What we’ve learned about Poilievre

A daily look inside Canadian politics and power.

Sep 07, 2023 View in browser   By Nick Taylor-Vaisey Thanks for reading Ottawa Playbook. Let's get into it. In today's edition: → Quebec City's per capita population of Conservatives is about to explode. Playbook is on the ground at the party's biennial policy convention. → Canada's big business lobby is calling for a new national security strategy. → A Coast Guard legend is enroute to the scrap heap. DRIVING THE DAY POILIEVRE'S PARTY — Conservative Party members are in Quebec City to debate policy. But this weekend isn't really about geeky debates over Robert's rules. It is, as one Tory reminded Playbook, an infomercial. The headliner is PIERRE POILIEVRE. His Friday night speech is the biggest draw. A close second: The convention's hospitality suites, stocked to serve thirsty networkers hyped up on their party and spending a couple of days away from home. — Consistency, if nothing else: When Poilievre won the party crown last September, most Tories insisted the brash rhetoric of his leadership campaign was a feature, not a bug. They insisted he wouldn't pivot to the center. He didn't. Poilievre still wants to obliterate the federal price on carbon. He still wants to cut funding to the CBC as part of a sustained reduction in government spending. He finds new bureaucrats every week worthy of the "gatekeeper" epithet. Don't expect him to stop. What else have we learned about the man? Here's what. → He'll fundraise everywhere. Poilievre lashes out at Laurentian elites who allegedly run the country, but he also takes their checks. The Tory leader has headlined events in some of Canada's most gilded rooms, including the oldest private club in Canada in the heart of Toronto's financial district. He once gathered a crowd at a Forest Hill mansion that included a Jackman, a Bronfman and a Weston. Just last night, Poilievre was at Quebec City's Garrison Club — the oldest members-only club in town — for a convention eve gathering. But Poilievre hits up just as many community centers and banquet halls, and he was on the road all over Canada much of the summer. A day after he rallied donors at Halifax's historic Ashburn Golf Club in mid-August, Poilievre was railing against Trudeau's Canada at the Cymbria Lions Club on Prince Edward Island. Sure, there's occasionally a cringe factor when Poilievre tries to connect with the working class. But if the point is to fill a warchest, well, donations are pouring in. → He writes his own zingers. You know a Poilievre catchphrase when you hear it. They can be awkwardly unconventional. Exhibit A, from 2021: "Make more, cost less. Paychecks, not debt." Exhibit B from 2023: "Bring home more powerful paychecks by building more and paying less." People close to Poilievre insist he is the author of many of his public remarks, relentless catchphrases and rehearsed anecdotes included. This gets the Tory leader in trouble from time to time. Poilievre's off-the-cuff approach to media relations produced his most embarrassing summertime flub. At a July press conference, he referred to a modest home in southern Ontario as a "tiny little shack" and recited the address. He later apologized to the home's tenant. Poilievre is said to be writing much of his own convention speech — which, yes, is what leaders' teams often say to hype up the boss. → He might not be as unlikable as his opponents hope. Liberals and New Democrats are banking on the notion that Poilievre is fighting a losing battle with approval ratings. Abacus Data has tracked Poilievre's popularity since April 2022, when he was the frontrunner to lead his party. His negatives grew to 40 percent in June 2023, compared to 32 percent who had a positive impression. But the trend shifted during the summer. Last month, Abacus measured just a one-point gap between Poilievre's fans and his haters. Today, the pollster released a survey — first published by the Toronto Star — in which Poilievre has achieved a net-positive rating. But if a C$3 million Tory ad campaign meant to define Poilievre as a family man is resonating with voters, the Liberal brain trust doesn't appear to be in a rush to fight back. The governing party has yet to spend big sums on its own volley of ads. PARTY TIME — Hospitality suites at political conventions don't come cheap. If anybody can afford to splash around a little donor dough on a big party, it's Canada's Conservatives. Still, party budgets that balloon into five digits are a heck of a deterrent for aspiring organizers. Here's what Playbook knows is happening in and around the convention. — Tonight: Earnscliffe hosts an 8 p.m. party at Le Grand Café. RSVP. PAA Advisory is at L'Atelier from 9:15. RSVP. The Equal Voice Foundation will be at the Hilton at 8:30 p.m. RSVP. TODAY'S HIGHLIGHTS — Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU is in Singapore. — Deputy PM CHRYSTIA FREELAND is in Montreal to participate in a fireside conversation hosted by Rio Tinto, an event that is closed to media. — Defense Minister BILL BLAIR is in Nova Scotia to check out the inaugural Halifax International Fleet Week. 10 a.m. Conservative Leader PIERRE POILIEVRE is in Quebec City and will address his national caucus with doors open for the media. 10 a.m. Governor General MARY SIMON meets Ottawa Mayor MARK SUTCLIFFE at City Hall to “learn about his vision for the city." 2:10 p.m. (12:10 p.m. MT) Bank of Canada Governor TIFF MACKLEM delivers an “economic progress report” at the Calgary Chamber of Commerce. For your radar 'SLOW, MODEST AND PIECEMEAL' — That's how a new report from the Business Council of Canada (BCC) describes the Liberal government's response to radically evolving geopolitics. Ottawa pushed out an Indo-Pacific strategy last year, and the clock is ticking on a long-planned overhaul of Canada's defense policy. The business lobby wants to add a new national security strategy to the pile. "For decades now, successive Canadian governments have overlooked, taken for granted, or simply ignored the principle that economic security is national security," the BCC report, released this morning, reads in part. "This neglect has made us vulnerable. In an era of renewed geopolitical rivalry, where countries’ ability to foster economic growth is the foundation upon which military, economic, and cultural power now rests, Canadian companies of all sizes are increasingly finding themselves in the crosshairs of strategic threat actors seeking to advance their national interests in ways that can, and do, undermine Canada’s national and economic security." — These are their demands: The BCC has 21 recommendations that could form the basis of a new strategy. Among the ideas: → Legislative amendments that would allow the Canadian Security Intelligence Service to "proactively share timely and actionable threat intelligence" with nongovernment stakeholders — including companies in the crosshairs. → The BCC also says Ottawa should "reward high-risk, high-payoff research in emerging and disruptive technology fields essential to our economic and national security," and root out "problematic foreign sources of financing for academic research." → A “NATO for trade” that would operate on the principle of collective economic defense. The business lobby wants Canada to "leverage its economic advantages" in energy, food and minerals that could help allies decouple from "strategic threat actors" — aka China and Russia, for two. — A bridge too far? The BCC also wants the feds to commit to spending 2 percent of GDP on national defense, which NATO countries pledged in July should be a floor — not a ceiling — for member nations. Canada is unlikely to match that stated ambition with dollars any time soon, unless Defense Minister BILL BLAIR, only a month into his new portfolio, has a trick up his sleeve. MEDIA ROOM — SALIMAH SHIVJI reports for CBC News: New Delhi razed shelters ahead of high-profile G20 summit. — In Policy Options, BRENDAN HALEY and KEVIN LOCKHART argue that homebuilders should prioritize sustainable design over the need for speed. — LAURA OSMAN of The Canadian Press rounds up Day 2 of the ‘Freedom Convoy’ trial. — In her Dine & Dish column, CHELSEA NASH talks with ERICA IFILL — away from the platform formerly known as Twitter, over a Dominion City Sunsplit. — POLITICO’s BURGESS EVERETT reports that U.S. Senate Minority Leader MITCH MCCONNELL is over the frenzy over his freezes. — CBC reporter J.P. TASKER was on the Front Burner pod to talk about the tightrope PIERRE POILIEVRE will walk in Quebec City. — From our colleague EDITH HANCOCK in Europe: EU cracks down on 6 Big Tech giants. ALSO FOR YOUR RADAR HEADED FOR SCRAP — Your Playbook host escaped the nation's capital for a two-week, 3,106-mile (5,000-kilometer) Maritime road trip that dodged federal politics at every turn. A solid summer break is an essential piece of a balanced life. Sorry, Little Victories caffeine jolts. See you soon, endless french fries at the Met. Hello, pricey hotels, overpriced lobster and priceless ocean breeze. — And yet: We couldn't ignore the aftermath of a year of headline news. Tropical Storm Fiona toppled trees and stole massive chunks of P.E.I.’s north shore last year around now. Riverways of Windsor, Nova Scotia, flooded in July and claimed four lives. A swath of forest in Hammonds Plains burned in May by fires on Halifax's doorstep. It felt like unintended disaster tourism. Then there was that big red-and-white ship moored to a dock in Sheet Harbour on Nova Scotia's eastern shore. A legend soon to be scrap metal, so commanding a presence on the water that it had even a blissfully unplugged political reporter contemplating the National Shipbuilding Strategy. — A quiet end: CCGS Hudson is 60 years old. The long-serving oceanographic research vessel, which was the first in the world to circumnavigate the Americas, won't see 61. The Hudson, which served under 10 prime ministers, was taken out of service early last year after a starboard motor failure left the oldest vessel in the Coast Guard fleet “beyond economical repair.” Six months later, the government found R. J. MacIsaac Construction to responsibly scrap the ship for C$1.6 million. By the end of the fall, the Hudson will likely be no more. — Next man up: Ottawa has been talking about replacing the Hudson since at least 2008, when the Harper government announced plans later folded into the National Shipbuilding Strategy. Vancouver’s Seaspan shipyard eventually scored the contract. Delivery of the successor was once planned for 2012, pushed back to 2020, then 2024, and now 2025. Six years ago, the feds pegged the cost at C$144 million. Fisheries and Oceans Canada, which oversees the Coast Guard, tells Playbook that C$966.5 million has so far been plunged into the project. The total budget now sits at C$1.28 billion, which includes "concept and design work, engineering and construction costs, all build material and equipment, warranty, insurance, spare parts, training, project office costs, contingency, and contractually allowable adjustments related to labor rate, currency and commodity fluctuations." Why all the overruns and delays? A spokesperson blamed "Covid-related supply chain disruptions, rising production and material costs, and high inflation." — Plugging the gap: Fisheries and Oceans tested the waters last year on chartering a replacement vessel while Seaspan built the permanent replacement. In the end, the department decided to make do with its existing fleet and one-off charters. Playbookers HBD: Senate birthday twins PAULA SIMONS and ELIZABETH MARSHALL celebrate today. It’s also a milestone birthday for former chief justice BEVERLEY MCLACHLIN (80!). Today is also former Supreme Court justice CLAIRE L'HEUREUX-DUBÉ’s 96th birthday! Send birthdays to ottawaplaybook@politico.com. Spotted: Bloc Leader YVES-FRANÇOIS BLANCHET, with MERITXELL SERRET ALEU, foreign minister in Catalonia's pro-independence government … Sen. DENISE BATTERS and a fresh Conservative-themed manicure for the party’s convention. NDP Leader JAGMEET SINGH and NDP MPs DANIEL BLAIKIE and ALEXANDRE BOULERICE on the picket line in Ottawa with IBEW Local 636 workers. First in Playbook: ANNETTE GOERNER has joined spark*advocacy as director of public relations. Goerner was most recently host of CTV Morning Live Ottawa. President and CEO PERRY TSERGAS said the hire “marks an exciting new chapter” in his firm. Movers and shakers: GREG MACEACHERN threw a reception at the Hyde Room on Wednesday night to formally launch his new consulting firm, KAN Strategies. Hill veterans JORDAN PAQUET and GREG LOERT joined Bluesky Strategy Group this week. MIKE BLANCHFIELD is now the director of energy policy at the Public Policy Forum. Rubicon Strategies VP TIM SMITHEMAN is repping Cadillac Fairview in the lobbyist registry. The commercial real estate giant wants the ear of MPs to "discuss housing plans across the country, including but not limited to purpose-built rental properties." Also on the target list: Finance Canada and Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada. ALAN HAMSON has been appointed Canada’s ambassador to Uzbekistan, based in Astana … JENNIFER WHITE has joined Kit Public Affairs as a partner. Media mentions: MENAKA RAMAN-WILMS made the Giller Prize long list with her novel, The Rooftop Garden. For your radar: Public Services and Procurement Canada has set the dates for the online auction of Hanoverians horses from the RCMP Musical Ride program. From the tenders: The Canadian Embassy in Jakarta needs new air purifiers and filters. PROZONE If you’re a subscriber, don’t miss our latest policy newsletter: Policy, policy everywhere. In other Pro headlines: — Google to require disclosure of AI use in political ads. — Biden administration courts Chinese tourism comeback. — Summer 2023 was the hottest ever, scientists say. — U.S. automotive imports surge to record high in July. — Pro Analysis: The Inflation Reduction Act's climate provisions. TRIVIA Wednesday’s answer: ZANANA AKANDE was the first Black woman elected to the Ontario legislature. Props to BOB GORDON, JOHN ECKER, BRAM ABRAMSON, NANCI WAUGH, PATRICK DION, GEORGE SCHOENHOFER, ANJUM SULTANA, ROBERT MCDOUGALL, GORDON RANDALL, GERMAINE MALABRE, YAROSLAV BARAN and GARY COLLINS. Today’s question: The Frontenac launched on this day in history. What was it? 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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