| | | | |  | | By Nick Taylor-Vaisey and Mickey Djuric | | Presented by |  | | | Send tips | Subscribe here | Email Ottawa Playbook | Follow Politico Canada Thanks for reading Ottawa Playbook. It’s Friday! Let’s get to it: → The latest on DONALD TRUMP's spree of high-profile appointments. → Health Minister MARK HOLLAND's trouble with deadlines. → The “unusually traumatic” conflict zones where GAC employees live and work. |  | FIRST THINGS FIRST | |
POSTAL STRIKE — Canada Post workers walked off the job earlier this morning, CBC News reports.
"A strike is a last resort," read a statement from the Canadian Union of Postal Workers. "We still believe we can achieve negotiated collective agreements, but Canada Post must be willing to resolve our new and outstanding issues." Canada Post warned customers of long delays ahead: "All mail and parcels in the postal network will be secured and delivered as quickly as possible on a first-in, first-out basis once operations resume. However, a national strike of any length will impact service to Canadians well after the strike activity ends." | | TRANSITION TIME | | CEREAL CLAIMS — It's not like everybody DONALD TRUMP wants to put in his Cabinet has a bone to pick with JUSTIN TRUDEAU's Canada. Take ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR., the anti-vaccine activist who just earned Trump's nod as America's next secretary of health and human services. — Loop scoop: Kennedy's parents met at Quebec's Mont Tremblant ski resort. His years of environmental activism regularly targeted Canadian companies. But RFK Jr. has actually looked north for inspiration, arguing that Canadian-made Froot Loops are made of fewer ingredients — and by extension healthier — than their American counterparts. The Washington Post dug into the oft-debunked child health advocate's claims, and found nearly the same number of ingredients in both versions. Canadian regulations on food dyes, which limit their usage, accounted for the slight difference.
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If the U.S. Senate confirms Robert F. Kennedy Jr., our colleagues write: "it will presage the biggest rethinking of the U.S. public health system ever." | Rebecca Noble/Getty Images | More from POLITICO: How RFK Jr. could cause an earthquake for American public health — Next man up: Still, on Canada-focused digital footprints, RFK is no SEBASTIAN GORKA — a leading candidate for deputy national security adviser, our colleagues report. Gorka, a Trump aide for seven months in 2017, was "criticized within the administration for showing up at random meetings and raising unrelated points." On the subject of Trudeau, Gorka couldn't have been much blunter in 2018. "This man is reprehensible," he tweeted in response to the PM's advocacy for abortion rights. Asked to comment on speculation about his potential Trump 2.0 gig, Gorka told a POLITICO reporter to "take a long jump off a short pier."
| | | | A message from The Public Policy Forum: The Public Policy Forum builds bridges among diverse participants in the policymaking process, offering new perspectives and feeding fresh ideas into policy discussions. We research issues, convene frank, publicly interested dialogue, find practical policy solutions and celebrate exceptional policy leaders. We also publish reports that help move the policymaking needle. Most recently we released our 2024 Atlantic Momentum Index, which highlighted a region experiencing unprecedented growth while grappling with the challenges that accompany rapid expansion. | | | | | For your radar | | DEADLINES, SCHMEADLINES — Health Minister MARK HOLLAND slipped a press release into Thursday afternoon's news lull. — The headline: At 21 seconds past 4 p.m., Holland announced a committee of experts who will "recommend options" on "how to operate and finance a national, universal, single-payer pharmacare program in Canada." — So much for punctuality: When Bill C-64 received royal assent on Oct. 10, the government had 30 days to establish the committee. Last week, Holland's office told Playbook he would "comply with the deadline set out in the legislation" — i.e. Saturday, Nov. 9, a day that came and went with no announcement (or explanation). It's not clear why the government appears to have whiffed on its own deadline. Holland's office blamed the Remembrance Day statutory holiday and "unforeseen circumstances" for the delay in "final member selection" and the announcement. — Why it matters: This is Ottawa, where no ambitious idea escapes the tractor beam of a carefully crafted committee — or task force (or working group [or expert panel]). The pharmacare committee will craft next steps on the road to a national program — a federal priority that emerged from the now-defunct Liberal-NDP supply and confidence deal. Liberals are sure to campaign on the file, and New Democrats who take credit for it even being a thing are tracking progress closely. The group is important enough that The Council of Canadians, a nonprofit that advocates for public health care, fretted about corporate interests lobbying for seats at the table — and applauded the group that emerged. — The members: A selection of notable names in the pharmacare space. NAV PERSAUD, the committee chair, is also the Canada Research Chair in Health Justice — and a physician at Toronto's St. Michael’s Hospital. STÉPHANE AHERN is an intensive care and internal medicine specialist at a Montreal hospital, as well as a prof at Université de Montréal. AMY LAMB is executive director of Indigenous Pharmacy Professionals of Canada. STEVE MORGAN is a prof at the University of British Columbia, billed there as the country's "leading expert on pharmacare systems." LINDA SILAS is president of the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions. — New deadline: The committee has one year to report back to Holland following conversations with "public and private drug plan administrators, patients, healthcare providers, industry, business, labor and academics." Some of those voices sit around the table. Others — ahem — definitely do not. → Spoiler alert: Innovative Medicines Canada, a leading voice of pharmaceutical companies, didn't nab a seat. Nor did the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association or the Neighbourhood Pharmacy Association of Canada. — Feedback clapback: Innovative Medicines Canada said in a statement that it was "disappointed to see that, once again, the government has excluded the pharmaceutical industry's voice from important discussions on pharmacare in Canada." — On the same beat: Provinces say no word from feds on striking pharmacare deals over a month after law passes, reports the Hill Times' IAN CAMPBELL.
| | | | The lame duck session could reshape major policies before year's end. Get Inside Congress delivered daily to follow the final sprint of dealmaking on defense funding, AI regulation and disaster aid. Subscribe now. | | | | | | | Where the leaders are | | — Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU is in Peru for the APEC summit. The PM's bilats include Indonesian President PRABOWO SUBIANTO and South Korean President YOON SUK YEOL. Trudeau will also participate in the Leaders’ Dialogue, the Economic Leaders’ Working Luncheon Dialogue and the Economic Leaders' Dinner. He'll join a fireside chat at the APEC CEO Summit 2024, where Trade Minister MARY NG will also be in attendance. — Deputy PM CHRYSTIA FREELAND is in Toronto where her itinerary indicates she will meet with leaders from the nuclear energy sector in response to the U.S. election. The meeting is closed to media. — Conservative Leader PIERRE POILIEVRE attends a party fundraiser at Hawksworth Restaurant in Vancouver, British Columbia. — Bloc Leader YVES-FRANÇOIS BLANCHET and Green Leader ELIZABETH MAY have not released their public itineraries. — NDP Leader JAGMEET SINGH is in Hamilton, Ontario, where at 11:45 a.m. he will speak to media about his plan to “scrap the GST off of essentials for families.”
| | DULY NOTED | | — Environment Minister STEVEN GUILBEAULT will be in Châteauguay, Québec, at 9:30 a.m. with an announcement on conserving nature in the Montérégie region. — Tourism Minister SORAYA MARTINEZ FERRADA is with her G7 counterparts in Florence, Italy. — Industry Minister FRANÇOIS-PHILIPPE CHAMPAGNE is in Palo Alto, California, to meet business and tech leaders. — It’s a housing announcement day for the Liberals: JENNA SUDDS in Ottawa; RANDY BOISSONNAULT in Edmonton; STEVEN MACKINNON in Montreal; AHMED HUSSEN in Guelph; GARY ANANDASANGAREE in Toronto; and CHURENCE ROGERS in Clarenville, Newfoundland and Labrador. — The Parliamentary Budget Office will share housing news at 11 a.m. with new analysis on immigration levels and Canada’s housing gap. — At 2:15 p.m. CRTC officials will hold a virtual technical briefing for the media to discuss its work to implement the Online Streaming Act.
| | | | A message from The Public Policy Forum:   | | | | | PAPER TRAIL | | GET OUT OF DODGE — Canadians live in the middle of war and unrest all over the world. A memo authored by Global Affairs Canada bureaucrats revealed the distressing conditions in which some of the department's employees toil overseas. The document, obtained via the federal access-to-information law, recommended three weeks of decompression leave for staff as they depart posts in some of the world's most chaotic conflict zones. — Hotspots: The post-assignment leave, as well as "targeted counseling support," was pitched for staff in the Middle East (Tel Aviv and Ramallah), Haiti, Burkina Faso and Myanmar — all of which were described as "unusually traumatic" environments. → Middle East: GAC employees in Israel and the West Bank have been “profoundly affected by frequent airstrike warnings and have spent significant time in bunkers or safe rooms over a span of months,” the doc says. They live and work “alongside local residents who have suffered extreme trauma within family and community circles related to the initial October 7 attacks and ongoing civilian losses.” Many live apart from their families, who have long since been evacuated. → Haiti: Canadian staff in Port-au-Prince “regularly hear gunshots” near their quarters amid widespread gang-related violence and political instability: “Some have witnessed severely mutilated bodies in the street.” They live with poor electricity and internet, and “must seek medical care outside Haiti, if security conditions permit.” → Burkina Faso: A "growing terrorist threat is encroaching" on the capital of Ouagadougou following a 2022 coup d'etat. Peer countries are “decreasing their footprint” in the country. “Videos of killings circulate freely on social media,” the memo notes, “with severe impact” on the health of employees — and an uptick in sick and stress leave, as well as absenteeism. → Myanmar: Years of civil war and genocide have had a “tremendous psychosocial impact on staff,” the memo says, "due to graphic images of mutilations, massacres, decapitations and torture ongoing throughout the [2021] coup, the Rohingya crisis and genocide.” "Anti-coup activists" have ratcheted up attacks near the Canadian mission. Staff require armored vehicles for evening travel and trips to the airport. They risk arbitrary detention, "with former diplomatic personnel and foreigners having been detained by the regime." If they get sick, the country's healthcare system has "essentially collapsed." — Approved: CINDY TERMORSHUIZEN, GAC's associate deputy minister for foreign affairs, signed off on the proposal on June 25 — the same day, as it turns out, that PM JUSTIN TRUDEAU announced her reassignment as deputy minister for the G7 Summit and sherpa for the G7 and G20 summits.
| | | WHO'S UP, WHO'S DOWN | | Up: Column yards on what Trump’s win means for Canada. Down: Hope and optimism at the U.N. climate conference in Baku, Azerbaijan.
| | | | Policy change is coming—be the pro who saw it first. Access POLITICO Pro’s Issue Analysis series on what the transition means for agriculture, defense, health care, tech, and more. Strengthen your strategy. | | | | | | | | MEDIA ROOM | | | — “This is truly the end of the Pax Americana. This is it, it’s over,” former U.S. ambassador to NATO IVO DAALDE tells POLITICO as JOE BIDEN heads into his final run of summits. — “The world could be in store for an economic upheaval,” Foreign Policy’s STEFAN THEIL writes of the looming return of former USTR ROBERT LIGHTHIZER. — From The Globe: "ArriveCan contractor who worked at DND posed ‘high risk’ of sharing sensitive information, documents reveal" — ILYA GRIDNEFF reports in The Financial Times that the Canada China Business Council is in Beijing to discuss potential energy and other business deals in a trip that could put Canada’s “reconciliation” goals at odds with its national security priorities. — From ANDREW MACLEOD , legislative bureau chief for The Tyee: Everyone has a JOHN HORGAN story. By the way, the online book of condolences is here. — Calgary Herald columnist CHRIS NELSON writes: “It was already on life support. So, please, pull the plug and put the idea of an Alberta pension plan out of its misery.”
| | | PLAYBOOKERS | | |
Birthdays: HBD to JOHN (J.D.) ROBERTS, Usher of the Black Rod J. GREG PETERS, Alberta’s TRAVIS TOEWS (60!) and former MPs FRANK BAYLIS and JONATHAN TREMBLAY (40!).
Saturday: JORDAN PAQUET, senior consultant at Bluesky Strategy Group, is 40. Sunday: Former MP INKY MARK. Got a document to share? A birthday coming up? Send deets. Spotted: Ontario Economic Development Minister VIC FEDELI, boasting about TAYLOR SWIFT's incoming massive economic boost in Toronto. JODY WILSON-RAYBOULD, celebrating her new book on the Globe’s bestseller list. Noted: The Onion bought Infowars at a bankruptcy auction. Movers and shakers: HARRY ORBACH-MILLER started a new gig as manager of strategy at OPTrust , which administers the pension fund for the Ontario Public Service Employees Union … STEVE TAPP is the new president of the Canadian Association for Business Economics. Today is MATHIEU GRAVEL’s last day in the House speaker’s office as director of outreach and media relations. OLIVER DUHAIME takes over the position. Media mentions: Longtime CBC'er MICHAEL D'SOUZA was inducted into the broadcaster's hall of fame.
| | PROZONE | | |  Our colleagues in Baku are watching the COP29 presidency and its attempts to shepherd nearly 200 countries toward agreement. | Getty Images | For POLITICO Pro subscribers, our latest policy newsletter: The toughest question at COP29. In other Pro headlines: — EU warned to prepare for early Trump tariff action. — Senate Republicans squirm over Trump's tariff plans. — Auto trade group to GOP tax writers: Keep Biden’s EV credits. — Azerbaijan craters its own climate conference. — Extreme cold poses risk to much of US grid this winter, NERC finds. | | WHAT'S HAPPENING TODAY | | This week is a constituency week. The House and Senate do not sit.
| | | | A message from The Public Policy Forum: The Public Policy Forum’s latest report, called Adjusting the Sails: 2024 Atlantic Canada Momentum Index , makes a convincing case that Atlantic Canada is showing momentum across a range of indicators, including the macro economy, the labour market, human capital, innovation and investment, and quality of life. "Every sailor knows the old saying: We can't direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails," the report notes. "Atlantic Canada is in the biggest boom since the Second World War, but it won't last forever. In the last decade, social and demographic shifts as unpredictable as the wind have come from every compass point in Atlantic Canada — and it's clear political and economic leaders need to trim the sails if the region is to maintain its momentum." Sign up for PPF’s weekly Atlantic Momentum newsletter to keep up to date with breaking economic and innovation news from the region. | | | | | TRIVIA | | Thursday’s answer: LYDIA GRUCHY was the first woman minister in the United Church of Canada. Props to RAY DEL BIANCO, ROBERT MCDOUGALL, MALCOLM MCKAY, JOHN MERRIMAN, DENISE SIELE and MARY JANE ALLAN. Friday’s question: Who wrote of this day in history: “It was more than a sweep, it was a tidal wave, breaking in from everywhere to carry away the joyful crowd of adults laughing with tears in their eyes, children perched on their shoulders thrilled and amazed.” Answer to ottawaplaybook@politico.com Writing Monday'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 | | | | |
