The toll of the Hill

A daily look inside Canadian politics and power.

Aug 03, 2023 View in browser   By Nick Taylor-Vaisey and Kyle Duggan Send tips | Subscribe here | Email Nick | Follow Politico Canada Thanks for reading Ottawa Playbook. Let's get into it. In today's edition: → The high-profile marital split that — well, you know who we're talking about → Hill culture can be corrosive: If you know, you know. DRIVING THE DAY The Trudeaus at Rideau Hall in November 2015. | Chris Wattie/AFP/Getty Images TERRIBLE TOWN — This likely is not news to you, but JUSTIN TRUDEAU and SOPHIE GRÉGOIRE TRUDEAU have jointly announced a legal separation. The three Trudeau kids will stay at Rideau Cottage. Their mom will live at a separate residence in Ottawa. The whole family is vacationing next week, and the parents will officially start co-parenting. This is far from a strange phenomenon on the Hill. And the consensus on Wednesday was something resembling a shrug. Basically: "Not my business, let's move on." Trudeau is not even the first member of his own Cabinet to endure a split. Plenty of his party caucus and other MPs in the House will empathize, having watched their own marriages succumb to a life in politics. — The plainly obvious: Ninety-hour workweeks. More travel in a month than most Canadians see in a year. Unpredictable schedules. Missed birthday parties. Job insecurity. Lonely nights in hotels and a cocktail circuit — with free drinks — just down the street. Even when MPs get back home, community barbecues, town halls, cultural events and constituents often come first. Hill culture can even be corrosive to relationships that show no signs of rust. "Ottawa" can become shorthand for that other place where mom or dad spends most of their time. And it's not only elected people. Small armies of overworked staffers, lobbyists and journalists log endless hours, miss out on their own family time and make the same evening rounds. Ottawa is the town fun forgot, if you believe what columnist ALLAN FOTHERINGHAM said before anybody else. Or maybe the problem is there's either too much fun or not enough, and no political party or job title or position in the hierarchy is immune from the consequences. — More common than not: This past June, Liberal MP PATRICK WEILER claimed in the House that up to 85 percent of MPs experience divorce. Weiler did not cite his source, but Maclean's reported the same rate in 2013 based on a Library of Parliament study. Then-MP JEFF WATSON claimed a minister's office he refused to identify had requested the research. — Case study: In an emotional speech at the procedure and House affairs committee last October, then-Government House Leader MARK HOLLAND described his personal struggle after losing the 2011 election that also ended the political careers of many fellow Liberals. "When I lost, because I had thrown my entire universe into this enterprise at the expense of, unfortunately, a lot of other things that I should have taken better care of, I was in a really desperate spot," he told the committee, then considering the merits of hybrid Parliament. "I was told that I was toxic, the Conservatives hated me, no organization would want to hire me. My marriage failed. As I mentioned, my space with my children was not in a good place. Most particularly, my career, my passion, the thing that I had believed so ardently in that was the purpose of my life, was in ashes at my feet." — Perverse effects: Relationships that should probably end sometimes don't, a Hill staffer reminded Playbook. "Being in the political arena can sometimes keep people in a relationship much longer than they would be otherwise," they said. "There's an instinct towards stability and banding together when you're in such a turbulent sector." — Culture change: KEVIN BOSCH, a managing partner at Sandstone Group and longtime Liberal staffer, has one small fix for Ottawa's long hours and solitary lifestyle: close shop on Friday. The House, Bosch tells Playbook, could learn something from the Senate, which sits three days a week. The skeleton crew of MPs and ministers who sit in the House on Fridays — a day when few items of consequence crack the agenda — are already watching seconds tick by before they can zip to the airport and fly home. End the misery, says the Hill vet. Adjourn for the week on Thursday. Let the MPs go home. — Business as usual: The PM did not take Wednesday off. His office posted a readout of a conversation with South African President CYRIL RAMAPHOSA. Among other things, the leaders spoke about Canada hosting the 2025 G-7 summit — a confab that could fall in the middle of a federal election year. Unless the election comes sooner, of course. PAPER TRAIL A DIFFERENT TONE — Trudeau is most of the way through his eighth year as prime minister, following three election wins. His own parents, former PM Pierre and mother Margaret, split in 1977 — the ninth year of the elder Trudeau's run, three elections deep. For all the historical and familial parallels, however, the public communication of the separations took on strikingly different tones. Here's the entirety of each: Wednesday's full statement: “After many meaningful and difficult conversations, we have made the decision to separate. As always, we remain a close family with deep love and respect for each other and for everything we have built and will continue to build. For the well-being of our children, we ask that you respect our and their privacy.” The full statement in 1977: "Pierre and Margaret Trudeau announce that because of Margaret's wishes they shall begin living separate and apart. Margaret relinquishes all privileges as the wife of the prime minister and wishes to leave the marriage and pursue an independent career. Pierre will have custody of their three sons, giving Margaret generous access to them. Pierre accepts Margaret's decision with regret and both pray that their separation will lead to a better relationship between themselves." — Photo gallery: Justin and Sophie through the years For your radar WHAT IT ALL MEANS — Key questions will occupy the gossiping class: How long was this separation in the works? What were the political considerations? What influence does Trudeau's personal life have on his ability to focus on running the country? Will any of this matter to voters? These are the queries that set a typical separation apart from that of Canada's most recognizable power couple. The scramble is on to explain what happens next. PATRICK GOSSAGE, a press secretary to Pierre Trudeau in 1977, tells Playbook the impact of a separation on work performance isn't a given. But the elder Trudeau wasn't a robot. "I had to make the point to journalists that it was up to them to prove that it was a fact that this separation was affecting his performance as a prime minister, which many of them wanted to say," Gossage says. "We knew full well that he was very upset and he was difficult to get along with for a while. It's pretty hard to go through those things with no impact on your working life." — Speculation station: CTV News set a land-speed record for quickest musings about potential political consequences: "How may Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's separation affect the polls?" aired early Wednesday afternoon. TODAY'S HIGHLIGHTS — Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU is in the National Capital Region for private meetings. — Deputy Prime Minister CHRYSTIA FREELAND’s itinerary for Thursday has yet to be released. 9 a.m. The Frontier Duty Free Association holds a press conference in West Block to call on the government to forgive Canada Emergency Business Account loans.  MEDIA ROOM — How safe is Canada’s cannabis? The Globe’s JAMESON BERKOW explains that it’s a trick to know because the government is not doing the research. — Natural Resources Minister JONATHAN WILKINSON insists Canada’s plan to plant 2 billion trees by 2030 is ahead of schedule, The Canadian Press reports. — The CBC's RICHARD RAYCRAFT looks at the unofficial — and untitled — role of prime minister's spouse. — Former Liberal MP DAVID GRAHAM writes, via Substack, about the moment in 2017 that he lost favor with his own government's House leadership team. — The Tyee reports that a single word, "normal," prolonged the B.C. port strike. — EVAN SCRIMSHAW penned a memo to the Liberals on housing. Sanitized tl;dr: “Build some goddamn homes.” Playbookers Birthdays: HBD to former NDP MP DAN HARRIS and ex-Quebec MNA SYLVAIN ROY. Spotted: Immigration Minister MARC MILLER in Mississauga, Ont., overseeing his first Canadian citizenship ceremony in his new role: “I’m more nervous than you are” … RACHEL BENDAYAN copped a pair of Nike’s Montreal Bagel Dunk Lows … Treasury Board President ANITA ANAND meeting Halifax Mayor MIKE SAVAGE … Conservative MP GÉRARD DELTELL casually starting his day with some paramotoring … Labor and Seniors Minister SEAMUS O’REGAN at Quidi Vidi Lake getting his Royal St. John's Regatta on. Movers and shakers: Sussex Strategy Group acquired Cumberland Strategies … HEATHER EXNER-PIROT signs up for the Business Council of Canada in the lobbyist registry. Her sole target: The Impact Assessment Agency. PROZONE If you’re a subscriber, don’t miss our latest policy newsletter: Surprise announcements In other Pro headlines: — White House adviser on microchips steps down. — DOE ‘critical materials’ list could steer climate funding. — Fitch triggers new Jan. 6 political battle with U.S. rating cut. — Senators urge Treasury, IRS to release crypto tax regulations. — Adams warned Biden there was no room for migrants. Now they're sleeping on the sidewalk. TRIVIA Wednesday’s answer: The first Acadian elected to the House of Commons in 1874 was STANISLAUS FRANCIS PERRY from Prince Edward Island. Close but no cigar: Some readers wrote in with AUGUSTE RENAUD, who was elected in 1867 as the first Francophone from the Maritimes, according to the Library of Parliament. Today’s question: On this day in 1978, Queen Elizabeth II opened the Commonwealth Games. What country would go on to earn the most medals? Send your answer to ottawaplaybook@politico.com 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 Playbook wouldn’t happen without: POLITICO Canada editor Sue Allan, Luiza Ch. Savage and Emma Anderson.   Follow us on Twitter Nick Taylor-Vaisey @TaylorVaisey Sue Allan @susan_allan Maura Forrest @MauraForrest Kyle Duggan @Kyle_Duggan 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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