| | | | |  | | By Nick Taylor-Vaisey | | Presented by |  | | | Send tips | Subscribe here | Email Nick | Follow Politico Canada Thanks for reading the Ottawa Playbook. Let’s get to it. In today's edition: → PMJT pays a visit to STEPHEN COLBERT. → CARLA QUALTROUGH on her own brand of international diplomacy. → Job updates at the British High Commission in Ottawa. |  | DRIVING THE DAY | | | 
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau with Stephen Colbert on Monday night. | Scott Kowalchyk/CBS. | AS SEEN ON TV — Russia is "a bit of a challenge" in the Arctic. "The Empire Strikes Back" is the finest Star Wars film. Canadians and Americans scuffle over "small issues that matter." These were our late-night-sized learnings from Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU's celebrity turn next to STEPHEN COLBERT on Monday's edition of "The Late Show." — Latest in a series: Trudeau has this year blitzed the podcast circuit, picking mostly Canadian pods but finding time in April for Freakonomics and Today, Explained. This isn't brand new. Trudeau seems to enjoy explaining Canada to his southern neighbors Back in 2022, he went long-form with Pod Save The World. — Why he wants to stay: Colbert asked Trudeau about his unpopularity, and the possibility of a snap election his government can’t control. The PM acknowledged a desire for change among some voters: "People are frustrated, and the idea that maybe they want an election now is something that my opponents are trying to bank on, because people are taking a lot out on me for understandable reasons. I've been here, and I've been steering us through all these things, and people are sometimes looking at change." → But, but, but: "The reality is, I deeply believe in continuing to fight climate change and continuing to invest in people, continuing to be there to support people, and I'm going to keep fighting." — Sops to the domestic crowd: Trudeau name-checked his government's carbon levy, a nascent dentalcare program and federally subsidized childcare. American progressives might love to hear about 'em, but the core northern audience was surely the target. Colbert joked that the two staunch allies must fight over something — say, "soft lumber tariffs" or all those cheap drugs for sale in Canada. → Softwood lumber: "You guys are paying too much for your lumber, because you've got tariffs on it, and that doesn't make any sense. So we try to keep pointing that out to you," Trudeau gamely replied. Worth noting Trade Minister MARY NG doesn't take the issue lightly — it's a regular agenda item when she meets USTR KATHERINE TAI. → Cheap drugs: "We're happy to try and help you out. But it would be really easier if you guys had universal health care," joked Trudeau, who indulged himself with a satisfied shrug to cheers from the audience. The PM omitted certain niggling details for the Big Apple audience. For instance, his government has prioritized pharmacare legislation because many drugs aren't cheap (even if they're still a deal for Floridians). Take diabetes medication targeted by Bill C-64. The government admits that "one in four Canadians with diabetes has reported not following their treatment plan due to cost." — The far right: Colbert quizzed Trudeau on the political climate back home. "I'm curious why at least some form of nativism or far-right xenophobia might grow in a country even as polite as Canada," he said. "Why do you think this is getting a foothold even in your country?" Trudeau's first response: "We're not some magical place of unicorns and rainbows all the time."
| | A message from Flip the Switch: Budget 2023 set the course for an 18 month extended interswitching pilot, which began in September of that year. While this pilot will benefit over 90% of grain farmers in the short-term, an extension is necessary to unlock the full potential of competition. Through a 30-month extension to the pilot, grain shippers and farmers will have greater access to reduced costs and better service. Learn more. | | | | | Where the leaders are | | |  A woman poses for a photo at the United Nations ahead of the 79th meeting of the General Assembly. | Bryan R. Smith/AFP via Getty Images | — Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU is in New York City. — Deputy PM CHRYSTIA FREELAND will share an update on the government’s economic plan at 9 a.m. She will be joined by the Public Services and Procurement Minister JEAN-YVES DUCLOS. Housing Minister SEAN FRASER will join virtually. The DPM will also attend QP. — Conservative Leader PIERRE POILIEVRE has not released his public-facing itinerary. — Bloc Leader YVES-FRANÇOIS BLANCHET has not yet shared plans for today. — NDP Leader JAGMEET SINGH will speak in the House at 11:30 a.m. on the Conservatives' Opposition Day motion. He'll talk to journalists at 2 p.m., just before tucking into QP. — Green Leader ELIZABETH MAY will meet the National Council of Canadian Muslims, "with a particular focus on human rights in India and concerns about foreign interference in Canada." May will also attend the House of Commons. | | | DULY NOTED | | |
8:30 a.m. Emergency Preparedness Minister HARJIT SAJJAN attends the Space Bound conference, where he'll announce "new investments in space technologies and presentation of the latest data on the Canadian space sector." Canadian Space Agency President LISA CAMPBELL will make remarks.
10 a.m. Environment Minister STEVEN GUILBEAULT and Energy Minister JONATHAN WILKINSON and a number of Liberal MPs will be scrumming in the foyer of the House of Commons in support of Canada’s carbon pricing. 1:10 p.m. Bank of Canada Governor TIFF MACKLEM will be in Toronto to take part in a fireside chat at the Institute of International Finance and the Canadian Bankers Association Canada Forum. | | | PLAYBOOK'S ONE-ON-ONE | | |  "We could probably play a drinking game where I can connect sport to any challenge we face as a country or around the world," Sport Minister Carla Qualtrough tells Playbook. | AFP via Getty Images | PARALYMPIC DIPLOMAT — Sport Minister CARLA QUALTROUGH doesn't call herself a foreign minister. But the nearly nine-year Cabinet vet, and three-time Paralympic medalist, considers herself an envoy when she travels overseas. Qualtrough recently spoke with Playbook about the art of sport diplomacy, how Covid changed the perception of government, and when she'll know it's time to leave elected politics. — Sport is not just sport: "We could probably play a drinking game where I can connect sport to any challenge we face as a country or around the world," Qualtrough says. Forget meetings in fluorescent boardrooms. Qualtrough meets her counterparts at stadiums and arenas. Sport is the way in, but is far from the only agenda item. "We talk about everything that's happening geopolitically. We talk about Gaza. We're all sitting at tables in our home countries where these conversations are happening," she says. "It's really an important, soft way of addressing and tackling problems." — Rewind the tape: Your Playbook host interviewed Qualtrough twice early in the pandemic for Maclean's — first amid the rollout of the Canada Emergency Response Benefit, which she oversaw, and again at the end of 2020. In April 2020, the minister talked up the need to "sensitize the public to it being okay to course-correct in government, and trying things that are a little bit more bold or risky.” Asked later that year for a progress report, she was circumspect: "History will tell, right? There’s going to be microanalysis of all of this, but it won’t have been for lack of trying." → Status update: Qualtrough says Covid did a number on the public perception of constitutional jurisdiction — that is, the law that governs the division between federal and provincial powers. "The lines of government responsibility have been really blurred post-Covid," she says. "Those of us who live and die by Section 91 and 92 of the Constitution understand very clearly what jurisdictional boundaries are." The public, not so much. "Before Covid, if I said to a constituent, 'That's a municipal issue, let me get in touch with the municipality to talk about that pothole,' or whatever the thing is that's a municipal issue, there'd be a certain deference to that. But now I think a constituent might say, ‘Carla Qualtrough is responsible for all the potholes in Delta.’" — When it's time to go: Political life has "taken its toll on my family," says Qualtrough. "My kids are only 12 and 14 now. They were 2 and 4 when I first ran. It's been harder on the family for the past four years." The three-term MP has served in JUSTIN TRUDEAU's Cabinet since the start. A growing number of her caucus colleagues are bowing out ahead of the next campaign. Asked about her future, Qualtrough would only say her job's not finished. "There will come a point where this isn't the thing I'm doing, but I'm not there yet," she says. "There's still more to be done in government. When that point comes, it'll be because of the impact this job has had on my family." Some readers of tea leaves will note that's not a firm commitment to re-offer. → Unfinished business: "I want to keep an eye on the Canada Disability Benefit, whether it's my file or not. I definitely want to see through the Future of Sport commission. We have some big things we want to do in safe sport to create the safe, inclusive sport ecosystem that we have the potential to build in this country." | | | | A message from Flip the Switch:   | | | | | MEDIA ROOM | |
— This morning on "The Decibel" with MENAKA RAMAN-WILMS and ANDREW WILLIS: The behind-the-scenes look at how Rogers took over Toronto sports.
— "It’s only a matter of time before an MP, a random pedestrian or a tourist gets hurt," LUKE LEBRUN warns in a Star column about video that went viral featuring JAGMEET SINGH confronting hecklers on Parliament Hill. — JEAN-PIERRE KINGSLEY, former chief electoral officer of Canada, warns in the Globe that Mexico’s democracy is in peril. — The New York Times reports from Woods Hole, Mass., and Nova Scotia on the potential of ocean-based carbon removal. — From SIMON LEWSEN in Maclean’s: “The gender war in the classroom.” — “As Canadians struggle with an economy still dealing the effects of inflation, an affordability crisis, a housing crisis and rising unemployment, fear not, Justin Trudeau is looking out for you by speaking to other global celebrities,” BRIAN LILLEY writes in the Sun of the PM’s itinerary this week. — ANDREAE CALLANAN writes in The Walrus on the high-stakes gamble over opening up Newfoundland’s waters. — “There is a way forward,” the Financial Times writes in an editorial on the principle that polluters should pay. “First, more governments should realize that hesitancy over carbon pricing is increasingly futile.” | | | PROZONE | | | Our latest newsletter for POLITICO Pro subscribers: U.S. flags smart car cyber-hacking threats. In other news for Pro readers: — Commerce moves to ban imports of Chinese ‘connected’ cars and parts. — US invokes national security defense in clean energy dispute with China. — Meet the UN’s first loss and damage executive director. — The U.S. DOE plans to spend $1.8B on direct air capture hubs. — Green banks launch coalition to coordinate IRA funding. | | PLAYBOOKERS | |
Birthdays: HBD to MC Consulting principal MELISSA CAOUETTE.
Got a document to share? A birthday coming up? Send it all our way. Spotted: At Space Canada's annual reception: Industry Minister FRANÇOIS-PHILIPPE CHAMPAGNE; Liberal MPs BARDISH CHAGGER and JOHN MCKAY; Conservative MPs PIERRE PAUL-HUS, PHIL LAWRENCE, JOHN NATER, SHUV MAJUMDAR, LARRY MAGUIRE and LUC BERTHOLD; Bloc Québécois MP ANDRÉANNE LAROUCHE; Space Canada CEO BRIAN GALLANT; House Speaker GREG FERGUS; ever-popular moon-bound astronaut JEREMY HANSEN; and ERIN O'TOOLE, president and managing director of ADIT North America. — Speaker Fergus, with a warning off the top of Monday’s QP: “The last time I was in this chair … there were words that fall outside of what is acceptable in the parliamentary system, and there was behavior that was also outside of the parliamentary tradition.” Fergus urged parliamentarians to think of their constituents and promised to have more to say on all of this in the coming days. Noted: Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU caps a whirlwind week with a Friday evening party fundraiser in Mississauga, Ont. Brampton Centre MP SHAFQAT ALI hosts the PM at Chandni Victoria Hall. — Former Privy Council clerk MICHAEL WERNICK notes a new job for a familiar name in Ottawa: SIR MICHAEL BARBER, aka the "doyen of deliverology" who once advised the Trudeau government, is working for KEIR STARMER. — The RCMP horse auction is underway at GCSurplus. "Whisper," a 16-month-old Hanoverian mare currently bidding at C$6,400, offers "a well-balanced, fluent movement, and remarkable desire to please.” Movers and shakers: SUSANNAH GOSHKO, the British high commissioner, will leave her post early next year. The Brits announced Goshko's successor: ROBERT TINLINE will take up the job in February. Justice Minister ARIF VIRANI appointed PANAGIOTIS PAMEL to the Federal Court of Appeal, BENOIT DUCHESNE to the Federal Court, and three judges — MATHIEU PICHÉ-MESSIER, LYSANE CREE and HORIA BUNDARU — to the Superior Court of Quebec. JORDAN BERMAN has joined Sussex Strategy Group as senior counsel. … ROBIN GUY, formerly of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, joins Crestview Strategy as vice president. Media mentions: CTV National News apologized to Conservative Leader PIERRE POILIEVRE for a "misunderstanding during the editing process" of a story about the CPC confidence motion that led to a "misrepresentation." Conservatives weren't buying the explanation. JON ERLICHMAN is leaving the anchor chair at BNN Bloomberg and CTV News "to start a new, entrepreneurial journey." Details TBD. | | | ON THE HILL | |
9 a.m. The Senate Indigenous peoples committee is focused on the constitutional, treaty, political and legal responsibilities to First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples.
9 a.m. The Senate national finance committee is considering main estimates with an assist from Correctional Service Canada, Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Public Safety. 9 a.m. The Senate transport and communications committee will discuss Bill S-269, which considers a national framework on advertising for sports betting. 11 a.m. The Canadian Mental Health Association will be at the House health committee to discuss the opioid epidemic. 11 a.m. BEA BRUSKE of the Canadian Labour Congress is on the witness roster at the House human resources committee as it studies compensation disparities between unionized and nonunionized Canadians. 11 a.m. JOANNA BERNARD of the Assembly of First Nations and PHILIP DUCHARME of the Canadian Council for Indigenous Business will be at the House government operations and estimates committee as it studies Indigenous procurement. 11 a.m. Ethics Commissioner KONRAD VON FINCKENSTEIN will be at the House procedure committee in its first hour to take MP questions on “forms and procedural and interpretative guidelines.” 3:30 p.m. The Chemistry Industry Association of Canada, Competitive Green Technologies and Sustane Technologies Inc. are among the experts at the House science committee as it studies innovation, science and research in plastics recycling. 3:30 p.m. The Canadian Cattle Association, Canadians for Tax Fairness and Parliamentary Budget Officer YVES GIROUX will field questions on capital gains from the House finance committee. 3:30 p.m. The federal government’s defense policy update is in the spotlight at the House national defense committee. On the roster: Space Canada, Aerospace Industries Association of Canada and Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries. 6:30 p.m. The Senate agriculture and forestry committee will hear from two panels on Bill C-275, which pertains to biosecurity on farms. Behind closed doors: Tuesday at House committee: Public security will work on its report on auto theft. Official languages will review its economic development study. MPs at ethics will focus on a draft report on the federal government’s use of tools capable of extracting personal data from mobile devices. Agriculture will discuss internal business. Transport will review its thoughts on the infrastructure bank’s involvement with the Lake Erie Connector Project. The joint committee on the use of the Emergencies Act will spend three hours this evening working on its final report. The Senate’s fisheries and oceans committee will discuss future business.
| | A message from Flip the Switch: Myth: Extended interswitching will move Canadian jobs to the United States.
Fact: Extended interswitching creates railway competition. To compete, Canadian railways must deploy more resources and hire more people right here in Canada. In fact, the United States is Canada’s largest trading partner, and in 2023, 78% of all goods by value exported by Canada were destined for the United States. In other words, hundreds of thousands of Canadian jobs would be at risk if we didn’t ship to the United States. In fact, CN and CP, which are both major Class 1 U.S. railways have 5,379 and 8,351 route miles of track in the lower 48 states, respectively.
For more myth-busting, visit www.interswitching.ca. | | | | | TRIVIA | | | 
Richard Nixon with his dog, Checkers. | Monday’s answer: “The usual political thing to do when charges are made against you is to either ignore them or to deny them without giving details. I believe we've had enough of that,” RICHARD NIXON said on Sept. 23, 1952, during a speech on political contributions. It’s known as the “Checkers speech” because it namechecks the Nixon family’s cocker spaniel. Props to AHDITHYA VISWESWARAN, MARK AGNEW, MARCEL MARCOTTE, ALEXANDER LANDRY, DENISE SIELE, RAY DEL BIANCO, WILL BULMER, LISA KIRBIE, MALCOLM MCKAY and ROBERT MCDOUGALL. Today’s question: On this date in 1950, a heavy haze moved along the Atlantic seaboard. “The sun was turned to various shades of blue or violet over much of the eastern part of the continent,” Canadian astronomer HELEN SAWYER HOGG would later write of the event. What happened? Answers 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? 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. | | | | 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 | | | | |
