAN MULRONEY after today's question period. Each speech will remind everybody watching about the power of the passage of time. Here's how the next six days will unfold, culminating in Saturday's state funeral. Playbook will be following along all week. — Monday: Tributes in the House, the collegial and somber tone of which will sharply contrast the afternoon debate on the NDP's Israel-Palestine opposition motion. — Tuesday and Wednesday: Mulroney will lie in state in the Sir John A. Macdonald Building on Wellington Street. The public can view the casket both days: 12:30-6 p.m. on Tuesday, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. on Wednesday. Condolence books will be onsite. — Thursday and Friday: Mulroney will lie in repose at St. Patrick's Basilica in Montreal. Public viewing will run 12-6 p.m. on Thursday and 10 a.m.-6 p.m. on Friday. Condolence books will also be available. — Saturday: Mulroney's funeral will take place at Notre-Dame Basilica — the same venue as former PM PIERRE TRUDEAU's state funeral in 2000, where a 28-year-old JUSTIN TRUDEAU delivered a eulogy that caught the nation's attention. Trudeau has been invited by the Mulroney family to speak on Saturday. He'll be joined by CAROLINE MULRONEY, Mulroney's daughter and Ontario Cabmin; PIERRE KARL PÉLADEAU, the billionaire media magnate; JEAN CHAREST, the former Quebec premier; and JAMES BAKER, the former U.S. secretary of state and chief of staff to RONALD REAGAN. Oh, and hockey legend WAYNE GRETZKY.
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