| | | | |  | | By Sue Allan, Nick Taylor-Vaisey and Kyle Duggan |
Ottawa Playbook will not publish Oct. 14. We’ll be back in your inbox first thing Tuesday.
Send tips | Subscribe here | Email Ottawa Playbook | Follow Politico Canada Thanks for reading Ottawa Playbook. Let's get into it. In today's edition: → Climate denial, misinformation and worst-case scenarios. → Hogue commission offers a window on top-secret briefings. → Plus, a sneak preview of PIERRE POILIEVRE’s plans for constituency week. |  | DRIVING THE DAY | | | |  Hurricane Milton made landfall along Florida’s Gulf Coast as a Category 3 storm last night. It produced a barrage of tornadoes, but spared Tampa a direct hit, AP reports. | AFP via Getty Images | DELUGE OF MISINFORMATION — KATHARINE HAYHOE is a Canadian atmospheric scientist known to bots and trolls as the “High Priestess of the Climate Cult.” Two-thirds of the hate directed her way comes from the U.S., says Hayhoe, who is based in Texas. Bots account for a third of it. “A very healthy amount comes from Canada,” she told an Ottawa audience last week — Alberta, Saskatchewan and “quite a bit” from Toronto. She has looked up her haters. “When I click on these social media profiles,” she said, “it is very clear that every single one is accompanied by a toxic stew of political views of which climate denial is only one. It is very rare to find someone who is only into climate denial but nothing else. It is part and package of something that is completely tied to identity and to political ideology.” — Real-life example: Asheville, North Carolina, was under water on the day of Hayhoe’s virtual keynote to a roomful of Ottawa academics, students, researchers and diplomats. “Misinformation is rampant,” she said of the chaos in Helene’s wake. “It is primarily fueled by people on one side of the political spectrum.” CNN tracked DONALD TRUMP’s hurricane lies. So did CBS News. And the BBC. “Your whole premise of your question is misinformation,” White House press secretary KARINE JEAN-PIERRE told one Fox News reporter this week in reply to a query about relief efforts. Rep. CHUCK EDWARDS (R-N.C.) entered the fray in an effort to debunk the most outrageous “response myths.” No. 1: “Hurricane Helene was NOT geoengineered by the government to seize and access lithium deposits in Chimney Rock.” Conspiracy theories are discouraging Helene survivors from seeking help, FEMA Administrator DEANNE CRISWELL said this week: “It is absolutely the worst I have ever seen.” POLITICO’s West Wing Playbook looked at Biden’s disaster response. — The latest via AP: More than 3 million without power as Hurricane Milton slams Florida. — State of play: The Hayhoe event was organized by the University of Ottawa’s Information Integrity Lab. “As scientific consensus around the human-driven nature of climate change has grown, so too has the proliferation of false narratives,” it says in a just-published paper.
|  “Being smarter does not make people more accepting of science," says climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe. | AFP via Getty Images | We took some notes during Hayhoe's keynote. Here are five timely takeaways: Misinformation is propagated with little effort. “A study six years ago out of MIT found that false information on Twitter diffuses faster, farther, deeper and more broadly than the truth in all categories of information.” It’s an issue of identity, not education. “Being smarter does not make people more accepting of science. It just makes us better to justify or cherry pick what we need to show we're right.” Algorithms are weaponized. “Since Musk took over [X], we have seen a systematic change in the algorithm that has preferentially supported denial accounts.” This week, POLITICO’s ADAM ATON and SCOTT WALDMAN report that Musk is using X to spread election conspiracy theories about U.S. disasters. Misinformation is an avoidance tactic. “People are willing to say anything, no matter how ridiculous, with a straight face, as long as it will get them what they want, which is doing nothing.” Facts are not enough. “We have to show people there are solutions that are viable, that are already being implemented today. The biggest thing we lack is efficacy. If people understand what they do to make a difference, most people are willing to act.” → What’s working: “Inoculating people” before they encounter lies and conspiracies can be incredibly effective, Hayhoe said. → What’s not: “I just don't see in Canada a lot of the inoculation going on in terms of helping people understand how climate change is already affecting you here and now,” she said. “And how policies like our carbon pricing are actually helping, not just cities and provinces in the country, but helping individual people as well — through the carbon [rebate] and through all the incentives that are available.” Liberals have spent years trying to explain their federal carbon levy, more recently acknowledging the complexity makes it a tough sell. → Evergreen advice: “If people feel like we have this policy that's not making a difference, then people won't support it,” Hayhoe said — a lesson that may be too late for the Liberals. — In related reading: The 2024 state of the climate report. | | Where the leaders are | | | | 
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and International Trade Minister Mary Ng today at the ASEAN Summit in Laos. | AP | — Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU is in Vientiane, Laos, with a long list of bilateral meetings on his itinerary. He is no longer traveling to Germany this week for a planned meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group. The meetup was scrapped when U.S. President JOE BIDEN postponed his travel amid Hurricane Milton relief preparation. — Deputy PM CHRYSTIA FREELAND is in Toronto and will make a housing announcement at 12:30 p.m. She also headlines a 6 p.m. party fundraiser at Toronto's Yorkville Royal Sonesta Hotel. — Conservative Leader PIERRE POILIEVRE will hold a presser at 10 a.m. in Toronto. Later in the day, he’ll attend his own fundraiser at a private residence in Forest Hill, about a 15-minute drive north of Freeland's shindig depending on the traffic. — Bloc Québécois Leader YVES-FRANÇOIS BLANCHET will hold a press conference to discuss Bill C-282 at 10:30 a.m. at the Centennial Flame on Parliament Hill. — NDP Leader JAGMEET SINGH will take part in QP and later attend the National Climate Conference reception. — Green Leader ELIZABETH MAY will attend private meetings. | | DULY NOTED | |
— The Hogue commission hears from former Public Safety Minister MARCO MENDICINO and Foreign Minister MÉLANIE JOLY.
— The Senate will likely take a third reading vote on Bill C-64, the pharmacare bill expected to receive royal assent by the end of the day. 7:30 a.m. U.S. Ambassador DAVID COHEN and Teck CEO JONATHAN PRICE will headline a breakfast conversation on U.S.- Canada energy security moderated by IRPP President/CEO JENNIFER DITCHBURN. Event sponsors are AmCham Canada and the Business Council of Canada. | | For your radar | |
HOW TO INTEL — Canada's leaky intel community was front of mind for senior government officials amid a flood of news about foreign interference in 2023.
A pair of key players during last year's leakapalooza revealed the nature of some of those concerns in Hogue commission testimony. JANICE CHARETTE, former Privy Council clerk, talked about regular conversations on the matter with Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU's office. JODY THOMAS, the PM's former national security and intelligence adviser, worked to shrink the distribution list for sensitive material on foreign interference — in part, she said, because of leakers. — Top secret files: If not for the inquiry, most of us would never see some of the documents flashed on-screen and deposited in an online database. For example: Minutes of an Oct. 12, 2023 gathering of the Deputy Minister Committee for Intelligence Response. Thomas chaired that meeting. The minutes described her candor among colleagues. At one point, Thomas acknowledged the Hogue commission's work "will reveal that the Canadian intelligence community has struggled to address Fl," read the minutes. She later added: "Canada does not have an Fl Strategy." — Pile of paper: The commission heard that the government produces approximately 70,000 intelligence reports per year. Thomas said she consumed about 100 each day. She would start reading them at 7:30 a.m., before a daily briefing with the PCO clerk at 9 a.m. → When Trudeau was briefed: As clerk, Charette spoke to Trudeau several times weekly. Thomas, as intelligence adviser, talked to him at least once per week (the same rhythm as the current adviser, NATHALIE DROUIN). They both said he was always accessible when they required his attention. → What Trudeau didn't need to know: Latitude/longitude coordinates of anticipated Russian troop movements, Thomas said, as one example. That info would be essential for elements of the intel community, but not for the PM on a day-to-day basis. — Not a joke: Thomas was cool to intel humor. "Some assessments would have pithy and amusing headlines, which Ms. Thomas did not find useful, even if it could grab the reader’s attention," read a summary of her interview with commission counsel. — Wednesday’s headlines: Two biggies. "No evidence MPs committed treason in collaborating with foreign powers, PM’s top national-security adviser says," report the Globe's BOB FIFE and STEVE CHASE. "Former senior Liberal aide denies delaying approval of CSIS warrant to protect party," writes National Post's CHRIS NARDI. — Counsel priorities: Chase observed that the commission's lawyers are sometimes preoccupied with asking senior bureaucrats to confirm details of closed-door interviews conducted in recent months. The lawyers "spend remarkable amounts of time — hours — asking testifying bureaucrats to hold forth on structure and process rather than pressing them more persistently on Ottawa's apparent failures in addressing foreign interference," Chase posted on X. | | ALSO FOR YOUR RADAR | |
STEAMING STREAMING FIGHT — “Ax the tax” was already taken.
But Canadian singing icon BRYAN ADAMS has another slogan that cuts like a knife. He’s calling on the Liberal government to “scrap the tax” — the 5 percent of revenues that the CRTC has set out for streamers to pay into supporting Canadian content, news and broadcasting. He posted a video on Instagram Wednesday where he rails against the Online Streaming Act and name-checks Heritage Minister PASCALE ST-ONGE. It comes alongside a new “scrap the streaming tax” ad campaign by the Digital Media Association, which reps major streamers, including Amazon, Apple Music, Spotify and YouTube, warning consumers it could hit their wallets and lead to “fewer content choices.” St-Onge said it’s “not a streaming tax” and said the new regulatory regime is designed to “help local Canadian artists both get better pay, and also get discovered on these streaming platforms.” | | MEDIA ROOM | | — STEPHANIE LEVITZ of the Globe reports: Liberals’ refusal, opposition’s demands over documents for spending scandal has created a government backlog. — A Léger poll conducted for the Journal de Montréal and TVA suggests a Quebec Liberal Party led by PABLO RODRIGUEZ would hold the lead in voter intentions, the Montreal Gazette reports. The Quebec Liberal leadership campaign does not officially launch until 2025. — “Delays kill accountability. Delays are toxic to public affairs journalism,” DEAN BEEBY writes in a post on the Access to Information Act. “The politicians and their bureaucrats know it.” — “We need more disabled voices in Canadian politics,” KAIT LAFORCE writes in The Hill Times. — SEAN SPEER is on Sen. PAMELA WALLIN’s pod on an episode titled, “The Rise of Conservatism in Canada.” | | PROZONE | | For POLITICO Pro subscribers, our latest policy newsletter. From KYLE DUGGAN: Canada's digital policies are an easy target for next White House, trade expert warns. In other news for Pro readers: — Rise of the robots: AI to shape UK defense review. — Carbon storage projects hit a hurdle: Corroding steel. — Renewable energy boom puts tripling target within reach — IEA. — Study finds ‘green’ hydrogen too pricey. — China’s hit at EU brandy sparks fear of all-out trade war. | | PLAYBOOKERS | |
Birthdays: HBD to former Unifor president JERRY DIAS, journo BOB MCKEOWN, California Gov. GAVIN NEWSOM.
Got a document to share? A birthday coming up? Send it all our way. Spotted: Housing Minister SEAN FRASER, back in Ottawa after an absence due to what his office called a “minor surgery” that “delayed his ability to fly for a month.” Liberal MP YVAN BAKER, on his feet in the House chamber following several months of speaker-imposed silence. (Baker had claimed elements of the Conservative Party were pro-Putin.) Former B.C. Premier CHRISTY CLARK, on TikTok (cue more speculation about a federal Liberal leadership run). Liberal MP NATE ERSKINE-SMITH, teasing an upcoming podcast interview with MARK CARNEY. Sen. SUZE YOUANCE, welcomed to the Senate. … Sen. FRANCES LANKIN, bidding it farewell: “We have the responsibility to again build a sense of united and shared purpose in living together in Canada,” she told her colleagues in her final speech. “We share a responsibility to shut down the fanning of the flames and the stoking of hatred.” Toronto city councilor BRAD BRADFORD, listed as an attendee at a PIERRE POILIEVRE fundraiser in Toronto on Sept. 13. JOHN MATHESON, a former senior Hill staffer now in the consulting biz, with lessons from IAN HANOMANSING's conversation with BBC Head TIM DAVIE at an Ottawa conference on public broadcasting. — In the Senate gallery: Liberal MP DAVID MCGUINTY and NDP MP DON DAVIES; Ambassador BOB RAE. — On the floor at the Hogue Commission: A water bottle splashed with CSIS's 35th anniversary branding (1984-2019). Spotted at the Rideau Club for a Canadian Global Affairs Institute talk on digital trade policy: CGAI’s DAVID PERRY and CHARLOTTE DUVAL-LANTOINE, Digital Media Association CEO GRAHAM DAVIES, DiMA SVP SALLY ROSE LARSON, GREG MACNEIL from NorthStar Public Affairs, Music Canada CEO PATRICK ROGERS, Carleton University professor MEREDITH LILLY, SEAN MURPHY from Google, Meta’s RACHEL CURRAN, Clear Strategy VP ALLISON GIFFORD and The Wall Street Journal’s PAUL VIEIRA. Noted: Conservative Leader PIERRE POILIEVRE is Quebec-bound for the constituency week. He's booked in for a Tuesday night fundraiser at a private residence in Westmount, and another the following night at the Québec Garrison Club in Quebec City. — Several Muslim organizations, as well as the World Sikh Organization, have called on the B.C. Conservatives to remove ANTHONY KOCH as spokesperson, citing alleged "misogynistic, divisive, and inflammatory remarks" on social media. In a statement to Playbook, Rustad’s staff called the outcry “nothing more than a political smear-job” designed to help the BC NDP. AZIM JIWANI, chief of staff to JOHN RUSTAD, told us: “As a proud Ismaili Muslim and the first ever Muslim Chief of Staff to any political party leader in B.C., I’ve had the privilege of working closely with Anthony Koch for the last few months. I can say without hesitation that he has no hate in his heart and he is not an Islamophobe.” Movers and shakers: In the aftermath of a devastating wildfire in the Canadian Rockies, Employment Minister RANDY BOISSONNAULT added "Ministerial Lead for Jasper" to his basket of responsibilities. Media mentions: The Globe and Mail's KRISTY KIRKUP and ALANNA SMITH join the paper's health beat in Ottawa and Calgary, respectively. | | |
Find the latest House meetings here. The Senate schedule is here.
— The parliamentary budget officer will publish an update to its carbon pricing study on its website, titled “A Distributional Analysis of the Federal Fuel Charge – Update” 8:15 a.m. AFN National Chief CINDY WOODHOUSE NEPINAK and Indigenous Services Minister PATTY HAJDU are on the list to speak before the Commons Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee about Bill C-61. 8:15 a.m. Defense Minister BILL BLAIR appears before the national defense committee. 8:15 a.m. Industry committee hears from the Competition Bureau’s Deputy Commissioner KRISTA MCWHINNIE on credit cards. 8:15 a.m. The Commons ag committee hears from the Canadian Federation of Agriculture, Pulse Canada, the Grain Growers of Canada and other farm groups about carbon border adjustments. 9 a.m. Conservative MP JOHN BARLOW appears at the Senate ag committee to promote his private members bill C-275 that deals with biosecurity on farms. 9 a.m. A host of public servants appear at the Senate energy and environment panel to discuss “emerging issues related to the committee’s mandate.” 9 a.m. The Red Chamber’s fisheries committee hears from the Canadian Wildlife Federation and Ontario Commercial Fisheries' Association. 9 a.m. The Senate internal economy committee meets. 11 a.m. Sen. REBECCA PATTERSON is among the witnesses at the Commons veterans affairs committee speaking about recognition of Persian Gulf veterans. 11 a.m. Official languages continues its study on the “minority-language education continuum.” 11 a.m. Procedure and House affairs goes clause-by-clause through Conservative MP ALEX RUFF’s private members bill C-377. 11:30 a.m. Senate banking meets to go clause-by-clause through right-to-repair legislation, bills C-244 and C-294. 11:30 a.m. Senate foreign affairs hears from farm groups on Bloc MP LUC THÉRIAULT’s supply management legislation, Bill C-282. 11:30 a.m. Tory MP TODD DOHERTY appears before the Senate legal committee to promote his Bill C-321 about protecting first responders. 3:30 p.m. Transport Minister ANITA ANAND appears before the House transport committee to talk about a Via Rail incident where passengers were left stranded on a train for some 10 hours in August. 3:30 p.m. The House health committee looks at two private members bills: NDP MP ALISTAIR MACGREGOR’s Bill C-277 on brain injuries and Blaine Calkins’s Bill C-368 on natural health products. 3:30 p.m. The House finance committee continues pre-budget consultations. 3:30 p.m. Meta’s RACHEL CURRAN, TikTok’s STEVE DE EYRE and Youtube’s LINDSAY DOYLE appear at the Commons public safety committee to testify about Russian interference and disinformation campaigns. | | TRIVIA | |
Wednesday’s answer: U.S. Rep. PETE STAUBER (R-Minn.) introduced a bill to award Congressional Gold Medals to the 1980 “Miracle on Ice” U.S. Olympic hockey team.
Props to ROBERT MCDOUGALL, CAMERON RYAN, JIM CAMPBELL, IAN GLYNWILLIAMS, AMY SCANLON BOUGHNER, MARCEL MARCOTTE, DARREN MAJOR, RALPH LEVENSTEIN, RODDY MCFALL, RAY DEL BIANCO, BOB GORDON, J. ROLLAND VAIVE, JOHN ECKER, TODD SPENCER, LAURA JARVIS, ROSS LECLAIR, BILL PRISTANSKI, DOUG RICE, MALCOLM MCKAY, DARRYL DAMUDE, JOHN DILLON, MURRAY WILSON and CHRIS MCCLUSKEY. Today’s question: Sticking with sports, who said: “I’d love to tell you there were 16,000 screaming fans there for the game, but the reality is, there were only about 8,900 fans in the stadium that night. But it was loud and boisterous anyway.” For a bonus mark: Tell us how this quote is connected to this date. Send your answer to ottawaplaybook@politico.com Writing tomorrow's Playbook: KYLE DUGGAN 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 | | | | |
