| | | | |  | | By Nick Taylor-Vaisey, Mickey Djuric and Doug Palmer | | Presented by |  | | | Ottawa Playbook will not publish Monday. We’ll be back in your inbox Nov. 12. Send tips | Subscribe here | Email Ottawa Playbook | Follow Politico Canada Thanks for reading Ottawa Playbook. It’s Friday! Let’s get to it: → Two billion trees: An update. → MPs request an encore visit from NYC envoy TOM CLARK. → The Cabmins filling the Liberal Party's warchest.
|  | For your radar | | | | 
Justin Trudeau planted this maple tree in 2019. Here it is in 2021, 2023 and 2024. | Nick Taylor-Vaisey/POLITICO | TREE BY TREE — Liberals insist they’re going to plant 2 billion trees by 2031. Sure, the target date for the completion of the seedling frenzy is about six years removed from the likely next election, but they found their round number and they're sticking to it. They claim they're well on their way. The government says it has secured or is negotiating agreements to plant 716 million trees since Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU first made the campaign promise in 2019. (The program was underway in earnest by 2021, with plans to reach the goal a decade hence.) — Saplings in the ground: The chasm between planned trees and planted trees runs into the hundreds of millions. Ottawa's most recent estimate of trees actually in the ground, which dates to the most recent planting season, is 157 million. Clearly, there's still work to be done. This week, Natural Resources Minister JONATHAN WILKINSON announced a C$200 million injection in dozens of projects meant to "result in over 160 million new trees across the country." — Progress check: The program has not gone uncriticized. Earlier this year, CBC's "The House" devoted an entire show to the effort, warts and all. "Securing seeds, building up nursery capacity, finding enough land — the federal government and its partners have a lot of work ahead of them before they can be confident of meeting the 2031 commitment," CBC reported in March. At the time, Wilkinson acknowledged "growing pains," but insisted the program was on the right track: "It was always going to be an ambitious thing and we certainly didn’t say we had all of the answers at the beginning. It’s been an evolution and I think it’s been a positive evolution." → Tree No. 1: Playbook pays an annual visit to the ceremonial first sapling planted by the PM and his kids, Xavier and Hadrien, in a rural conservation area a short drive north of Highway 401 near Belleville, Ont. The thriving maple now stands more than 10 feet tall. No, it's not wilting, nor leafless — though the vibrant green leaves have likely fallen since Playbook's September visit, back when we first asked for an update on tree-planting stats.
| | | | A message from Google Canada: At Google, we know it can be tough keeping your family safe online. So we help make it easier by automatically turning on safety settings for kids and teens. With protections like filtering explicit content with SafeSearch, blocking age-restricted videos on YouTube, and more. To find online safety features for kids and teens, visit: g.co/families. | | | | | Where the leaders are | |
— Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU is in Vancouver to make a housing announcement and meet with British Columbia Premier DAVID EBY. Trudeau also headlines back-to-back evening party fundraisers at the Vancouver Fairmont. The first is hosted by Liberal Party B.C. director DUNCAN WLODARCZAK . The second is hosted by Liberal MP TALEEB NOORMOHAMED.
— Deputy PM CHRYSTIA FREELAND will chair a meeting of the newly established Cabinet Committee on Canada-U.S. Relations. She will take media questions when the confab ends. — Playbook doesn’t have lines of sight into the Friday itineraries of Conservative Leader PIERRE POILIEVRE and Bloc Leader YVES-FRANÇOIS BLANCHET. — NDP Leader JAGMEET SINGH is in Vancouver where he will join the ILWU Local 514’s locked-out workers on the picket line at 12:15 p.m. local time. An hour later, he’ll meet with United Steelworkers District 3 "to discuss American tariffs and protecting Canadian jobs." In the evening, he’ll attend the World Sikh Organization of Canada’s charity dinner. — Green Leader ELIZABETH MAY will attend Parliament virtually.
| | DULY NOTED | |
— Health Minister MARK HOLLAND is up against a legislated deadline to appoint an expert committee on pharmacare. Bill C-64 gave the government 30 days following royal assent on Oct. 10 to name the members. Holland's office says he'll meet the deadline. (The Council of Canadians has expressed concerns about potential membership.)
9 a.m. The Parliamentary Budget Office will post to its website “Trans Mountain Pipeline – 2024 Report.” 12:30 p.m. Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami President NATAN OBED and Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister GARY ANANDASANGAREE will provide opening remarks at a meeting of the Inuit-Crown Partnership Committee held in Ottawa’s Jim Flaherty building. 7 p.m. Immigration Minister MARC MILLER headlines a Liberal fundraiser, billed as a "discussion," at a private residence in Westmount, Quebec. 8 p.m. (5 p.m. PT) Treasury Board President ANITA ANAND headlines another Liberal fundraiser at the Fairmont. Her event's host: also Noormohamed. | | PAPER TRAIL | |
BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND — New York Consul General TOM CLARK has been told to return to the House committee for the second time this year after Playbook revealed that he voiced concerns about his official residence in Manhattan prior to Canada buying a new C$9 million luxury condo.
A 2023 document shows Clark expressed concern about the residence’s refurbishment project — and that the unit did not have an ideal floor plan for consular activities — two months after his arrival in New York City. In a letter sent to the government operations committee on Wednesday, Clark wrote that he made his comments “in passing” and didn’t think they would be reported back to bureaucrats. He maintained he played no role in the condo purchase. — Laying out his case: “In the course of using the Official Residence for delivering on my mandate, I observed that seating options presented challenges, including for guests with mobility or accessibility issues. I also observed the issues between the family and representational spaces. I shared these views with the Consulate General administration who advised me that these concerns were in line with those shared with Global Affairs Canada Headquarters since 2014,” Clark wrote. “I was not aware until media reports this week that this comment made in passing to a colleague had been reported by the Consulate General to the Global Affairs Canada property team. Any reference to myself in the mission's input provided in April 2023 is an indirect third-hand account.” — Called to testify: MPs on the committee only have more questions. They unanimously agreed to have him back "within 21 days." | | ALSO FOR YOUR RADAR | |
DONOR CIRCUIT — FRANÇOIS-PHILIPPE CHAMPAGNE is outpacing his Cabinet colleagues' efforts to fill the Liberal Party's campaign warchest.
The industry minister has plans to attend 14 fundraisers this year so far published in an Elections Canada registry that tracks events with a C$200 entry fee. JUSTIN TRUDEAU has attended 13, including two tonight in Vancouver. — Oh, the places he goes: Champagne's tour includes four events since the House returned in September, with two still on his schedule before the end of November. They've taken him to Beckta Dining & Wine in Ottawa; a bar and grill in Kitchener, Ontario; a distillery in Quebec City; and a private residence in Westmount. He's set to drop by a Brossard steakhouse next Tuesday and, later in the month, an Italian restaurant in Liberal MP BRENDA SHANAHAN's riding southwest of Montreal. — The rest of the field: Six Cabmins have logged at least five events in 2024 with the elections agency, including RANDY BOISSONNAULT (8), MARC MILLER (7), CHRYSTIA FREELAND (6), JONATHAN WILKINSON (5), SEAN FRASER (5) and ANITA ANAND (5). — On the calendar: Ministers are holding three events on Tuesday alone (in the middle of a constituency week). While Champagne is in Brossard, Tourism Minister SORAYA MARTINEZ FERRADA is across the St. Lawrence in Montreal — and Miller is meeting donors in Coquitlam, British Columbia. — The competition: Conservative Leader PIERRE POILIEVRE has attended 42 events so far this year that met Elections Canada's bar for disclosure. He's got two on tap next week: Thursday at a Coquitlam golf club, and Friday at a Vancouver restaurant. — Meanwhile: Trudeau and Poilievre's MPs are raising money all over the country, but only ministers, party leaders and leadership contestants end up in the registry. DST WATCH — The Biden administration could decide next week whether to escalate a trade dispute with Canada over its digital services tax by asking for a USMCA dispute settlement panel to review the issue. Under pressure from business groups and members of Congress to address the concern, USTR requested formal consultations with Canada on Aug. 30. That started a 75-day clock before it could ask for a panel. However, the United States Trade Representative does not have to take that step, even if the consultations have not led to a successful conclusion. It requested formal consultations with Mexico in June 2022 on energy concerns and never took the next step of requesting a panel. CHRIS SANDS , director of the Wilson Center’s Canada Institute, said U.S. President Joe Biden’s team might leave the digital service tax issue for the Trump administration to address. That’s because the Biden administration already faces one potentially messy problem with Canada involving migrants seeking asylum up north to avoid arrest and deportation after Trump takes office. “That could become a crisis late in the Biden administration because they’re the ones in charge and trying to manage the flow,” Sands said. — On the other hand: Still, some think the Biden administration might actually do Canada a favor by requesting a panel, since that might prevent the Trump administration taking stronger action, such as threatening to impose tariffs on Canadian goods using Section 301. The first Trump administration took that approach with France and several other countries over their digital services taxes, and the Biden administration walked them back. | | | WHO'S UP, WHO'S DOWN | | |
Up: Playbook's antennae, as the government quietly dropped news all week amid the nonstop post-U.S. election news cycle.
Down: Attendance at COP29 in Azerbaijan, following the federal Green Party's boycott. MPs ELIZABETH MAY and MIKE MORRICE are taking a rare pass on the annual summit amid concerns about the host country's credibility. | | | MEDIA ROOM | | | 
Susie Wiles will be the first woman to ever hold the title of White House chief of staff. | Andrew Harnik/AP | — Top of POLITICO: The 14 places that explain DONALD TRUMP 's victory — Also from our colleagues: Trump picks SUSIE WILES to be chief of staff — NYT's KATIE ROGERS asks: “Will a woman ever be president?” — From the Globe's BOB FIFE this morning: Ottawa invokes national security to refuse disclosure in foreign interference case against ex-Mountie — The Ottawa Citizen's DAVID PUGLIESE testified Thursday at the same House committee where former Cabmin CHRIS ALEXANDER last month dropped docs that questioned Pugliese's loyalty to Canada. Pugliese vehemently denies the claims. — Senators have amended Bill C-282 , the Bloc Québécois PMB that aims to restrict trade negotiators' ability to make concessions on supply-managed sectors. The amendments, if the House accepts them, would create exceptions for preexisting agreements or negotiations already underway. CBC's JANYCE MCGREGOR breaks it all down. — NYT's KATIE ROGERS asks: “Will a woman ever be president?” | | | | A message from Google Canada:   | | | | | PLAYBOOKERS | |
Birthdays: HBD to Conservative MP BLAKE RICHARDS (50), former NDP MP KENNEDY STEWART, and OLO’s director of media relations SEBASTIAN SKAMSKI.
Saturday: KEVIN BOSCH of Sandstone Group and former Liberal MP BOB NAULT. Sunday: MPs LEN WEBBER and XAVIER BARSALOU-DUVAL, former MP BORYS WRZESNEWSKYJ, Sen. KIM PATE and the Senate’s MELANIE NICHOLSON. Monday: Sen. PATRICK BRAZEAU (50), former parliamentarian NORMAN DOYLE, Blackbird Strategies’ MADDY EISENBERG and McMillan Vantage’s JONATHAN FALCONE. Got a document to share? A birthday coming up? Send deets. Spotted: Liberal MP JENICA ATWIN, paying tribute in the House to SUSAN HOLT: "It is a privilege to congratulate New Brunswick's first woman premier." — Conservative MP KELLY MCCAULEY , reading “The Duel: Diefenbaker, Pearson, and the Making of Modern Canada” while chairing the House government opps committee … HOWARD ANGLIN, longlisted for the CBC Poetry Prize; he also made the list in 2022. — Conservative MP DAMIEN KUREK , running out the clock at the House justice committee with a 3-hour-plus speech meant to prevent caucus colleague ARNOLD VIERSEN from testifying on Bill C-270 — his private member's bill that aims to prevent online sexual exploitation. — The CPC's goal: Dodge Liberal questions about Viersen's position on reproductive rights. — LPC’s goal: #FREEARNOLDVIERSEN Noted: Via LinkedIn, former PCO clerk MICHAEL WERNICK pitched a joint House-Senate committee on Canada-U.S. relations. Wernick has a taker in Sen. PETER BOEHM. "We could bring the issue areas together, and avoid duplication between our House and Senate committees," Boehm replied. "Some of us also have good connections with American legislators." Among the post's boosters: GM's SARAH GOLDFEDER, Compass Rose's MARCI SURKES , H+K's KATIE FEENAN, former MÉLANIE JOLY staffer ELIZABETH ANDERSON, Crestview's JOSEPH LAVOIE, Invenergy's HUSSAIN SHORISH, Hammersmith's BOB RICHARDSON, Carleton's PHILIPPE LAGASSÉ, former Business Council head TOM D'AQUINO, public policy consultant WALTER ROBINSON, NRCan's MATHEW KLIE-CRIBB and NICK CHEESEMAN, foreign service officer NICHOLAS BELLEROSE and retired public servant JOHANNE BÉLISLE. EVAN SOLOMON, publisher of GZERO Media, weighed in on the idea Thursday during a Bluesky Strategy Group election debrief. “It's all good — more conversations, more thought, more idea generation,” he said. “The question is, how consequential will it be?” — Canada's commissioner for the environment and sustainable development dropped several fall reports, including this assessment of the federal record on emissions reductions: "Implementation of measures in the 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan remains insufficient to meet Canada’s target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 40% to 45% below 2005 levels by 2030." Here's the government response, tucked into a week with plenty of other news. Movers and shakers: PMO lead press secretary MOHAMMAD HUSSAIN is Tourism Minister SORAYA MARTINEZ FERRADA's new communications director, replacing ALEX COHEN who is moving on to graduate studies. JASON KEE is now with Digital First Canada after 11 years at Google. | | | PROZONE | | |
For POLITICO Pro subscribers, our latest policy newsletter by SUE ALLAN and NICK TAYLOR-VAISEY: Keeping tabs on the transition.
In other Pro headlines: — Trudeau's Cabinet prepares for Trump 2.0. — Trump’s Day 1 climate plans — in his own words. — Soaring temperatures to set a new global heat record. — Clean energy stocks sink with Trump victory. — EU eyes new clampdown on Russian nuclear sector.
| | WHAT'S HAPPENING TODAY | |
Find the latest House meetings here. The Senate schedule is here.
TRIVIA Thursday’s answer: “The last spike” was made of iron. Props to PATRICK DION, GARY LAROSE-CORNEIL, ROBERT MCDOUGALL, CAMERON RYAN, FRANCIS DOWNEY, JIM CAMPBELL, ANTHONY VALENTI, RAY DEL BIANCO, KELSEY MACDONALD, RODDY MCFALL, JOHN ECKER, KATIE FEENAN and MARCEL MARCOTTE. Friday’s question: Sen. JANE CORDY announced her retirement from the Senate this week. Today’s question is courtesy Sen. SCOTT TANNAS: During how many parliaments was Cordy a senator? Answer to ottawaplaybook@politico.com Writing Tuesday's Playbook: NICK TAYLOR-VAISEY and SUE ALLAN. Playbook wouldn’t happen without: POLITICO Canada editor Sue Allan, editor Willa Plank and Luiza Ch. Savage. Want to grab the attention of movers and shakers on Parliament Hill? Want your brand in front of a key audience of Ottawa influencers? Playbook can help. Contact Jesse Shapiro to find out how: jshapiro@politico.com.
| | | | 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 | | | | |
