From ‘too extreme’ to ‘not extreme enough’

May 20, 2022

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Programming note: Ottawa Playbook will not publish Monday, May 23. We'll be back in your inbox first thing Tuesday morning.

WELCOME TO OTTAWA PLAYBOOK. I'm your host, Maura Forrest, with Zi-Ann Lum in Washington. Today, JASON KENNEY 's departure makes waves on Parliament Hill. Speaking of being on the outs, Huawei is banned! And MÉLANIE JOLY gets personal on POLITICO's EU Confidential podcast.

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DRIVING THE DAY

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney.

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney at the Senate Energy Committee hearing at Dirksen Senate Office Building on May 17, 2022 in Washington, D.C. | Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images for the Government of Alberta

TURNING OF THE TIDE — "Is JASON KENNEY too extreme for the Conservatives?" the Walrus once asked.

This was back when everyone thought Kenney was STEPHEN HARPER's most likely replacement, back before he eschewed a run for the federal Conservative leadership in favor of provincial politics.

The concern then, at least among some Tories, was that Kenney's social conservatism "might win him the leadership of a party whose base increasingly leans to the right, [but] renders him unelectable in a general election."

In 2015, just before he became principal secretary to Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU, GERALD BUTTS had this to say: "The press loves Jason Kenney, but his beliefs are a mix of every right-wing crackpot theory on Earth."

Fast-forward to 2022. "Mr. Kenney was pushed out of his party because he wasn't extreme enough," Liberal Cabinet Minister RANDY BOISSONNAULT claimed Thursday. "It's time for the moderates and Conservative movements in this country to step up and ask themselves, 'Where is this train going and where is it going to stop?'"

— How times have changed: It would have been hard to imagine, a few years ago, that a Liberal would hold up Jason Kenney as a bastion of moderate conservatism.

But here we are. According to the CBC's JASON MARKUSOFF, Kenney was at once "one of the most ideologically conservative people to ever occupy … the premier's chair" and "not conservative enough."

— In Ottawa: The big question is what impact Kenney's effective ouster will have on an already divisive Conservative leadership race. Writing for the Hub, SEAN SPEER says Kenney was undone by "a scared and angry minority" defined by "a sense of embattlement and opposition" that threatens "the character of Canadian conservatism itself."

In the Toronto Star, SUSAN DELACOURT warns federal Conservative leadership frontrunner PIERRE POILIEVRE to be leery of that "raging political movement" he's currently courting: "If he does win, sooner or later he's going to fall afoul of them. It's inevitable."

Of the six leadership candidates, only SCOTT AITCHISON, the peacemaker, has issued a public statement wishing Kenney well. But Harper had this to say : "As Premier, history will record that he left Alberta in much better shape than he found it."

— Meanwhile, back in Alberta: Kenney says he'll stay on as UCP leader and premier until a new one is chosen. And former Wildrose Party leaders DANIELLE SMITH and BRIAN JEAN are already in the race to replace him.

AROUND THE HILL

The Huawei logo.

Sean Gallup/Getty Images

YEARS IN THE MAKING — Canada has finally announced it will ban Huawei and ZTE from the country's fifth-generation wireless network over national security concerns. But as POLITICO's ANDY BLATCHFORD reports, the move is likely more symbolic than anything else.

Canada is the last of the Five Eyes intelligence alliance to make a decision about allowing Huawei to participate in its 5G network. Industry Minister FRANÇOIS-PHILIPPE CHAMPAGNE acknowledged Thursday that the majority of Canada's 5G networks have already excluded the Chinese telecom giant's products in anticipation of a ban.

— The background: Ottawa's announcement has been delayed for years, likely in part due to the diplomatic freeze over the arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou, followed by China's detention of the two Michaels. Their safe return to Canada in September opened a door for Canada to move forward with a ban.

TRAVEL RULES — The Conservatives are once again pushing for the federal government to drop all remaining Covid travel restrictions, including random testing and screening questions, saying they're responsible for long lines at Canadian airports. In a Thursday opposition motion, the Conservatives say current pandemic rules "have been cited by experts as ineffective and contributing to additional delays, costs, and confusion."

DON'T MISS THE 2022 GREAT LAKES ECONOMIC FORUM: POLITICO is excited to be the exclusive media partner again at the Council of the Great Lakes Region's bi-national Great Lakes Economic Forum with co-hosts Gov. JB Pritzker and Mayor Lori Lightfoot. This premier, intimate networking event, taking place June 26-28 in Chicago, brings together international, national and regional leaders from business, government, academia and the nonprofit sector each year. "Powering Forward" is this year's theme, setting the stage to connect key decision-makers with thought leaders and agents of change to identify and advance solutions that will strengthen the region's competitiveness and sustainability in today's competitive climate of trade, innovation, investment, labor mobility and environmental performance. Register today.

Transport critic MELISSA LANTSMAN tells Playbook the Liberals are playing "pandemic politics" by refusing to lift the restrictions. "I think they've backed themselves into a corner where they control the message, and any relinquishing of that control is problematic for them politically," she said.

— Both sides now: Of course, the Conservatives could also be accused of playing politics here, to some degree. They want all Covid restrictions scrapped as part of this motion, including mask mandates, which have a fairly tenuous connection to wait times.

Meanwhile, the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority has pointed to staffing issues, rather than Covid rules, as the source of airport delays.

— Holding out: But Lantsman pointed out that the provinces have at this point scrapped most of their public health restrictions, including mask mandates. And Canada is behind some other countries on this — the EU, for example, has just dropped its mask mandate for flights and airports.

The Liberals have consistently said their decisions are guided by science. "What science are they getting that is different than anywhere else?" Lantsman asked.

A vote on the Conservative motion will take place May 30.

What do you think? Should Ottawa scrap its remaining Covid restrictions? Tell us at ottawaplaybook@politico.com.

ROYAL REFLECTIONS — PRINCE CHARLES and CAMILLA have gone home after a three-day visit to Canada that was perhaps most notable for the discussion it provoked about whether the QUEEN should apologize for the role of the British Crown in the residential school system. Thursday, Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister MARC MILLER shared his thoughts with reporters at some length. Here's a condensed, partly translated version of what he had to say:

"In a constitutional monarchy, all the effective power rests in the government through Parliament, and the monarchy and the Crown have no practical ability to do anything in this country and that's the way it should be.

"That said, [some] Indigenous peoples, particularly those in numbered treaties, feel a very deep and personal connection at times to the Crown. So whenever [apologies] are asked for, particularly in the optics of a survivor who is looking for an element of solace and healing, that could be of value. And to the extent that's communicated to me through Indigenous peoples, we would communicate that to Her Majesty.

"But as I've said, before the tour, there wasn't really this keen interest in having an apology from the Crown. We heard it more with the [upcoming] visit of the Pope. It's something we've heard here and there in the past, but I wouldn't say it's unanimous."

For your radar

Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly attends day two of the G-7 Summit of Foreign and Development Ministers.

Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly attends day two of the G-7 Summit of Foreign and Development Ministers on Dec. 12, 2021, in Liverpool, England. | Phil Noble/WPA Pool, Getty Images

DISPATCH FROM EUROPE — POLITICO's EU Confidential podcast sat down with Foreign Affairs Minister MÉLANIE JOLY in Brussels this week for a wide-ranging discussion that covered her recent visit to Ukraine, trade deals, and rebuilding Ottawa's damaged ties with Beijing. They also touched on her personal life with partner FÉLIX MARZELL, an industrial designer and former violin maker. Here's some of what she had to say:

"It's great to go back home and to be living with an artist, because we never talk about politics. His work is just so inspiring. So throughout this crisis, having somebody that was just able to ground me was not only important, but I would say fundamental.

"Félix and I have been trying to have children for some time and I've been undergoing IVF treatments for some time. And so the war has been difficult in the context of continuing these processes.

"But I'm privileged. On the night of the invasion, I was at home and I was able to be next to him and I said, 'Well, you know what? We are born, and we live on the other side of the ocean.' But I think also we live in the best country in the world."

Click here for the full podcast. And check out ANDY BLATCHFORD's overview of their conversation here.

STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING: What's really happening in West Wing offices? Find out who's up, who's down, and who really has the president's ear in our West Wing Playbook newsletter, the insider's guide to the Biden White House and Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details that you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today.

TODAY'S HIGHLIGHTS

9 a.m. Deputy Prime Minister CHRYSTIA FREELAND will participate in the G-7 finance ministers and central bank governors meeting in Bonn, Germany.

11 a.m. Government of Canada officials are scheduled to give a Covid-19 update.

11:30 a.m. Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU will visit Aluminerie Alouette, an aluminum manufacturing company in Sept-Îles, Quebec, to highlight investments in Canada's critical minerals sector.

1 p.m. (Pacific) Governor General MARY SIMON will begin a five-day visit to British Columbia with a welcoming ceremony at the Legislative Assembly Building in Victoria, followed by meetings with Premier JOHN HORGAN, the lieutenant governor and Indigenous leaders.

1:45 p.m. The prime minister is scheduled to meet with Chiefs of the Innu Nation.

2:45 p.m. Freeland will hold a virtual press conference from Munich, Germany.

3:30 p.m. Trudeau will meet with mineral technology students at the Cégep de Sept-Îles.

HALLWAY CONVERSATION

ZI-ANN LUM reports from D.C.:

Your Canadian Playbook correspondent got lost on Capitol Hill.

Congressional reporters have free mobility to cruise the polished stone and tiled corridors of their Hill to ask questions to whoever stops and listens. It's different in Canada's House of Commons where decision makers have shrunk access to a handful of Designated Scrum Zones (#PressFreedom). Why are our House rules so different?

Outside the House of Representatives, Rep. SUZAN DELBENE (D-Wash.) hopped out into the hallway between marathon votes Tuesday to talk about border state realities. Here are five things on DelBene's mind when it comes to Canada:

— Dairy: DelBene said ongoing concerns about trade issues over Canada's tariff-rate quotas predate her time as a member of Congress. The stateside statement is that Ottawa isn't living up its promise in the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement to open market access to get more American dairy products on Canadian store shelves.

It's "a big issue," DelBene said. "We've got a lot of dairy in my district."

— Baby formula: The shortage in the U.S. prompted President JOE BIDEN to invoke the Defense Production Act to drum up the production of U.S.-made infant formula.

"Canada may be able to help address this shortage," DelBene said." There's obviously work we could do with respect to Canada."

— The Liberals' proposed digital services tax: Democrats don't like it.

"Digital services taxes really have been mostly directed at U.S. companies, and so have been more discriminatory in that way and really don't address the kind of breadth of issues that come up when you talk about digital services and digital goods," DelBene said.

France, Italy, Spain, Austria and the United Kingdom withdrew their own digital taxation mechanism last year after making deals with the U.S. to remove retaliatory trade sanctions.

"It would be definitely concerning if Canada has a DST in before we get that straightened out. The ideal situation is to have an [Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development] agreement."

— Point Roberts: Located south of Vancouver, at the southernmost tip of Tsawwassen, B.C. is an American exclave. It's one of four such communities along the Canada-U.S. border.

Point Roberts is cut off from the rest of the continental states so the impact of a 19-month border shutdown has left its mark. "We have legislation I've been trying to pass to support Point Roberts, just because they have a lot of small businesses with the seasonality of the community," DelBene said. "Missing last summer was really hard."

Pent-up cross-border travel has also put the proposed Cascadia high-speed rail corridor connecting Vancouver, B.C. to Seattle and Portland on DelBene's radar. "We've been working on high-speed rail, and trying to get resources to be able to move that forward," she said. "If we can move people quickly, that's very, very important."

— Mutual aid and disaster relief : "Dramatic" floods left communities in the Pacific Northwest reeling last year and DelBene said it's an area of ongoing discussion because the U.S. and Canada stand to benefit from organized shared resources.

"We had a dramatic flood a few years earlier. And now a second one," DelBene said. American and Canadian governments are working on flood mitigation plans to handle overflow from Washington state's Nooksack river to prevent a repeat of November's Sumas dike breach.

A message from Meta Canada:

MEDIA ROOM

— In the Globe and Mail, PAM HRICK, KAT OWENS and FARRAH KHAN lay out what's true and what's not about the Supreme Court of Canada's ruling on self-induced extreme intoxication.

— Bloomberg Economics has lopped $1.6 trillion off its forecast for global GDP in 2022: "But what if that's just an initial hit?" Here's their "Big Take."

— Security expert STEPHANIE CARVIN and Citizen Lab's CHRISTOPHER PARSONS jumped on a Twitter Space just after the government's Huawei announcement. You can listen to their conversation here.

— The Star's STEPHANIE LEVITZ considers just what Kenney's resignation will do for conservatives.

— Earlier this week, POLITICO Energy host JOSH SIEGEL talked to JASON KENNEY about how Canada and the U.S. can expand their relationship in the energy sector, and why Washington should simply look north rather than asking OPEC for more oil. Catch the podcast here.

PROZONE

For POLITICO Pro subscribers, our policy newsletter: Joly's China objective: 'Reestablish ties'

In other headlines for Pros:
— Senate clears $40B Ukraine aid package.
— 5 challenges awaiting Biden on his Asia tour.
— Coinbase launches "crypto-native" think tank to research new technologies.
— WHO gives green light to coronavirus vaccine from China's CanSino Biologics.
— 5 things to know about the EU's plan to scrap Russian energy.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY

Keep up to House committee schedules here.

Find Senate meeting schedules here.

9 a.m. The Consulate General of Canada in New York is hosting an all-day event: "Responsible Tech Summit: Improving Digital Spaces" with virtual and limited in-person registration.

1 p.m. Cabinet ministers MARCI IEN and MARC MILLER attend the House status of women committee, which is studying resource development and violence against Indigenous women and girls.

1 p.m. The House industry and tech committee is studying Bill C-19. VASS BEDNAR is on the witness list, which also includes officials from Unifor, C.D. Howe Institute and the Canadian Bar Association.

1 p.m. The House committee on Indigenous and northern affairs will meet in camera to talk about its report on housing.

1 p.m. The House justice and human rights committee will be doing a clause-by-clause review of Bill C-5.

1 p.m. Officials from various departments will be at the House veterans affairs committee on survivor pension benefits. The Canadian Institute for Military and Veteran Health Research will also be represented.

Check out POLITICO Pro's calendar for additional committee activity, events and more.

PLAYBOOKERS

HBD today to Conservative MP ANDREW SCHEER. Canada's former ambassador to the U.S. RAYMOND CHRETIEN is 80! Also celebrating: JOE OLIVER, OTTO JELINEK and ANDRÉ GABIAS.

Saturday birthdays: Sen. FABIAN MANNING and former premier KATHLEEN WYNNE. Also celebrating: GUY BADEAUX, JACK GRANATSTEIN and ÉRIC CAIRE.

Sunday celebrations: MNA MANON MASSÉ.

Spotted: Canada's first two official cases of monkeypox, confirmed by the Public Health Agency of Canada.

DANIELLE SMITH's anxiety-inducing bookshelf, revealed … The Don Boudria Park, officially inaugurated … SEAMUS O'REGAN, greeting PRINCE CHARLES.

Ontario NDP Leader ANDREA HORWATH and rival Green Party Leader MIKE SCHREINER, both self-isolating with Covid.

The Liberal caucus, sporting the Vyshyvanka.

At the Walrus shindig in Toronto on Wednesday night: HANNAH SUNG, HANNAH YAKOBI, ALEX PATERSON, GERRY BUTTS with Jeopardy! champ MATTEA ROACH, JODI BUTTS, not on a Zoom call with DAVID SIMMONDS and AWANISH SINHA.

Movers and shakers: VANDANA FATIMA KATTAR is leaving the Prime Minister's Office "after over a decade in politics" … FERNANDO MELO has joined the team at WaterPower Canada.

Farewells: Liberal MP SVEN SPENGEMANN saying goodbye to the House on Thursday.

ALSO FOR YOUR RADAR

Join us for real-life Playbook Trivia: Thursday, June 9 at the METROPOLITAIN in Ottawa! Festivities will get underway at 7 p.m. There will be special guests. There will be fierce competition. There will be drama. There will be bragging rights. Space is limited, so gather your team and then send us an RSVP.

TRIVIA

Thursday's answer: When was Queen Victoria's birthday first declared a holiday in Canada? The two-part answer via reader ROBERT MCDOUGALL: "1845 in the Province of Canada. Its observance continued into the Dominion of Canada after Confederation and was confirmed by an Act of Parliament in 1901, after Victoria's death."

Props also to NANCI WAUGH, BEN ROTH and MICHAEL MACDONALD.

Reader LAURA JARVIS did not come up with the answer, but shared these observations with Playbook:

3 things I do know about Victoria Day:

— Trying to explain to your family exactly what weekend the holiday will fall on is almost as complex as explaining how Easter is determined.

— You can't wear white shoes or accessories prior to Victoria Day. In the Quebec school system in the 1960s we could stop wearing our heavy navy blue box pleat tunics and wear "frocks" for the rest of the school year.

— It is the unofficial start of cottage season in Ontario. Long live the 24!!

Friday's question: David Miller's illustrations on a new series of stamps from Canada Post are intended to raise awareness of the impacts of human activity on fragile wildlife. What do the stamps depict?

Send your answers to ottawaplaybook@politico.com

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