A lesson from Snoop Dogg

May 17, 2023

By Zi-Ann Lum, Kyle Duggan and Joseph Gedeon

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Thanks for reading. I’m your host, Zi-Ann Lum, with Kyle Duggan and Joseph Gedeon. The critical minerals rush is putting the Liberals’ words on reconciliation to the test. SNOOP DOGG gets a shout out at an economic reconciliation summit. JUSTIN TRUDEAU is in South Korea on his first trip to the country since becoming prime minister. Plus, MICHAEL CHONG shares some ideas to curb foreign influence.

DRIVING THE DAY

ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM — How MARK PODLASLY’s former reserve in British Columbia ended up as the base of Canada’s largest open-pit copper mine is a cautionary tale for critical mineral ambitions.

“We were not consulted. We were not involved. It was our territory,” Podlasly, a member of the Nlaka'pamux Nation, said Tuesday on the sidelines of Canada 2020’s Economic Reconciliation Summit in Ottawa.

“There was no compensation, no accommodation to Indigenous people,” the economic policy director of the First Nations Major Projects Coalition tells Playbook.

He recalled watching trucks roll out of the Bethlehem copper mine and past the reserve. It began its operations in 1962 and offered few jobs to the local community. Located 40 minutes outside of Kamloops, the mine now has a new identity as Teck’s Highland Valley project.

Now, the game has changed. Arguably, so has the world.

In 2021, Canada adopted a bill to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), which includes a landmark provision that free, prior informed consent must be sought before developments happen on traditional or reserve land.

“That's the big difference,” Podlasly said, adding the new UNDRIP-related Indigenous question has become a bit of a “burr in the saddle” with the world looking to Canada for minerals.

Investors want to know they’re doing good on the ground, he said, rhyming off a standard checklist for projects. “Was it done right? Was it done ethically to the people on the ground? Were they environmentally, socially, governance-wise, consulted? Has consent been sought?”

— Selling Canada: Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU is in Seoul to meet with South Korean President YOON SUK YEOL where critical minerals came up Wednesday.

“We’re partnering with Indigenous peoples in Canada,” said Trudeau during his address to the National Assembly of South Korea after hyping the government’s clean economy ambitions. He told the audience what they wanted to hear: “We treat people with the respect and dignity they deserve.”

The pair is expected to sign a minerals and clean energy deal, Reuters reports, before both leaders head to the G-7 in Hiroshima.

Deputy Prime Minister CHRYSTIA FREELAND did her part last week, handing out nickel rounds when she was in Japan attending the G-7 finance ministers’ meetings, pumping up interest in Canada as a supplier of critical minerals.

— Reading the room: Crown–Indigenous Relations Minister MARC MILLER offered some sobering words at the Economic Reconciliation Summit about the elephant in the room at a time when supporting resource extraction is a top government priority.

“The denial and dispossession of land is one of the decisions imposed by Canada that’s caused the socio-economic gap, as we talk about how to address those gaps today,” he said.

But it was Crestview Strategy Vice President KAREN RESTOULE who drove the point home, praising a certain rapper’s bid to buy the Ottawa Senators for having a First Nations equity component in his offer.

“Because if SNOOP DOGG is getting it right, we should all be getting it right.”

Like Ottawa Playbook? Maybe you know others who’d like to start the day with a free rush of intel. Point them to this link where sign up is free.

For your radar

TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE — Cabinet has ordered Canada’s spy agency through a new directive to ensure parliamentarians are warned about “threats to the security of Canada directed at them.”

The news broke ahead of a committee appearance by Conservative MP MICHAEL CHONG, who said on the way into the hearing such corrective measures “should have been put in place years ago” and would have meant he and his family were informed in a timely manner that Beijing put a target on their backs.

Chong came to committee armed with a slew of recommendations, and asked it obtain records that track where information on his case went in the government.

KYLE DUGGAN was on the Hill last night and has the details here.

TODAY'S HIGHLIGHTS

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, center, is escorted by South Korea's Special Representative for Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs Kim Gunn, left, upon his arrival at the Seoul airport in Seongnam, South Korea on May 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is escorted by South Korea's Kim Gunn upon his arrival in Seoul May 16, 2023. | AP

— Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU is in Seoul.

— Deputy Prime Minister CHRYSTIA FREELAND is in Ottawa with plans to attend the Liberals’ national caucus meeting followed by question period at 2 p.m.

9 a.m. International Trade Minister MARY NG hosts ALBERT MUCHANGA, commissioner for trade and industry of the African Union Commission, in Ottawa for trade talks.

9:30 a.m. NDP Leader JAGMEET SINGH will attend his party’s caucus meeting. Later in the day, he’ll take media questions before attending QP.

4:30 p.m. Minister of Indigenous Services PATTY HAJDU and Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations MARC MILLER will be at the House committee on Indigenous and northern affairs to discuss estimates from the Parliamentary Budget Officer.

ALBERTA WATCH

WONKS VS. NERDS — We’re taking Ottawa’s POLITICO Trivia Night on the road!

On May 23, Playbook’s NICK TAYLOR-VAISEY will be in Calgary: RSVP here!

On May 24, he’ll be at Hudsons Canada's Pub. RSVP here!

— The main event: Each event will feature six rounds of questions designed to stump Alberta’s biggest political geeks. We’ll have a special guest quizmaster in each city.

Don't delay. Sign up today!

— Also: Taylor-Vaisey is reporting on the provincial campaign. Need someone to hear your theories on the final result? Explain policy? Plain ol’ gossip? He’s your guy. Drop him a line. He's all about grabbing coffees and talking politics.

— Coming Thursday: Playbook’s guide to the Alberta debate.

In related campaign news:

— The Globe has a guide to party leaders and platforms.

— The Narwhal says Alberta needs a grown-up conversation on climate.

— GRAHAM THOMSON poses a question in the Star: Can Rachel Notley walk a tightrope back into the Alberta premier’s office?

— The Writ pod features DAVE COURNOYER in conversation with ÉRIC GRENIER on the election and the candidates.

PAPER TRAIL

INFLATION BITES — Higher food bills spare no one, not in this economy.

Food expenses related to the prime minister’s residence and family cost C$91,218.56 in 2022, according to a sessional paper response tabled in the House last week.

A question from Conservative MP FRASER TOLMIE asked the Privy Council Office to list the food expenses billed to taxpayers since the Trudeaus moved in.

2016: C$76,000.12; reimbursed C$12,569.54

2017: C$80,151.53; reimbursed C$13,003.69

2018: C$77,543.06; reimbursed C$17,238.02

2019: C$85,618.63; reimbursed C$15,872.41

2020: C$57,492.95; reimbursed C$15,608.13

2021: C$72,427.05; reimbursed C$15,927.84

— Alms for others: The debate over the prime minister’s expenses is an incessant pastime, fed by an argument that a G-7 leader’s lifestyle should be relatable to Canadians.

— 2023 pain: The response clocked the prime minister’s food expenses to be C$86,637.08 to date, with Trudeau paying C$17,644.64 out of pocket. The practice to use Statistics Canada data to determine how much the PM pays for household spending has been in place since 1985.

“The food costs detailed above are comparable to the past prime minister,” read the response, dated March 27.

Watch for Trudeau's critics to grill him on the numbers the next time he sits in question period across Conservative Leader PIERRE POILIEVRE.

HALLWAY CONVERSATION

SANCTIONS SHIFT — After months of testimony and research, the Senate foreign affairs and international trade committee released a report Tuesday exploring the effectiveness of Canada’s sanctions system.

POLITICO spoke to Sen. PETER BOEHM about Canada’s sanction regime and the forces changing it. The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

It seems Canada is considering moving towards a more unified sanctions approach with its allies instead of just the U.N. Is that correct?

That is correct. If you look at the history — and in our case, it's the United Nations Act — it really was used a lot when there were Security Council decisions. But increasingly, the permanent members — mainly Russia and China — have vetoed any possibilities for sanctions. The last time one went through was on Haiti, a few years ago.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine, the autonomous sanctions architecture has been used by various countries.

The recommendation we make is that this needs to be better coordinated. We need to look at the best practices of other countries — obviously, our allies. I suspect this will be a subject of some discussion in Hiroshima at the G-7 Summit.

That’s got me thinking about your past life, when you were the ambassador to Germany. What can Canada learn from Germany when it comes to enforcing sanctions?

In my other previous life as a G-7 sherpa for two prime ministers, we did get into conversations — with the Germans and with the other G-7 countries — in terms of how best to administer sanctions regimes.

That started basically after the last G-8 summit, after the Russians went into Crimea for the first time and into the Donbas. There was a lot of discussion of ‘how do we best coordinate this,’ because, obviously, if you're sanctioning the same entities or the same individuals, you want to make sure you've got all the right people and organizations. There's a lot more impact if countries are doing this in concert, rather than individually.

In its current framework, are sanctions really working?

Well, that is always the big question and it's difficult to say. If you look at the end of apartheid in South Africa, part of the credit is being given to the effectiveness of international sanctions and what the international community was doing in concert.

What we have seen though, in the case of the Russian Federation, is that their economy has shrunk significantly. They are being ostracized all over the world, at least institutionally. They have some friends, but fewer friends than before.

Certainly the economy in Russia is feeling it. The Russian population is feeling it.

We're not a global superpower. But what we got from witnesses was that international cooperation and coordination is essential.

There could be an argument for extending sanctions, particularly Magnitsky Law-type sanctions, to parts of the world that have been overlooked by Western powers. This is not just a Russia-focused exercise, but one that has broader international implications.

MEDIA ROOM

— Writing in Policy Magazine, Massey College Public Policy Chair TOM AXWORTHY explains why the stakes for Canada in the Arctic have never been higher.

— Automation is creeping into the Brussels bubble — and translators are among its first victims. POLITICO reports in this deep dive on how AI changed the jobs of the EU’s over 2,000 translators.

— Succession provided us with an absolute hellscape election scenario. How real was it? POLITICO’s ZACH MONTELLARO has thoughts.

— “Our national columnists — not to mention the official opposition — are not actually concerned with history at all, at least not any honest assessment of it,” COLIN HORGAN writes of the passport debate. “Instead, they’re trying to disguise a general sense of political or ideological disagreement as something more objective or even more patriotic. It’s bullshit.”

— In the New York Times today: Can the world make an electric car battery without China?

PROZONE

Our latest policy newsletter for Pro subscribers: Status of cross-border council: ‘Semi-neglected’

In other news for Pros:
— AI hearing leaves Washington with 3 big questions.
— U.S. pumps the brakes on EU clean car deal.
— House panel advances bills to ban Russian uranium into the U.S.
— Democrats bet billions on carbon capture, but the government isn't ready.
— US Forest Service approves Mountain Valley Pipeline plan.

PROZONE

Birthdays: HBD to JOHN O’LEARY of Crestview Strategy.

Movers and shakers: MARIO PÉLOQUIN is VIA Rail’s new President and CEO.

Trudeau addressed the South Korean National Assembly in Seoul Wednesday and shared a small-world-nepo-baby tale: “When my father was prime minister, it was he who opened the first Canadian embassy in Seoul in 1973. It is a fact that the son of the Korean ambassador to Canada on that day is now my senior policy adviser, and is with us today, BEN CHIN.”

Spotted: WARREN ASKEW, chief operating officer of the Federal Bridge Corporation: A Canadian citizen! … McGill’s ANDREW POTTER in conversation with Senator PAMELA WALLIN. … The House Speaker with a reminder during Tuesday’s QP: “Calling each other names is not parliamentary behavior.”

Media mentions: A byline strike at La Presse has brought attention to the newspaper’s pay equity issues … JAN WONG accusing the National Post of using racist innuendo in a recent story about Toronto Mayoral frontrunner OLIVIA CHOW.

Farewells: Conservative MP LARRY MAGUIRE paid tribute to the life of farm business leader WALTER CHARLES NELSON on Tuesday in the House. “He accomplished more than most could dream of and touched the hearts of many, while making transformational changes in the agricultural industry,” the Manitoba MP said of the founder of the Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association. Nelson was 95 when he died last month.

Send Playbookers tips to ottawaplaybook@politico.com.

On the Hill

→ Find upcoming House committees here

→ Keep track of Senate committees here

9 a.m. International Trade Minister MARY NG hosts ALBERT MUCHANGA, commissioner for trade and industry of the African Union Commission, in Ottawa for trade talks.

9 a.m. The National Citizen’s Inquiry on government Covid-19 policies arrives at the Ottawa Conference and Event Centre.

3:15 p.m. The Senate legal and constitutional affairs committee will divide its time between Bill C-47 and Bill C-9.

4 p.m. The Senate foreign affairs and international trade committee will hear from YANNICK MONDY (finance), STEVE TIPMAN (Trade Facilitation Office Canada) and STUART TREW of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.

4 p.m. The Senate social affairs, science and technology committee will hear from officials from the Canada Revenue Agency, Employment and Social Development Canada and Health Canada on Bill C-47.

4:15 p.m. The Senate banking, commerce and economy committee is studying the Canada Innovation Corporation Act and will hear from NICK SCHIAVO of the Council of Canadian Innovators, and LEAH ANDERSON, Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation.

4:30 p.m. Agriculture Minister MARIE-CLAUDE BIBEAU will be at the House agriculture committee on the Main Estimates.

4:30 p.m. The House justice and human rights committee will hear from officials as they take Bill C-41 through clause-by-clause consideration.

5:45 p.m. Women and Gender Equality Minister MARCI IEN and LGBT Rights Ghana founder ALEX KOFI DONKOR speak at a reception at the National Arts Centre marking the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia.

6:45 p.m. Transport Minister OMAR ALGHABRA will be at the Senate committee on transport and communications and other department officials on Bill C-47.

6:45 p.m. The Senate Indigenous Peoples committee will study Bill C-29.

6:45 p.m. The Senate finance committee is studying Bill C-47 and will hear from Beer Canada, Canadian Bankers Association, Canada's Building Trades Unions and Spirits Canada.

Behind closed doors: The Senate audit and oversight committee will supervise and report on internal and external audits and related matters at 1 p.m.

TRIVIA

Tuesday’s answer: In the “Birds of Canada” bank note series, the $1,000 bill was originally intended to feature a spruce grouse. A pair of pine grosbeaks ended up on the bill instead.

“Let me check... (reaching into the thick wad of cash I always carry in my pocket),” reader JOHN ECKER wrote with his correct reply.

Props also to GORDON RANDALL, GEORGE SCHOENHOFER, BOB GORDON, ROBERT MCDOUGALL, GERMAINE MALABRE and SHAUGHN MCARTHUR.

Wednesday’s question: This newly retired parliamentarian offered this advice to incoming senators: “Embrace it. Work with it. Don’t lose sight of your own focus, but always be tuned in to the focuses of others and look for bridge building.”

Think you have a harder trivia question? Send us your best.

Want to grab the attention of movers and shakers on Parliament Hill? Want your brand in front of a key audience of Canadian influencers? Playbook can help. Contact Jesse Shapiro to find out how: jshapiro@politico.com.

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