| | | | |  | | By Nick Taylor-Vaisey | PROGRAMMING NOTE: Ottawa Playbook will not publish Aug. 26 through Sept. 2. We’ll be back to our regular schedule Tuesday, Sept. 3. 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 weekend Senate appointment nobody saw coming — one that left one Cabinet minister unimpressed. → Shuffle rumors ain’t goin’ away. We want your best scuttlebutt via Google Form. → The countdown is on to a potential railway work stoppage. |  | DRIVING THE DAY | | |
SEN. TALK RADIO — Imagine telling CHARLES ADLER as he first walked off his Sun News Network set in 2011 that he'd one day sit in the Senate — and JUSTIN TRUDEAU, then a rookie opposition MP, would be the man to put him there.
Head-exploding emoji. But the Ottawa fishbowl woke up Saturday to a press release. Trudeau had nominated Adler for a Manitoba seat and TRACY MUGGLI, a healthcare executive and two-time Liberal candidate, for a spot next door in Saskatchewan. — Prairie discontent: Playbook reached out to Northern Affairs Minister DAN VANDAL, Manitoba's only man in Cabinet, in case he had a view. Vandal did, in fact, express an opinion. “There are many eminently qualified Manitobans who are better suited to represent our province than Charles Adler,” read a short statement from his office. OK, then. → Countdown to the Cabinet retreat: Vandal and colleagues meet in Halifax on Sunday. — Transition complete: Adler, the longtime conservative radio personality who parted ways with the federal Conservatives in 2015, identifies as fiscally conservative and socially moderate. He says the Tories moved to the right while he stayed put. PIERRE POILIEVRE is scoffing at what he interprets as anti-Conservative Trudeau appointees — a pair of planks in the bulwark against his future CPC government. — Current openings: The stack of applications has surely grown thick for seven remaining open spots: Alberta (2), British Columbia (1), Nunavut (1), Ontario (1) and Quebec (2). — Planning for Poilievre: A year out from the likely next vote, senators and their staff are growing consumed by what will happen to the chamber if Poilievre comes to power. He's all but guaranteed to scrap Trudeau's overhauled appointments process. As Playbook has explored, everybody in the chamber who isn't Conservative is contingency planning. Top of mind: How will opposition work when Poilievre starts tapping Tories? — A redder chamber: Which brings us to the current vacancies. A decade ago, Trudeau booted all the Senate Liberals out of his national caucus. But plenty of his most recent appointments have a distinctly big-L tinge. CBC's KATE MCKENNA drew connections between the party and recent appointees VICTOR BOUDREAU, MOHAMMAD AL ZAIBAK, JOAN KINGSTON, TONI VARONE and JOHN MCNAIR. Then there's former Liberal MP RODGER CUZNER, sent to the Red Chamber last October after a stint as Canada's consul general in Boston. Keep reading for our one-on-one with Cuzner, who talks about his new life as a Liberal sitting as an independent. Liberals insist on the independence of senators, over whom they claim no direct control. Is there a method to the madness? → Pre-election mode: Former Prime Minister STEPHEN HARPER did not tap a single senator in the 2015 election year. He didn't name one in 2014, either. Harper's final appointee, back in 2013, was SCOTT TANNAS. He gave up naming them after that. When the Liberals came to power, 22 vacancies awaited them. Poilievre has promised to dismantle much of Trudeau's legacy. The PM, who has at times been sluggish in filling seats, can still ensure the Tories are outnumbered by sober second thinkers intent on slowing Poilievre's roll. — Tick tock: A dozen more senators are set to retire before October 2025, including Conservative top dog DON PLETT and the government's current rep, MARC GOLD. | | HALLWAY CONVERSATION | | | | 
Long-time MP Rodger Cuzner (L) served as parliamentary secretary to the prime minister under Jean Chrétien (R). | INDEPENDENT LIBERAL — RODGER CUZNER doesn't deny that he puts the red in Red Chamber. Cuzner was a Liberal MP for nearly 19 years, and he still is a Liberal. But over the phone with Playbook earlier this summer, the Cape Bretoner said his mission now is to think through a regional lens — not the big-L one to which he grew so accustomed. — Origin story: Cuzner thanks ZITA ASTRAVAS, the longtime Liberal staffer now at Wellington Advocacy, for sparking his interest in the Senate. They were enjoying a drink with former Cabinet minister NAVDEEP BAINS at Zoe's before the Politics and the Pen gala in the spring of 2021. "Zita said, 'What's going on over there is pretty exciting,'" Cuzner recalls. "That's the first time I heard Senate and exciting in the same sentence." He submitted an application later that year, endured a few interviews, and eventually picked up a phone call from Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU. He was in. — No assumptions: Cuzner relayed one of the PM's requests on that call. "He said, 'I want you to take the time before you decide what group to join. Try to understand the perspective of the various groups and then make your decision,'" Cuzner remembers. Translation: I'm not here to tell you how to conduct your affairs. — Caucus vs. group: Cuzner eventually joined the Progressive Senate Group, a natural home in the chamber for Liberal-leaning parliamentarians. But the PSG doesn't mimic Cuzner's old caucus. Which, he says, means he and his colleagues miss out on a crucial connection to ordinary people. "Senators are very focused on their own areas of interest, which is important," he says. "But the broader context of what you get from a caucus meeting, from coast to coast to coast, I always found that senators would benefit from that when they were part of the caucus." — The uncertain future: Playbook asked Cuzner about how senators would respond to a Poilievre government — how an opposition would function, and how dozens of non-partisan senators would mix with new Conservative appointees. Cuzner, in short: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ "I posed that same question to a number of people who I have a great deal of respect for, and who are much better positioned than myself to provide any kind of insight, and they really haven't given me any of that insight," he says. "I don't think they're being guarded. They don't know what's going to come next." | | Where the leaders are | |
— Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU is in the National Capital Region with no public events on his schedule. (Hmmmm.)
— Deputy PM CHRYSTIA FREELAND is in Peace Country, Alberta, where she will tour an energy production facility and discuss carbon capture, utilization, and storage technology. Freeland will hold a media availability at approximately 2:45 p.m. ET. — Conservative Leader PIERRE POILIEVRE and Bloc Leader YVES-FRANÇOIS BLANCHET have not released public itineraries. — NDP Leader JAGMEET SINGH will be in Halifax with NDP candidate for Halifax, LISA ROBERTS. At 12:15 p.m. local time, they'll be at the technology campus of Nova Scotia Community College to speak to media about the NDP plan to fix affordable housing in the city. At the same venue at 7 p.m., they will host a "Change the Rules Town Hall," to discuss families and affordability. — Green Leader ELIZABETH MAY will travel by ferry to Haida Gwaii for a weeklong family camping trip. | | DULY NOTED | |
— The Association of Municipalities of Ontario conference is underway at Ottawa's Shaw Centre. Delegates will hear from the Globe's ANDREW COYNE (8:30 a.m.), Premier DOUG FORD (10 a.m.), Housing Minister SEAN FRASER (1:45 p.m.), Ontario NDP Leader MARIT STILES (2 p.m.), Ontario Liberal Leader BONNIE CROMBIE (2:20 p.m.), and Ontario Green Party Leader MIKE SCHREINER (2:40 p.m.).
| | THREE THINGS WE'RE WATCHING | |
SHUFFLE WATCH — Let a thousand office pools bloom. It's shufflin' season.
Maybe the rumor snake is eating its own tail again, but Playbook's texts pinged all weekend with target dates for a Cabinet shakeup at Rideau Hall. — Reminder: We're here for your point-form predictions. — Spotlight on Quebec: If Quebec lieutenant and Transport Minister PABLO RODRIGUEZ bids federal politics adieu, Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU is likely to maintain the province's headcount in Cabinet. Who gets the call? The Quebec Liberal caucus sans Rodriguez would include 33 MPs. Ten of them (plus Trudeau) are in Cabinet, and one is House speaker. Seven are parliamentary secretaries, a traditional stepping stone to the front bench. — The parlsecs: RACHEL BENDAYAN, ÉLISABETH BRIÈRE, ANTHONY HOUSEFATHER, ANNIE KOUTRAKIS, STÉPHANE LAUZON, SHERRY ROMANADO and SAMEER ZUBERI. Among those ranks, Bendayan stands out. The 44-year-old Moroccan-Jewish lawyer and former senior Hill staffer reps Outremont, a former Liberal stronghold she reclaimed following TOM MULCAIR's 11-year interlude as an NDP MP. — But, but, but: The chattering classes love to mention ANNA GAINEY, a rookie MP with a long history in the Liberal Party's Trudeau era — and a personal connection to the PM. → The retreat beckons: Ministers gather Sunday. Whisperers are musing about a shuffle early this week to help the newbies get their feet wet in rapid-fire briefings. Incoming ministers get sizable transition binders. MARC MILLER received this one last year at immigration and this one in 2021 for Crown-Indigenous relations. — ICYMI: Playbook's midsummer primer on all the factors at play in a shuffle. STRIKE WATCH — There's a literal countdown clock for a potential railway stoppage guaranteed to snarl cross-border supply chains. A broad coalition of agriculture trade associations is ticking down the seconds left "to avoid a catastrophe" as Canada's two biggest railway companies duke it out with their unionized workers in negotiations that have so far failed to secure labor peace. — The moment of truth: CN and CPKC have threatened to lock out their workers a second after midnight on Aug. 22 — aka the first seconds of Thursday morning. The Teamsters union has filed a strike notice against CPKC on the same timeline. — Federal view: Welcome to Labor Minister STEVEN MACKINNON's trial by fire. MacKinnon has tried to fill the vacuum left by SEAMUS O'REGAN's extensive post-pandemic relationship-building effort with strong-headed employers and employees across multiple sectors. Last week, MacKinnon rejected CN's request for binding arbitration — an apparent continuation of O'Regan's mantra that the "best deals are done at the table." The ag groups are also calling for arbitration that would force the two sides to hammer out a deal with federal help. "It is crucial to recognize that these stoppages are avoidable, and their consequences are far-reaching," reads a form letter circulated by the coalition. — What's next: Negotiations are ongoing in Calgary (CPKC) and Montreal (CN). MacKinnon's office says he "may travel to one or both cities soon." INFLATION WATCH — Tuesday morning brings fresh consumer price index data. Statistics Canada's July numbers offer the next waypoint before the Bank of Canada's next rate announcement on Sept. 4. — Steady as she goes: Bank economists expect inflation to remain within the BOC's 1-3 percent target range. RBC projects the headline number to repeat at 2.7 percent for consecutive months. CIBC forecasts 2.5 percent, a tick higher than the market consensus. — A likely outcome: Last month, Bank of Canada Governor TIFF MACKLEM cut the policy interest rate 25 basis points to 4.5 percent. At the time, Macklem explained that opposing forces were working at cross-purposes on inflation. Overall economic weakness was dragging down price growth. But shelter costs, and some services, were pulling it higher. Still, the governor set the table for more of the same. "If inflation continues to ease broadly in line with our forecast, it is reasonable to expect further cuts in our policy interest rate," he said. | | | 2024 WATCH | | | 
U.S. President Joe Biden is headling to Chicago for a hero’s goodbye. | Francis Chung/POLITICO | DNC TIME — Less than a month after President JOE BIDEN quit the race for the White House and turned the campaign on its head, Democrats are gathering in Chicago to rally around Vice President KAMALA HARRIS' candidacy. A parade of party luminaries will fire up delegates. Biden and HILLARY CLINTON take the stage Monday. BARACK OBAMA is expected to speak the next evening before BILL CLINTON does his thing on Wednesday evening. Minnesota Gov. TIM WALZ will also speak that night, which sets the stage for Harris' acceptance speech on Thursday night. — Protests beckon: Democrats of a certain age remember the violence that marred the party's 1968 Chicago convention at the height of the Vietnam War. Organizers expect thousands of protesters to flock to the city for this week's confab. — Top of POLITICO this hour: How Democrats reversed the script on the GOP. → More from POLITICO: Protesters paused to reconsider opposing Harris at the DNC. They decided on full steam ahead.
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| — Moar, moar, moar: The CNN-POLITICO Grill is back to feed political junkies a steady diet of high-profile conversations and literal food, too. It all goes down steps away from the convention floor inside Chicago's United Center. Here's today's lineup: 4 p.m. ET: Sen. DICK DURBIN (D-Ill.) in conversation with POLITICO Magazine senior writer ANKUSH KHARDORI. 4:30 p.m. ET: Sen. GARY PETERS (D-Mich.), chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. 5:30 p.m. ET: New York Gov. KATHY HOCHUL in conversation with New York Playbook co-author EMILY NGO. 6:30 p.m. ET: North Carolina Gov. ROY COOPER in conversation with Playbook co-author RYAN LIZZA. 7:30 p.m. ET: Sen. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-N.Y.) in conversation with Playbook co-author RACHAEL BADE. | | MEDIA ROOM | | — Foreign Minister MÉLANIE JOLY is headed to Africa, the Canadian Press writes, "as Liberals craft ‘approach’ to continent, instead of strategy." — On average, the 53 largest municipalities in Canada respond to FOI requests two to three times faster than other governments, a Globe audit found. — As summertime downpours repeatedly flood Toronto and Montreal streets, CBC News asks: Is urban flooding becoming a more pressing threat as Canada's infrastructure ages? — On "The Decibel" pod today: Why the condo slump matters for the housing crisis. — From our colleagues in London: TONY BLAIR’s AI mania sweeps Britain’s new government. — In Policy Magazine, JOHN DELACOURT writes that a Liberal resurgence is "going to require something more than listening, reflecting or waiting for Canadians to see how much like Trump Poilievre allegedly is, how sunny Tiff Macklem sounds (eventually) or how 'weird' Conservatives are." | | | PROZONE | | |
For POLITICO Pro subscribers, our latest policy newsletter: Made-in-Canada spotted in Russia
In other news for Pro readers: — Harris seeks to neutralize Trump’s appeal to some rank-and-file union members — Can the meme magic last? DNC aims to charge youth vote with red carpet for creators. — Pelosi slams California AI bill: ‘More harmful than helpful’ — Medicare for All isn’t on Harris’ agenda. Progressives are OK with that. — Safety deteriorating at Ukraine nuclear plant after drone strike, IAEA warns | | PLAYBOOKERS | |
Birthdays: HBD to JAMES RAJOTTE, Alberta's senior representative to the United States, Sens. DONNA DASKO and TONY DEAN, Conservative MP KYLE SEEBACK, and former Conservative Cabmin GERRY RITZ.
Got a document to share? A birthday coming up? Send it all our way. Spotted: SOPHIE GRÉGOIRE TRUDEAU, mourning the loss of her father JEAN at 81 years old. Finance Minister CHRYSTIA FREELAND,back home in northwestern Alberta with her fam. Liberal MP and comics fan BRYAN MAY,meeting with Captain Canuck creator RICHARD COMELY. Tory MP TODD DOHERTY, attending the send-off for athlete JOEL EWERT to the Paralympic Games. JANE PHILPOTT, with hot takes on dairy prices. Movers and shakers: Travel agent extraordinaire SCOTT MCCORD "has decided to pull the plug this fall," CATHERINE CLARK revealed Friday afternoon on LinkedIn: "Scott will leave all those of us lucky enough to have experienced #McCordMagic with a big hole in our hearts, but decades worth of #gratitude for a guy who made #miracles happen." — Ontario Premier DOUG FORD snuck in a Friday Cabinet shuffle following Education Minister TODD SMITH's departure from politics for the private sector. JILL DUNLOP replaces Smith in the portfolio. NOLAN QUINN is minister of colleges and universities. KEVIN HOLLAND is associate minister of forestry and forest products. GRAHAM MCGREGOR is associate minister of two hot-button issues in the zeitgeist: auto theft and bail reform. From the ethics files: Defense Minister BILL BLAIR disclosed free admission and VIP parking at this year's Abbotsford International Airshow. Oh, the glamor. | | WHAT'S HAPPENING TODAY | |
11 a.m. Fisheries Minister DIANE LEBOUTHILLIER is in Iqaluit to announce names for Canadian Coast Guard Polar Icebreakers.
| | TRIVIA | |
Friday's answer: Former Prime Minister JEAN CHRÉTIEN was hit in the face with a pie during a trip to Prince Edward Island on Aug. 16, 2000.
From CBC reporting: "EVAN BROWN, the man with the pie, was caught immediately after making contact with the prime minister. He was arrested and charged with assault — and later served a brief jail sentence." Props to MARCEL MARCOTTE, GUY SKIPWORTH, JOSEPH PLANTA, SUSIE HEATH, JOHN ECKER, J. ROLLAND VAIVE, STEVEN HOGUE, ROBERT MUNDIE, JOANNA PLATER, ALEX STEINHOUSE, NANCI WAUGH, JOHN MERRIMAN, DAN FONDA, PATRICK DION, BOB PLAMONDON (who recounted the tale in "The Shawinigan Fox"), KATE MCKENNA, CAROLYN MCCRIMMON, LAURIE MACE, ALEX BALLINGALL, KIRSTEN BUSSE, NATALIE MCGEE, ROHIN MINOCHA-MCKENNEY, DAN MCCARTHY, AMY SCANLON BOUGHNER, ROBERT MCDOUGALL, DARRYL DAMUDE, WAYNE EASTER, DIANNE SHERRIN, DOUG RICE, ROBERT DEKKER, DARREN MAJOR, JONAH ROSEN, RODDY MCFALL, GORDON RANDALL, MALCOLM MCKAY and MAGGIE BAER. Former Sen. JIM MUNSON, a senior aide to Chrétien, recalls: "My old boss was always close to the people. But this was a taste of PEI he wasn’t expecting. It wasn’t even lemon meringue or strawberry-rhubarb." Props + 1 on OSCAR PETERSON's NAC-adjacent monument to JOHN ECKER and ROBERT MCDOUGALL. Today’s question: In what year were senators first mandated to retire on their 75th birthday? Send your answer to ottawaplaybook@politico.com Writing tomorrow's Playbook: NICK TAYLOR-VAISEY Playbook wouldn’t happen without: POLITICO Canada editor Sue Allan, editor Willa Plank and Luiza Ch. Savage. | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook | Playbook PM | California Playbook | Florida Playbook | Illinois Playbook | Massachusetts Playbook | New Jersey Playbook | New York Playbook | Ottawa Playbook | Brussels Playbook | London Playbook View all our political and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | | |
