Summer of echoes

A daily look inside Canadian politics and power.

Aug 03, 2022 View in browser   By Zi-Ann Lum Send tips | Subscribe here | Email Zi-Ann | Follow Politico Canada Welcome to the Ottawa Playbook. I'm your host, Zi-Ann Lum. Today, we're into the weeds with a contemplation of a word used by government media types. Plus, a former campaign operative cracks a joke about #freedom as a partial slate of Conservatives leadership contenders prep for tonight's third official debate. DRIVING THE DAY Parliament Hill | POLITICO Canada RINSE AND REPEAT — Read enough government news releases and the anomalies highlight themselves. Dozens of media advisories featuring announcements, photo-ops, availabilities, statements and other happenings land in Hill reporters' inboxes every day. There were around 45 on Tuesday, in the middle of summer. Last week, Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister MARC MILLER's office published an advisory that teased a Budget 2022 "echo announcement." The term is used internally by Hill staffers to describe a re-announcement of funding, or a program, that has been previously touted. Most often it's related to something from the budget, but not always. "I can't say that I've seen the use of 'echo' in an advisory headline before — but I kind of like it," Carleton instructor JENI ARMSTRONG tells Playbook. Armstrong previously served as dcomm for ex-finance minister BILL MORNEAU and lead speechwriter for Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU. "It's the sort of thing a good press secretary would share proactively when making a pitch [to journalists], so that media orgs operating on ever-diminishing resources can decide whether it's something they need to staff (vs. picking up a wire story)," she said. — For example: While a news agency might assign a story when Ottawa announces a new or expanded budget measure, odds are low they'll write a second when a Liberal shows up somewhere different to repeat that same announcement about the same packet of cash. Cabinet ministers and Liberal MPs spend the summer making such announcements. Some consider the exercise a cash-burning, superfluous roadshow versus a strategic exercise to make hyper-local news in key ridings. "Echo events are also useful because sometimes a lot of time elapses between the original announcement (again, usually in the budget) and when the program is developed and ready to be rolled out," Armstrong said. Miller's office tells Playbook their use of "echo" was no mistake. — Damned if you do, damned if you don't : The federal budget is delivered in Ottawa while most echo announcements are made in ridings across the country. The events make the feds look busy and responsive. The slow-drip can reveal which ridings the government is showering with the highest amount of funding, a handy analysis for election years. Here's a sample of echos (they weren't touted as such) made across the country since Parliament adjourned for summer in late June. All of these announcements first appeared in the federal budget: — Natural Resource Minister JONATHAN WILKINSON's July 7 announcement of C$13.5 million in funding for the First Nations Major Projects Coalition. — Veteran Affairs Minister LAWRENCE MACAULAY's July 12 announcement of C$2-million for 250 electric vehicle chargers across Prince Edward Island. — Transport Minister OMAR ALGHABRA's July 14 announcement of C$18.3 million for new projects under the budget-supported National Trade Corridors Fund in Regina, Sask. — Seniors Minister KAMAL KHERA 's July 27 announcement of C$185,910 for community projects in Moncton, Riverview and Dieppe, N.B. — What's the point: Armstrong said the Canada Child Benefit is a great example of a policy that has inspired echo treatment since its debut as a pre-election promise in 2015. "I remember grumping about having to write 'yet another' CCB speech and was reminded that focus group testing had shown low recall on that (at the time, fairly new) program," Armstrong said. "Just because a speechwriter feels like it's old news doesn't mean it's not 'new news' to millions of Canadians!" A public opinion research report from March gives some additional context for why political staff keep making CCB echo announcements: The Canada Revenue Agency-run benefits program touts high satisfaction ratings. Echo announcements aren't exclusively the government's to make, Armstrong said. Opposition parties can do them too. Take former Tory Leader ERIN O'TOOLE's re-announcement of a Liberal public transit promise during last year's campaign. — Counting echoes: The words "echo announcement" made it into two advisories in 2021, and at least five this year so far. "If a student asked me if the word 'echo' should appear anywhere in the text of the advisory or release, I'd probably say that it shouldn't," Armstrong said. "But maybe the tide is turning." Do you enjoy reading Ottawa Playbook? Maybe you know others who may like it, too. Hit forward. Click here to sign up to this free newsletter. CONSERVATIVE CORNER ONCE MORE, WITH FEELING — Here they go again. Conservatives leadership hopefuls (minus PIERRE POILIEVRE and LESLYN LEWIS) are lacing up for a third official party debate in Nepean. Organizers are trying their hand at a completely different format. They're opting for a private studio with no audience. The first 45 minutes in the bilingual brawl will be English before flipping to French for the second half. Expect to see ROMAN BABER, JEAN CHAREST and SCOTT AITCHISON on the debate floor. Opposite them will be party president ROBERT BATHERSON, the night's moderator. — Sad trombone: Both PIERRE POILIEVRE and LESLYN LEWIS ' campaigns have been loud about sticking it to their party's "participation is mandatory" rule on official debates. Both no-shows would rather face a C$50,000 fine than ditch their get-out-the-vote travel plans. Poilievre senior adviser JENNI BYRNE issued a statement Tuesday evening, trumpeting the campaign's C$5.3-million fundraising haul since April 1. The number is higher than the roughly C$4-million second-quarter fundraising figures posted by Elections Canada. Byrne's campaign statement stipulated the federal Conservatives are "approximately three weeks behind in processing donations." The Writ's ÉRIC GRENIER translated all the numbers into graphs , showing Charest's strength in scooping up Quebec donors and Poilievre's dominance in the west ("the region provided 54% of his dollars"). — The debate watchers: Summa Strategies consultant DANIEL PERRY said POILIEVRE's absence gives other candidates some oxygen for their final pitches to CPC members. "Other than pointing out the absence of Poilievre, the issues to watch are cost of living and uniting Canada," Perry told Playbook. He said to expect each candidate to make the case that they are the only person who can defeat Liberals in the next election. He said with Batherson in the host chair, "the format should be much more straightforward than before, but expect tensions to be high as the race enters the homestretch." CHISHOLM POTHIER, who served as PATRICK BROWN's dcomm up until the candidate was disqualified, didn't hold back. "I'll be watching to see who actually shows up. To see who's not afraid of putting their ideas and vision up for scrutiny and who lacks such confidence in their ideas and vision that they are afraid of that. And, you know, freedom. Always freedom." For your radar SENATE REFRESH — The Senate banking, trade and commerce committee is no more. It has a new name: The Senate committee on banking, commerce and the economy. It is one of three committees in the upper chamber that announced name changes this week. The changes were suggested in a report tabled and adopted by senators this spring. The Senate's national security and defence committee will now go by a longer moniker: The Senate committee on national security, defence and veterans affairs. And the Senate's Aboriginals peoples committee's English name has been scrapped for something more updated: The Senate committee on Indigenous peoples. Its French name stays the same. TODAY'S HIGHLIGHTS — Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU is on vacation in Costa Rica. 11:30 a.m. Foreign Affairs Minister MÉLANIE JOLY will sit down with German Foreign Minister ANNALENA BAERBOCK at an event hosted by the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montréal. The Canadian Press has a preview. 11:45 a.m. (12:45 p.m. ADT) Deputy Prime Minister CHRYSTIA FREELAND is in Saint John, N.B. and will hold a media availability at Port Saint John with Liberal MP WAYNE LONG. 6 p.m. The Conservative Party of Canada will hold its third leadership debate in Ottawa. SUMMERTIME READS Today's recommendation comes from the Bad + Bitchy Podcast 's ERIN GEE, who wrote in with some food for our brains about our "brain food" and "guilty pleasure" categories. "I reject the structure provided by our dear friends at Ottawa Playbook for our summer reading lists. Framing books as either 'good' (brain food) or 'bad' (guilty pleasure) upholds classist and patriarchal structures that I reject, while also maintaining the toxic belief that anything (books, food, bodies) must exist in a binary of positive or negative." Gee's reads, past, current and next, below: — Currently reading: DAN PFEIFFER's "Battling the Big Lie: How Fox, Facebook, and the MAGA Media are Destroying America." — Up next: ISAAC FITZGERALD's "Dirtbag, Massachusetts" ; TIM MULLER's "Why We Did It: A Travelogue from the Republican Road to Hell;" KAZUO ISHIGURO's "Klara and the Sun;" and a re-read of MONA ELTAHAWY's "The Seven Necessary Sins for Women and Girls." — Completed: ANN HUI's "Chop Suey Nation;" and ELAMIN ABDELMAHMOUD's " Son of Elsewhere. " Send us your reading suggestions — your brain food and your guilty pleasure! We'll share them in the Playbook newsletter. And check out our running list of summertime reads from Ottawa insiders. PROZONE If you're a POLITICO Pro subscriber, don't miss our latest policy newsletter: New thinking on the hybrid House. In other news for subscribers: — Biden team says USMCA's future at stake in auto dispute with Canada, Mexico. — China sends warships to surround Taiwan amid Pelosi visit. — Biden's Covid rebound raises treatment, isolation questions. — Taiwan presidential office website hit by cyberattack ahead of Pelosi visit. MEDIA ROOM — Top of POLITICO: 5 takeaways from a key primary night. — From Reuters this morning: Scholz to visit Nord Stream 1 gas turbine in Germany. — The Narwhal's EMMA MCINTOSH updates the push to mine Ontario's Ring of Fire.  — La Presse's MELANIE MARQUIS reports on National Defense Minister ANITA ANAND's latest comments calling all parties to refrain from actions that could compromise peace in the Taiwan Strait. — ABDUL NAKUA, an exec with the Muslim Association of Canada, explains why islamophobia can only be solved through systemic changes. — Courtesy the latest edition of POLITICO's Digital Future Daily: What your car knows about you.  — On this week's Curse of Politics with former Conservative Cabinet minister LISA RAITT:  Talk of rock T-shirts, ELIZABETH MAY … and the latest Abacus numbers. Playbookers Birthdays: HBD to Quebec MNA SYLVAIN ROY and former MP DAN HARRIS.  Send birthdays to ottawaplaybook@politico.com . Spotted: CHRYSTIA FREELAND's first public itinerary since July 16 … Trade Minister MARY NG en route to Cambodia where the Association of South East Asian Nations is meeting … Canadian Ambassador to Poland and Belarus LESLIE SCANLON taking in the glory of Ontario/Quebec summer sunsets . KATIE TELFORD at the top of The Hill Times' Terrific 25 Staffers list. Movers and shakers: CATHERINE STEWART has been appointed Canada's new ambassador for climate change. She previously served as Canada's chief negotiator on climate change. Media mentions: The Toronto Star's LEX HARVEY transfers to the transportation beat . Send Playbookers tips to ottawaplaybook@politico.com . TRIVIA Tuesday's answer: On Aug. 2, 1992, SILKEN LAUMANN won a bronze medal in women's sculling at the Barcelona Olympics, 10 weeks after shattering her right leg in a rowing accident. Props to J.D.M. STEWART, TOM KARSAY, CAMERON PENNER, ROBERT MCDOUGALL, GUY SKIPWORTH, DOUG RICE and BRAM ABRAMSON. Wednesday's question: Another sports question. On this date in history, ROBERT ESMIE showed up to race with the words "Blast Off" shaved into his hair. Without Google, tell us what happened next. Send your answers to ottawaplaybook@politico.com Have a petition you want signed? A cause you're promoting? Seeking to increase brand awareness in 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 and Sue Allan.   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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