Omicron and on and on

A daily look inside Canadian politics and power.

Dec 16, 2021 View in browser   By Nick Taylor-Vaisey and Zi-Ann Lum Send tips | Subscribe here | Follow Politico Canada PROGRAMMING NOTE: Ottawa Playbook won't publish from Dec. 20 to Dec. 31. We'll be back on schedule on Jan. 3. WELCOME TO OTTAWA PLAYBOOK. I'm your host, Nick Taylor-Vaisey with Zi-Ann Lum. Today, governments across the land are reacting to Omicron … at varying speeds. The feds ink another child-care deal, and the prime minister rings up the premier of Canada's biggest province. Reminder: Two sitting days remain until MPs flee the capital. Driving the Day FIRST THING — Defense Minister ANITA ANAND is self-isolating after one of her staff tested positive for Covid. Anand had planned to travel to Washington for her first in-person meeting with U.S. Secretary of Defense LLOYD AUSTIN. They met virtually instead. KEEPING UP WITH COVID — "Don't have mass gatherings." That was top doctor THERESA TAM's advice on Wednesday, less than a day after three NHL teams played to packed Canadian arenas — while another, the Calgary Flames, had games postponed because too many players and coaches were sidelined by Covid. The last time sports fans watched Covid calamity strike their favorite leagues, the circumstances were far different. Exhibit A: Seventy-six percent of Canada's population has received two vaccine doses. No one really knows what Omicron is about to unleash on Canada. But early data suggests a far more transmissible variant than the deadly Delta. Tam doesn't control the provinces, but she sent out a loud signal: don't fill arenas. — Reaction time: Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU will get on the horn today with Ontario Premier DOUG FORD. Any guesses about what's on their agenda? The phone call comes as both men are under fire for reacting way too sluggishly to Omicron. — The knocks against them: Trudeau's government slapped a travel ban on 10 African countries shortly after Omicron was first detected in Botswana and South Africa. An army of critics say the ban never made sense, because the variant had likely at that point already snuck past borders everywhere. The feds kept it in place. Ford's government has been slammed for not ramping up booster campaigns, widely seen as the best protection against whatever Omicron has in store. So far only about 9 percent of eligible Ontarians have a booster. He also chose not to reduce capacity limits in large venues. On Monday, 19,463 people watched the Toronto Raptors soundly defeat the Sacramento Kings at Scotiabank Arena. — The federal pivot: Tam signaled a shift in thinking Wednesday on the travel ban. "I think this is a policy that needs to be revisited," she told reporters. Earlier, a phalanx of Cabinet ministers at a press conference noted the seriousness of the situation with one of the least-intrusive measures at their disposal: an advisory to avoid non-essential international travel. Omicron is already spreading like wildfire. The travel advisory wasn't much more than an indication that Canadians should sensitize themselves to more uncertainty. "I understand this sucks," Trudeau told his own news conference, echoing his own words more than a year ago. "This is not what anyone wanted for our Christmas holidays. Not much in the last year has been what anyone wanted." Health Minister JEAN-YVES DUCLOS insisted that Ottawa would deliver enough booster shots for every eligible Canadian. The current inventory numbers 16 million, but he promised millions were on the way "in the coming weeks." The ministers also crowed about the millions of rapid tests they'd delivered to the provinces. — This is less subtle: At his own press conference, Ford announced the kind of restriction that sports fans hoped was ancient history. He reduced the capacity of large venues to 50 percent — still far too high for epidemiologists who worry about superspreader events, but a clear signal to Ontarians about what lies ahead. Ford also hurried up his province's booster campaign. Everyone over the age of 18 is eligible for a third dose starting Monday. His government is also launching a massive distribution campaign for rapid tests, to be distributed at hundreds of provincially run liquor stores and dozens of pop-up sites (notably: none in Ottawa, yet). — Same ol' federal patchwork: British Columbia, home of the Vancouver Canucks, hasn't yet committed to reduced capacity in arenas. The province's case counts are still low compared to Ontario and Quebec. But how long can that last? Everything's normal until it isn't. And Canadian governments have a bad habit of reacting weeks late to Covid-era threats. — Related reading from The Star: Omicron is making the holidays complicated. 50 COVID experts weigh in with their advice. ROUGH TRADE — There's no supply chain shortage for U.S.-Canada trade irritants. The Biden administration fired a flare Wednesday over a piece in Finance Minister CHRYSTIA FREELAND's fiscal update reaffirming Canada's pursuit of a digital service tax (DST) in case a new international tax treaty fails to come into force. POLITICO's Doug Palmer has more for Pro subscribers on how the news didn't go over well in the U.S. trade rep's office. — Fighting words: "Canada's proposed DST would create the possibility of significant retroactive tax liabilities with immediate consequences for U.S. companies," said U.S. Trade Representative spokesperson ADAM HODGE in a statement. "If Canada adopts a DST, USTR would examine all options, including under our trade agreements and domestic statutes." ICYMI: Americans aren't into foreign legislation that discriminates against U.S. companies. — New year imports: The DST irritant is the latest addition to a pile of high-profile U.S.-Canada trade files likely to keep Trudeau cabinet ministers Freeland, MARY NG and MARIE-CLAUDE BIBEAU busy through the holidays. The dispute over the Build Back Better legislation's protectionist EV tax credit is right at the top of the list. Canada seems to be the last priority of at least one Senate Democrat. CBC reporter (and POLITICO alum) ALEX PANETTA asked Ohio Sen. SHERROD BROWN about the EV tax credit issue. His blunt response: " I don't care what Canada thinks." The EV tax credit bilateral blinking contest could escalate when Freeland and Ng publish their promised list of American goods that Canada is ready to slap with retaliatory tariffs. It's been almost a week since the pair promised those details in the "coming days." Ng said they're still "working on it" as of Wednesday. With a Christmas deadline fading for BBB, it's looking more likely that the legislation will be bounced to the new year. Which gives Team Canada a little more runway. House Speaker NANCY PELOSI, however, says she's "still hopeful" BBB will pass before year's end. — Spuds buds : Don't forget about P.E.I. potatoes. Trade restrictions propelled Premier DENNIS KING to lead a delegation with his Agriculture Minister BLOYCE THOMPSON, advisor and ex-Liberal MP WAYNE EASTER, and P.E.I. Potato Board's GREG DONALD to D.C. this week. The goal: Get the province's spuds back in the U.S. market after concerns over a fungus temporarily suspended trade last month. Bibeau, the federal ag minister, said she's not expecting a quick resolution. "It would be ambitious to think it could be solved by the end of the year," she told reporters. DAYS WITH NO DOCS: 51 — The government is edging closer to the two-month mark since Cabinet was sworn in, and still the Prime Minister's Office has made no mention of new mandate letters for ministers. Playbook is counting. Bet on this week (we think). AROUND THE HILL GAVEL TIME — MARC GARNEAU is no longer a simple backbencher. His colleagues at the Indigenous and northern affairs committee elected him their chair. That means all three ministers dropped from Cabinet in October now run House committees. BARDISH CHAGGER heads up procedure and House affairs. JIM CARR is at public safety. JOHN MCKAY, a hardened veteran of parliamentary committees, is now helming national defense. RENÉ ARSENEAULT was elected to lead official languages. JOHN ALDAG, the former chair of environment, now heads up natural resources. He was nominated by MICHELLE REMPEL GARNER, who beat the pre-election chair of the committee, JAMES MALONEY, to the punch. A CHRISTMAS POEM — Everybody on the Hill with a sense of humor used to look forward to Cape Breton MP RODGER CUZNER's festive poetry. The gregarious Liberal penned stanzas year after year, in government and opposition. When Cuzner retired — he's now consul general in Boston — another Liberal took up the mantle. ANTHONY HOUSEFATHER entered the chat in 2019: 'Twas the last sitting week before Christmas / And who knew? / That Cuzner's Christmas poem tradition / Would be assumed by a Jew. Housefather delivered a Covid-era verse in 2020, and Wednesday brought his latest rendition — a refreshingly self-aware reflection on the September election. We just had an election, spending and effort galore / Yet, when it ended, the House of Commons was the same as before / Nobody got what they wanted. / For the Libs, hopes of a majority dashed / And for the opposition, its chances of forming government trashed. — Where are they now: You can find Cuzner at Playbook's virtual trivia night on a team with fellow former MPs MEGAN LESLIE and JAMES RAJOTTE — a multi-partisan reunion of talking heads on CTV's Power Play. ALYSON FAIR, a longtime producer on that show, entered with the Bluesky Strategy squad. Want to join the fun? Details are at the bottom of Playbook. HOUSE BUSINESS AGAINST THE CLOCK — There's today, and tomorrow, and then the great abyss of a winter break for parliamentarians. The Liberals have passed a single bill, the conversion therapy ban that sailed through the Commons on its third try and sprinted through the Senate. The new law proved collegiality can be infectious in the House. — What's left: But three other priorities are still in the House. Freeland's's Covid benefits haven't made it to the Senate. Liberals also hope to establish 10 days of paid sick leave for federally regulated workers and create new criminal code offences that protect health-care workers.They're in the same bill: C-3. Both bills have cleared committee and require a third-reading vote in the Commons before repeating the entire legislative process in the Senate. But they're not starting totally from scratch: a Senate committee already pre-studied C-3. The clock, though, keeps ticking. — At House committee: At 11 a.m. the House Standing Committee on Public Accounts meets to elect a chair. In the same time slot with the same mission: OGGO (government operations and estimates). Later this afternoon, three more House committees will pick chairs: justice and human rights, agriculture and agri-food and transportation, infrastructure and communities. The finance committee meets at 3:30 p.m. — Over in the Senate: At 9 a.m. the Senate Committee on Energy, the Environment and Natural Resources will hold an organization meeting. TODAY'S HIGHLIGHTS — PM Trudeau's only agenda item is his conversation with Doug Ford. — NDP leader JAGMEET SINGH will attend QP, but not in-person — a reflection of his party's aversion to a people-filled chamber. — Public Safety Minister MARCO MENDICINO will be at the House public safety committee at 11 a.m. where RCMP Commissioner BRENDA LUCKI is also scheduled to appear. — Deputy Prime Minister CHRYSTIA FREELAND will appear (virtually) in the Senate at 5 p.m. to defend C-2. HALLWAY CONVERSATION ALL BUT ONE — The prime minister announced his latest C$10-a-day fed-prov child care deal on Wednesday: a five-year, C$50-million deal with Northwest Territories Premier CAROLINE COCHRANE . Trudeau's government has inked deals with nine provinces and two territories. The holdouts: Nunavut and Ontario. Playbook caught up with Sen. ROSEMARY MOODIE, a pediatrician appointed in 2018 to the Red Chamber — a place, she noted, with "very little focus on children." Moodie, who represents Ontario, vented frustration about the lack of a deal with Ford's government. She didn't exactly hold back. (This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.) You've been watching as other provinces have signed on the dotted line. Is Ontario simply a more complicated province? I know that Ontario likes to think that we are unique, and has raised the question of sustained guaranteed funding and provincial pre-kindergarten and kindergarten programs needing funding and so on, as if that is a unique issue. But we are not unique. If you think about the other provinces, everyone has some of the same issues. It's unclear to me why Ontario isn't getting a fair deal when the other provinces are satisfied with the deal, and have accepted it. Why is Ontario's program deserving of this special attention when what we're looking at is elevating all of Canada — providing a universal, standardized, improved quality, affordable program. Alberta was also driving a hard bargain, but they eventually found a compromise that worked for both sides. I really want to stay away from partisan battles. But one is impressed that Alberta signed on before Ontario. It's not clear why Ontario has not been able to provide an action plan or a strategy on what childcare could look like in this province. It seems to have very little to do, frankly, with what's best for families. Aside from the sheer cost to parents, what are some of Ontario's most pressing child care challenges? Modeling is telling us 200,000 new spaces will be needed by the end of next year, and in the next few years 100,000 more. That's a lot of spaces. That's a lot of human resources that we will have to find. We did a tour in a new daycare center in Toronto. What we heard was that really the unsung heroes in this whole debate are the workers. Many of them are women, many of them young. They talk about this three-year window when they'll leave the field because the pay is not great and the career opportunities are limited. They really love their work. But something has to change for us to maintain and build the sector so that we would be able to actually provide service, not just funding, for these additional physical spaces. ASK US ANYTHING What are you hearing that you need Playbook to know? Send it all our way. PROZONE Pro subscribers should not miss the Pro Canada PM memo from ZI-ANN LUM and ANDY BLATCHFORD: The latest on the newest Canada-U.S. trade spat. In other headlines for subscribers: — Canada warns against international travel amid Omicron surge. — Bibeau says there's no quick fix to Canada-U.S. potato dispute. — Biden administration warns Canada not to adopt digital service tax. — Canada's inflation rate still sizzling. — Bipartisan deal to crack down on China's treatment of Muslims stalls in Senate. MEDIA ROOM — From our colleagues in Europe: France to restrict travel from UK amid Omicron surge. — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS reports: Enbridge moved Wednesday to shift to federal court a Michigan lawsuit seeking shutdown of Line 5. —Top of CBC this morning: How does Omicron spread so fast? On Frontburner, ANDRE PICARD discusses Covid and Canada's pandemic response. — The Star's STEPHANIE LEVITZ scoops: "Trudeau government committing C$1B to help provinces — and maybe cities — get rid of handguns." — Security analyst STEPHANIE CARVIN is on The Big Story podcast today, which considers: Does Canada have a strategy for China? — If the Assembly of First Nations wants to go forward, it needs to change, former candidates for national chief tell APTN. — ALEX BOUTILIER of Global News digs into 13 ridings where Tories believe foreign interference may have played a role in the result in the last election. PLAYBOOKERS Birthdays: HBD to MARY NG, who is 52 today (Psst: any American lawmakers out there who want to settle an irritant or two today?).… Liberal MP JUDY SGRO is 77 Former Liberal MP KENT HEHR is 52.… Sen. STAN KUTCHER celebrates a milestone birthday ... and Olympian DONOVAN BAILEY is 54! Spotted: British High Commissioner to Canada SUSANNAH GOSHKO in the PM's office.… Québec's general delegate MARTINE HÉBERT with Rep. ABIGAIL SPANBERGER (D-Va.) and meeting over some petit-déjeuner with Chesapeake, Virginia Mayor RICK WEST, Sen. MARK WARNER (D-Va.), Warner's Regional Director DREW LUMPKIN and Norfolk City Manager CHIP FILER…. NWT Premier CAROLINE COCHRANE's IRL meeting with NWT Sen. MARGARET DAWN ANDERSON. Movers and shakers: ANEIL JASWAL, a senior policy adviser to CHRYSTIA FREELAND, left the Hill. He started at the Canada Infrastructure Bank as director of sector strategies.… KEVIN DEN HEIJER, most recently a policy adviser to former health minister PATTY HAJDU, belatedly announced his own departure from the precinct. Next stop : Enterprise Canada's health practice.… JEREMY BELLEFEUILLE left a dcomm gig with DIANE LEBOUTHILLIER for a dcomm gig with GUDIE HUTCHINGS. Nominations for the Captain Nichola Goddard Leadership Award are open. The award was created to recognize and honor young Canadians who have made an inspiring early or mid-career contribution to Canadian security and defense. Media mentions: RACHEL GIESE resurfacing at the Globe and Mail.… The Globe's ANDRE PICARD boasts that his book, Neglected No More, cracked CBC's 2021 non-fiction best-of list. Toronto Star's RICHARD WARNICA bidding adieu to Twitter with some well-written (classic) thoughts: "Be kind and be as safe as one can reasonably be. As we navigate the next wave of all of this s--t, try to remember the people who haven't had a break, who will be working through the worst of it again, no matter what." MP FRANK CAPUTO celebrated Kamloops sportscaster EARL SEITZ on his retirement after a five-decade career. Farewells: Liberal MP GREG FERGUS paid tribute to the life of NICOLE BEAUDIN in the House on Wednesday: "Mr. Speaker, last Saturday, the parliamentary community lost one of its most beloved members." Fergus noted Beaudin's 50-year career in the precinct, including 20 working in four Speakers' offices. She also loved Elvis, the (hockey) Senators, and Bingo. Manitoba MLA DANIELLE ADAMS was remembered in the House on Wednesday. "On Dec. 9 we lost a friend, a colleague and a fighter for our north," MP NIKI ASHTON said. TRIVIA SAVE THE DATE — Don't make plans for Dec. 21 at 7 p.m. ET. Playbook is whipping up our first-ever virtual trivia night with Outside The Box Trivia. It will be a chance to show off your knowledge of #cdnpoli. RSVP with your team details to Ottawa Playbook. Registration is free. If you've already signed up, we'll send details today. The trivia platform enables you to gather six teammates from all over — you can play and collaborate at the same virtual table, as long as you all have access to WiFi. Wednesday's answer: Ontario adopted the common loon — Gavia immer, as some of you noted — as its official bird in 1994. Props to a lot of people — and thanks for your very nice notes: LEIGH LAMPERT, GORDON PHANEUF, LESLEY LUTES, CULLY ROBINSON, WALTER ROBINSON, STEVE DHONDT, GEORGE YOUNG, SHEILA GERVAIS, DENNIS SEEBACH, ALAN KAN, LAURA JARVIS, FRANK STALLONS, ROBERT McDOUGALL, JOHN GUOBA, WAYNE FLEMING, GARY ALLEN, GOZDE KAZAZOGLU, BOOTS TAYLOR-VAISEY, BOB GORDON and BRAM ABRAMSON, who pointed us to Mwakwa Talks to the Loon: A Cree Story for Children. Thursday's question: ETHEL BLONDIN-ANDREW was the first Indigenous woman elected to the House of Commons. In what year did she win her seat? Send your answers to ottawaplaybook@politico.com Have a petition you want signed? A cause you're promoting? Seeking to increase brand awareness amongst this key audience? Share your message with our influential readers to foster engagement and drive action. Contact Alejandra Waase to find out how: awaase@politico.com. Playbook wouldn't happen without Luiza Ch. Savage, occasional guest editor Ben Pauker, Zi-Ann Lum and Andy Blatchford.   Follow us on Twitter Nick Taylor-Vaisey @TaylorVaisey Sue Allan @susan_allan Andy Blatchford @AndyBlatchford Maura Forrest @MauraForrest Zi-Ann Lum @ziannlum POLITICO Canada @politicoottawa   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

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