Ahmed Hussen's border project

Dec 06, 2024

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By Mickey Djuric and Nick Taylor-Vaisey

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Thanks for reading Ottawa Playbook. It’s Friday!

Let’s get to it:

→ AHMED HUSSEN tells Playbook about a Canada-U.S. border initiative.

→ The Senate pays tribute to the One Who Speaks of Pictures in the Sky.

→ Plus, who’s up and who’s down this week.

PLAYBOOK'S ONE-ON-ONE

UP IN THE AIR — Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU and his Cabinet have been serving up reality checks ever since the PM’s dinner with President-elect DONALD TRUMP at Mar-a-Lago.

This week Trudeau advised opposition leaders to avoid amplifying “erroneous narratives” Americans are putting forward about the border, arguing it plays into Trump’s hands as he threatens Canada with tariffs.

Now, after weeks of promising to ramp up border security, it looks like Liberals are starting to take their own advice.

— New talking points: Fewer than 1 percent of illegal crossings into the United States and 0.2 percent of fentanyl seizures were at the Canadian border, Canada’s Ambassador to the U.S. KIRSTEN HILLMAN told CNN this week.

— Change of subject: Liberals are also trying to point out all the ways the Canadian side is already helping America.

Minister Ahmed Hussen takes questions on Parliament Hill.

International Development Minister Ahmed Hussen takes questions on the Hill. | Justin Tang, The Canadian Press

International Development Minister AHMED HUSSEN recently told Playbook the government has been quietly working on migration measures — a favorite Republican topic. Perhaps too quietly.

“We’re very modest people. We don’t brag,” he said — even if it means not getting the credit.
With a Trump administration, they're going to need to be yelling.

Since last year, Hussen has worked with U.S. Secretary of State ANTONY BLINKEN and other international agencies on several projects to help prevent migrants from Central and South America from embarking on a dangerous journey exposed to traffickers and cartels.

“We do a lot of work by keeping people in their communities by providing them with livelihoods,” Hussen said.

— How it works: Canada has helped set up centers along migration routes that connect with migrants traveling through Venezuela, Colombia and parts of Central America.

“Those hubs process people and triage them away from irregular migration to regular paths,” the minister said. That includes connecting migrants who are looking for work to fill labor shortages in other countries, or helping them apply for legal residency.

— Success story: He says his department provided microloans to 3,000 women in Guatemala who intended to migrate toward the U.S., said Hussen, who recently traveled to the country to meet with them. “They paid it back and their businesses are succeeding, and each one of them said they would not migrate anymore.”

In Guatemala alone, nearly 26,000 people have been helped at irregular migration diversion centres by Canada, the U.S. and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Hussen’s office said.

Data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection shows the southern border experienced approximately 2.1 million encounters with illegal immigration during the 2024 fiscal year.

— Show of goodwill: Spending international development dollars to confront illegal immigration is a “more humane” approach to border security and less expensive, Hussen argues.

— Up in the air: Hussen hopes Canada can continue the initiative under Trump. He’d also like to see it better funded, worrying it will be on the chopping block down the road. (Conservative Leader PIERRE POILIEVRE has promised to cut foreign aid.)

“I think that [the program] is something that the Trump administration is in favor of, if we can keep more people in their communities instead of embarking on a dangerous journey where they get exploited by traffickers in the cartels,” Hussen said.

Billions in spending. Critical foreign aid. Immigration reform. The final weeks of 2024 could bring major policy changes. Inside Congress provides daily insights into how Congressional leaders are navigating these high-stakes issues. Subscribe today.

WHO'S UP, WHO'S DOWN

Up: The backlog at Canada Post, which this week even extended its deadline on mail to the North Pole in the midst of an ongoing national postal workers strike.

Down: Carry-on baggage. Down more still: Consumer sentiment. “I am extremely concerned,” Transport Minister ANITA ANAND said this week. “Canadians work hard and save up to travel. They rightly expect excellent service, not extra fees.”

Where the leaders are

— Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU is in Montreal where he will attend a vigil to honor the victims of the massacre at the École Polytechnique de Montréal.

— Deputy PM CHRYSTIA FREELAND is in Toronto and will attend an event to mark the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women. At 2 p.m., she will visit an artificial intelligence company and make an announcement.

— Conservative Leader PIERRE POILIEVRE will attend an evening fundraiser at a private residence in North York.

— Bloc Leader YVES-FRANÇOIS BLANCHET has not released his public itinerary.

— NDP Leader JAGMEET SINGH will speak in the House about the NDP’s opposition day motion. Later, he will meet with U.S. Ambassador DAVID L. COHEN.

— Green Leader ELIZABETH MAY will attend Parliament virtually. She will meet with AMANDA KELLY, director of operations at the Braefoot Community Association. May will attend a citizenship ceremony in her riding of Saanich–Gulf Islands and co-host the monthly Saanich forum with BC Green MLA ROB BOTTERELl.

DULY NOTED

— Playbook is on high alert for Friday news.

MEDIA ROOM

— From MARK RAMZY of the Star: Trudeau government adds hundreds more assault-style weapons to its gun ban.

— CATHARINE TUNNEY of CBC News reports on PATRICK BROWN’s testimony to the House public safety committee. And here’s BOB FIFE and STEVE CHASE on the story.

— From CHRISTINA LEADLAY of The Hill Times: ANA POILIEVRE leads the Conservative road show.

— How is it possible 6.5 million Canadians can't find a family doctor? RYAN JESPERSEN put the question to Health Minister MARK HOLLAND and his provincial counterpart, Alberta Health Minister ADRIANA LAGRANGE on the latest episode of “Real Talk.”

— KATHRYN HARRISON, a professor of political science at the University of British Columbia, warns at Maclean’s that cutting the carbon tax will cost Canada in the long run.

— “Trudeau should get out of his submissive posture and recognize that he is in a great position to humiliate Trump — not just for his sake but for ours,” BILL SCHER writes in Washington Monthly.

— NEIL MOSS at The Hill Times reports on discussions about a potential visit of U.S. senators to Ottawa. Liberal MP JOHN MCKAY breaks it down.

Write your own chapter in the new Washington. From the Lame Duck Congress Series to New Administration insights, POLITICO Pro delivers intelligence across 22+ policy areas to help you anticipate and navigate change. Discover how a Pro subscription empowers you. Learn more today.

PLAYBOOKERS

Birthdays: HBD to National Observer columnist MAX FAWCETT.

HBD + 1 to New West Public Affairs' MIKE SOLBERG, Navigator's MATT BARNES and CBC News reporter SHAWN JEFFORDS.

Sunday: Sen. STEPHEN GREENE is 75 (his retirement was recognized in the Senate last week). MAHDI ELLORHAOUI of McMillan Vantage also celebrates.

Got a document to share? A birthday coming up? Send deets.

Spotted: RICHARD MAHONEY of McMillan Vantage, throwing his annual Christmas bash at the Rainbow Bistro with his band, 20th Century Boys.

U.S. Ambassador DAVID COHEN, bidding farewell to movers and shakers at Lornado. A few of the faces we noted in the crowd: JIM WATSON, KATHLEEN MONK, TIFF and ROSEMARY MACKLEM, YVES-FRANÇOIS BLANCHET, HEATHER MCPHERSON, CHRIS HALL, TONDA MACCHARLES, WAYNE EYRE, PIERRE PAUL-HUS, ALLYCE HERLE and her brother DAVID, ASHLEY FRASER, STEPHANIE KUSIE, MARIEKE WALSH, STUART BENSON, NEIL MOSS, PHILIPPE J. FOURNIER and your Playbook crew.

Former Cabinet Minister RANDY BOISSONNAULT, at committee defending his family’s heritage and his business dealings.

Canada’s ambassador to the U.S. KIRSTEN HILLMAN, celebrating the Christmas tree lighting at the Washington embassy. The tree is from Nova Scotia.

Movers and shakers: SHANE MACKENZIE is taking on a new role as VP of media relations at the Canadian Chamber of Commerce. He was previously the director of communications for Heritage Minister PASCALE ST-ONGE.

JOSHUA KRANE has joined MLT Aikins LLP to lead its competition law and foreign investment practice. He was previously at McMillan LLP and is based in Ottawa.

Media mentions: ALEX BALLINGALL is now the Toronto Star’s deputy bureau chief in Ottawa.

In memoriam: Sen. CHANTAL PETITCLERC paid tribute to the late MURRAY SINCLAIR this week in the Senate: “In the end he was always Mazina Giizhik-iban — the One Who Speaks of Pictures in the Sky. He left us an Anishinaabe Inini, true to his heart.

“About two cords of timber kept the sacred fire going non-stop for days. His spirit was fed with his favorite foods, including his preferred candy: jujubes. Three Fires hosted a private funeral with his family and close ones. That day, Murray, who loved rock music and began riding a motorcycle at 70 years old, was escorted in a casket by fellow bikers to his final resting place. They played, loud and clear, Pink Floyd’s song “Another Brick in the Wall.

“This makes me smile, as I am sure it made him smile. He gave us many gifts.”

There were many more tributes to Sinclair in the Senate, which you can read here.

PROZONE

For POLITICO Pro subscribers, our latest policy newsletter by MIKE BLANCHFIELD: Transatlantic advice on Trump’s tariffs.

In other Pro headlines:

— US to global court: You can’t make us tackle climate change.

— Biden official to lawmakers: LNG study coming mid-December.

— Meta joins Big Tech push for nuclear-powered data centers.

— Trump taps Army, NASA chiefs.

— European Commission orders TikTok to preserve all data on Romanian election.

TRIVIA

Thursday’s answer: Former Liberal MP and Cabmin JEAN AUGUSTINE championed the motion that created Black History Month.

Props to SARA MAY, ANTHONY VALENTI, TERRY DUGUID, ROBERT MCDOUGALL, WILL BULMER, LAURA JARVIS, RAY DEL BIANCO, JOHN ECKER, BARRIE FRIEL, MARCEL MARCOTTE, KAY STANLEY, J.D.M. STEWART, JOHN ALHO, KATIE FEENAN and PATRICK DION.

Friday’s question: “The city would have been ours in an hour, probably without firing a shot. But 800 ran, and unfortunately the wrong way.” What event in December 1837 were they describing?

Answer to ottawaplaybook@politico.com

Writing Monday's Playbook: SUE ALLAN and NICK TAYLOR-VAISEY.

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.

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