Short cuts on Parliament Hill

May 07, 2024

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By Nick Taylor-Vaisey

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Thanks for reading the Ottawa Playbook. Let’s get to it.

In today's edition:

→ A little off the top about a go-to destination on the Hill.

→ Author and columnist Paul Wells on polarization in our politics.

→ The competition is set for the First Annual POLITICO Canada Trivia Cup finale.

DRIVING THE DAY

Robin Seguin gives Bluesky co-founder Tim Barber his regular haircut.

Robin Seguin gives Bluesky co-founder Tim Barber his regular haircut. | Photo courtesy of Robin Seguin

BARBER OF THE HILL — “Robin, help me. My wife says I look like an unmade bed.”

That’s how Defense Minister BILL BLAIR once entered Victoria Barber Shop, the century-old Parliament Hill institution tucked into a basement of the building of the same name near the corner of Wellington and O'Connor.

The barber pole is easy to miss, and the terms of the shop’s lease limit how it can spruce up the street-facing windows — a consequence of working in a heritage building.

ROBIN SEGUIN has worked at the shop for almost eight years, and bought the two-chair establishment outright mid-pandemic. She’s happy to recount Blair’s colorful greeting since the room was packed when he barreled in. On most everything else she hears, she’s mum.

— All the buzz: High-profile customers pop in for a cheap cut and candid conversation.

“What happens at the barbershop stays at the barbershop,” reads a sign on the wall.

“Even if it's only for 15 or 20 minutes, you get to turn off and just be a human,” Seguin tells Playbook. “They don't have to be or pretend to be anything that they aren't.”

A sign in Robin Seguin's shop: "What happens at the barbershop stays at the barbershop"

The rules of the shop. | Photo courtesy of Robin Seguin

— Customers of note: One of Victoria’s most famous regulars was former Prime Minister PAUL MARTIN, though his security detail ruined any prospect of obscurity. Eventually, the barbershop traveled to him — as in, to the building formerly known as Langevin Block.

Former Supreme Court Justice RUSSELL BROWN's portrait hangs on the wall, though the inauspicious end of his career spelled the end of his patronage, too.

On a wall in her closet-sized office a few feet from the cash register, Seguin keeps track of clients on an official House of Commons poster, which she marks up in pen.

She adds squares (first-timers), circles (new clients) and checkmarks (returnees) next to photos of the elected people who swing by — partly so she remembers who does what. She strikes out those who don't return.

→ The door is open: Kinda. Everybody is welcome to stroll into the shop, but post-convoy building rules require a security guard to unlock the door.

— Affordability watch: Seguin charges C$20 a pop, not that a Cabinet minister needs a break. She says the unrelenting pandemic and weekslong trucker convoy forced her to hike prices. In those days, her “meat and potatoes” were Parliamentary Protective Service officers and Public Services and Procurement employees.

In the beforetimes, Seguin’s patrons forked over a mere C$16.

— Quotable quote: Seguin, who worked at a Gatineau salon before chopping the locks of Hill dwellers, says she's learned the art of discretion and follows a customer’s lead. If they remain buttoned up, so does she. But she fires plenty of zingers.

Take the convoy, which stymied her pandemic recovery: “They roasted a pig 20 feet from my window and didn't even offer me any,” she says with a laugh.

— Spike in activity: Seguin maintains a steady stream of regulars, but if Monday brought a noticeable bump, it's no coincidence. Everybody who’s anybody needs a fresh look for this evening’s Politics and the Pen gala.

With big-city folk flying in from Toronto, a scraggly mop just won't do.

Where the leaders are

— Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU will chair the Cabinet meeting. At 2 p.m., he’ll head to QP.

— Deputy PM CHRYSTIA FREELAND will attend Cabinet. At 1 p.m., Freeland will provide an economic update with Minister of Emergency Preparedness HARJIT SAJJAN, Energy and Natural Resources Minister JONATHAN WILKINSON and Environment Minister STEVEN GUILBEAULT.

— Conservative Leader PIERRE POILIEVRE has not released a public itinerary.

— NDP Leader JAGMEET SINGH will meet with KLARA GEYWITZ, Germany’s minister for housing, urban development and building at 2 p.m. to discuss and share housing strategies.

— Green Party Leader ELIZABETH MAY will do a reading at the National Prayer Breakfast at 7:30 a.m. She will attend Parliament in person. Later in the day, she will be at Politics and the Pen.

DULY NOTED

— Commissioner of Official Languages of Canada RAYMOND THÉBERGE will present his 2023–2024 annual report in Parliament.

We're tracking the political events of 2024 on a mega-calendar. Send us events and download the calendar yourself for Google and other clients .

Talk of the town

S.O. 14, the winning team at the fifth qualifying round of POLITICO Canada's Trivia Cup.

S.O. 14, the winners on Monday evening. | Photo by Nick Taylor-Vaisey

TRIVIAL PURSUIT — The MPs and senators round of the First Annual POLITICO Canada Trivia Cup sent four teams to next month's championship finale.

S.O. 14 took the qualifying round with a score of 26 points out of 30.

PIP SQUEAKS, one of two Parliamentary Internship Programme tables, finished a point behind.

Third place, with 24 points, went to TRIVIACARE FOR ALL, a feisty band of New Democrats.

SPINELESS WACKOS, a team from the House speaker's office, rounded out the Top 4 with 22.

ALL THE MARBLES — The Trivia Cup championship round will be a showdown between 20 teams drawn from five qualifying rounds. On June 3 at the Métropolitain, we'll whittle them down to two finalists and, eventually, one champion.

Here's how it'll go down:

THE PLAYERS — The top-four finishers in each qualifying round earned a spot in the grand finale. These are the 20 finalists, with qualifying scores in parentheses.

— Lobbyists on Jan. 24: The Eh Team (26), Four More Beers (25), Clerks of the Trivy Council (25), StrategyCorp (24)

— Ministers' offices on Feb. 5: The World (24), The Finfluencers (21), Hiring to Retiring (21), “I was wondering if you might have a moment to discuss …" (21)

— Journalists on March 5: CPAC Brainiacs (26), Parliament Hillbillies (24), Trivia Night in Canada (22), Newsroom Nomads (22)

— Public servants on April 23: Super Secret Cyber Spy Agency (26), Parliamentary Budget Oracles (26), King's Trivy Council (25), Hair Force One (24)

— MPs/senators on May 6: S.O. 14 (26), PIP Squeaks (25), Triviacare for All (24), Spineless Wackos (22)

THE FORMAT — They say the Stanley Cup is the hardest trophy to win. We disagree. Our two-hour finale on June 3 is a gauntlet. Here's the road finalists will travel in their quest for a championship:

— The first five rounds: Every team is guaranteed participation in these categories, which will each comprise five questions.

Only the top team will advance from each group of competitors — lobbyists, ministers' offices, journalists, public servants, and MPs/senators.

We'll rely on a tie-breaker if necessary.

— The playoff round: Five more questions. The top two teams from the Final Five advance. Another tie-breaker is in our pockets, if necessary.

— Lightning round: Rapid-fire questions.

Teams will have 10 seconds to buzz in. If no team buzzes, we move on to the next question.

The first team to answer five questions correctly is the champion.

HALLWAY CONVERSATION

The cover of Justin Trudeau on the Ropes by Paul Wells.

"Justin Trudeau on the Ropes" is the latest book from author Paul Wells. | Sutherland House

NINE-ISH YEARS IN — In 2015, JUSTIN TRUDEAU ended his party's epic losing streak. That stunning victory is the starting point for PAUL WELLS' new exploration of the Trudeau years.

"The moment needed more than a young PM’s abundant charm. And almost from the outset, Trudeau struggled to rise to the occasion," Wells writes in "Justin Trudeau on the Ropes," available today.

As the book hits stores, Wells took a few questions from Playbook:

What do you think the PMO thinks of your analysis? Do their opinions find their way to your eyes and ears?

There was some interest in the PMO when I posted the new book’s cover on my (private) Instagram. MAX VALIQUETTE, the new comms guy, added me almost immediately. I'm sure I'll hear later what they think, once some of them read it.

How dog-eared is your copy of “Common Ground”?

“Common Ground”! Trudeau's pre-election memoir from 2014! I've read it many times, underlined, and got it on Kindle on my phone, so I'm never without a copy. Not that it's a great work of introspection, but I've always thought more people in and near politics should have actually read it when it came out.

There's stuff in there about his childhood, his father, his relationships with peers, his ideas on street-level political organization, Quebec — any time a politician writes, it becomes a very useful guide for understanding that politician. Even this seemingly slight book.

Have two party leaders ever shown such open disdain for the other guy? What does that mean for our politics?

I need to think about that. I'm not aware of a starker case than Trudeau/Poilievre.

It's a handy illustration of the increasing polarization in our politics, which is one of the themes of this new book. I recently saw an old photo of LESTER PEARSON and PIERRE TRUDEAU at JOHN DIEFENBAKER's birthday party. Can you imagine either of these two at a party for the other? I think this matters. A refusal to understand other people is a sure route to miscalculation. And it's just not neighborly. Politics should also be about that.

MEDIA ROOM

— From AARON WHERRY on CBC News: Just how far is Poilievre willing to take the notwithstanding clause?

— The Toronto Star’s STEPHANIE LEVITZ and ALEX BOYD write on the sweeping new bill released Monday by the Liberals in response to long-standing demands that Ottawa do more to thwart foreign interference.

— And from the Star's ALEX BALLINGALL: Critics slam Trudeau government’s record of preventing imports of goods suspected to be made by forced labor.

— “The divestiture campaign at McGill and beyond is bound to fail,” writes The Logic’s MARTIN PATRIQUIN. “Maybe that’s the point.”

— Columnist MICHAEL HARRIS calls MP PAM DAMOFF’s exit announcement, “a canary in the coal mine on polarization.”

— “What drew you back into the fray?” KATIE UNDERWOOD asks NAHEED NENSHI in this Maclean’s Q&A.

PROZONE

Don’t miss our latest newsletter for Pro subscribers.

In other news for Pros:

— How Microsoft built its artificial intelligence galaxy.

— Farm states push back on Biden’s bird flu response.

— Will making hydrogen ‘green’ depend on China?

— Warren Buffett urges states to shield utilities from large wildfire claims.

— UK court sends government back to work on climate plan.

PLAYBOOKERS

Birthdays: HBD to Crestview's SUSIE HEATH and CIBC vice chair LISA RAITT.

Celebrate your day with the Playbook community. Send us the details. We’ll let everyone know.

Spotted: The finalists for the Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing, feted by U.S. Ambassador DAVID COHEN outside his Rockcliffe residence Monday evening. The Politics & The Pen organizing committee circulated through the crowd: ELIZABETH GRAY-SMITH, PATRICK KENNEDY, JIM ARMOUR, HARDAVE BIRK, MAUREEN BOYD, HEATHER BRADLEY, DAN MADER, ROB ROSENFELD, and ALEX SPENCE.

A selection of those perched near the escarpment overlooking the Ottawa River: STEPHANIE KUSIE, TALEEB NOORMOHAMED, MICHAEL WERNICK, MELISSA COTTON, JEFFREY SIMPSON, CHRIS MCCLUSKEY, ANUSHKA KURIAN, and ALEX PUDDIFANT.

— Ukrainian President VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, logging a phone call with PM TRUDEAU … Sandstone's NARESH RAGHUBEER, receiving an award from Indian High Commissioner SANJAY KUMAR VERMA at the IMEC Canada India Charity Gala in Brampton, Ont.

At the 2024 Christie Lake Kids parliamentary basketball game: Liberal MP YASIR NAQVI, NDP MP LORI IDLOUT and Conservative MP ALEX RUFF.

Conservative MP MARILYN GLADU using her SO31 to wish her husband a happy anniversary.

Noted: Pollara's rage index hit a new all-time high. The ragiest generation? Gen X.

— Change for a C$20: The Bank of Canada said Monday that its new C$20 polymer bill featuring KING CHARLES III will be in circulation by … 2027.

Movers and shakers: ROBYN GRAY returned to Sussex Strategy as VP of clean infrastructure … JAEDA SCHILKE starts an internship in the Prime Minister's Office.

Enterprise’s MITCH HEIMPEL posted a meeting on behalf of Stelco with Conservative finance critic JASRAJ SINGH HALLAN … Bluesky's EMILY SZEMETHY lobbied MARY-ROSE BROWN, policy director to Procurement Minister JEAN-YVES DUCLOS, on behalf of Seaspan Shipyards.

Media mentions: KATIE ENGELHART won the Pulitzer Prize in Feature Reporting for this NYT feature on dementia. JOHN VAILLANT, up for the Shaughnessy Cohen Prize tonight, was a finalist in the General Nonfiction category.

ON THE HILL

→ Find House committees here.

→ Keep track of Senate committees here.

9 a.m. The Senate committee on Indigenous Peoples will study the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act with input from Atikamekw Nation Council, Assembly of First Nations and the Métis Nation-Saskatchewan Provincial Métis Youth Council.

9 a.m. The Senate finance committee will study Main Estimates.

9 a.m. The Senate transport and communications committee will take Bill C-288 through clause-by-clause review.

10 a.m. Information Commissioner CAROLINE MAYNARD will deliver a special report to Parliament entitled “Access at Issue: The Unsustainable Status Quo.”

9:30 a.m. The Senate rules and procedures committee will convene to discuss delayed answers and responses to written questions.

11 a.m. The House ethics committee continues its look at how disinformation and misinformation influences the work of MPs. The witness list includes AHMED AL-RAWI of The Disinformation Project at Simon Fraser University and PETER LOEWEN of the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy.

11 a.m. Magna International’s FRANK STRONACH is on the witness list at the House agriculture and agri-food committee, which will also hear from Farm Credit Canada, Ontario Tender Fruit Growers and Sustane Technologies Inc.

11 a.m. The House finance committees will consider Bill C-69 with help from various finance department officials.

11 a.m. The House committee on procedure will begin its meeting by choosing a new chair.

11 a.m. The House committee on science and research continues its study of post-secondary institution funding and the federal government.

11 a.m. The House transport committee picks up its study of airline competition in Canada.

11 a.m. “Coercive behavior” is on the agenda at the House status of women committee.

3:30 p.m. The House international trade committee has been studying supply chains and global markets. During this session, they will hear from KC Recycling, Pacific Economic Development Agency of Canada, Port Alberni Port Authority, Prairies Economic Development Canada, Vancouver Airport Authority and the Western Grain Elevator Association.

3:30 p.m. Senior Deputy Governor CAROLYN ROGERS is on the witness list at the House public accounts committee, which is studying “Public Accounts of Canada 2023.”

4 p.m. CBC President Catherine Tait returns to the House heritage committee which is studying job cut announcements.

6:30 p.m. The Senate energy, environment and natural resources committee will study Bill C-248.

TRIVIA

Monday’s answer: The Yukon Field Force was dispatched to protect Canada’s interests in the far north from potential U.S. occupation.

Props to ROBERT MCDOUGALL, BOB GORDON and MARCEL MARCOTTE.

Today’s question: Who said the following: “After I finished my master’s in chemistry, I realized I’m a terrible chemist. The only other experience I had was working at a Dairy Queen, so I wrote the LSAT and the MCAT and decided I would do whatever I was better at.”

Answers to ottawaplaybook@politico.com .

Writing Wednesday’s Ottawa Playbook: ZI-ANN LUM.

Want to grab the attention of movers and shakers on Parliament Hill? Want your brand in front of a key audience of Ottawa influencers? Run a Playbook ad campaign. 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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