GLOBALISTS, UNITE — It's time for the annual Swiss Alps summit loathed by much of the Canadian right, dismissed by most of the Canadian left, and ignored by the Liberal government. The World Economic Forum’s Davos Days are upon us. — The theme for 2024: WEF planners landed on "rebuilding trust" as the raison d'etre for this week's gathering of world leaders, international organizations, corporate honchos, NGO activists and assorted hangers-on among the global elite. — No Canada: Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU and his Cabinet may be studiously avoiding the stage at the confab, but some of Trudeau's best friends in the world of summitry will be present for the Alp talks. Ukrainian President VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY will make an in-person speech. So will European Commission President URSULA VON DER LEYEN, French President EMMANUEL MACRON, and Spanish PM PEDRO SÁNCHEZ. U.S. climate envoy JOHN KERRY, who plans to quit the Biden administration in the coming months, is a fixture in Davos — popping up on six different panels. — Spicy speech watch: Argentinian President JAVIER MILEI and Israeli President ISAAC HERZOG are also on the agenda. — Notable influencer: Few Canadians are on the summit's program, but one staple of the five-day elite-a-thon will make an appearance: MARK CARNEY. The two-time central banker will cover familiar turf in a Thursday session on monetary policy under attack in a fractious time. The pitch: "Amid transformative changes and challenges in the global economy, the standard monetary policy toolkit is under scrutiny. How can central banks adapt and innovate to ensure they remain effective stewards of the economy?" — POLITICO on the scene: POLITICO's Global Playbook will be working the rooms that matter in Davos, starting with a dispatch today. Subscribe here. From POLITICO’s ZOYA SHEFTALOVICH today: The ‘dirty dozen’ of Davos. And POLITICO's NAHAL TOOSI scoops that U.S. diplomats in Davos are unnerved by the size of the Chinese delegation in attendance. On Tuesday, POLITICO hosts an Oxford-style debate on artificial intelligence. They'll tussle over this motion: “Keeping AI open will save humanity.” Speakers include STUART RUSSELL, a computer science prof at University of California, Berkeley; REBECA MINGUELA, founder and CEO of Clarity AI; and MARIETJE SCHAAKE, international policy director of the Stanford University Cyber Policy Center. POLITICO caps the week with a Davos Party on Thursday night. STUDENT POLITICS — Immigration has barely caused a stir in mainstream political debates during a decades-long consensus on openness to newcomers. Canadians typically prioritize other issues when pollsters come calling: jobs, the economy, taxes, climate, debt and deficits. But an entrenched housing crisis, coupled with an explosion in the number of non-permanent residents (including 900,000 students, by the government's own estimate), has jolted some corners of the commentariat into partially rethinking the status quo. It's a sensitive conversation that has Ottawa in react mode. — Case study: Here's a recent Bloomberg lede that reflects this emerging pivot. "Canada’s current immigration policy — among the most open in the world — is now causing economic damage and needs to be reconsidered, according [to] the country’s top economists." The bank economists who spoke last Thursday at the Economic Club of Canada weren't stoking anti-immigrant sentiment, but the mismatch between housing supply and the number of people who need somewhere to live is forcing the federal government's hand. — Miller time: Immigration Minister MARC MILLER spent the weekend on a thread-needling exercise, pledging to address an eye-popping influx of temporary residents without demonizing them for a housing market that is freezing out a generation of aspiring homeowners. Miller appeared on three weekend politics shows. He told VASSY KAPELOS on CTV’s Question Period that the "disconcerting" volume of international students arriving in Canada was evidence of "a system that has gotten out of control." He hinted at Cabinet's consideration of a cap on international students. The minister attempted nuance in separate CBC appearances — on ROSEMARY BARTON Live and also on The House. "Housing has and continues to be a concern, acutely so now in a post-Covid scenario, with the increase in interest rates, with supply challenges, but also just affordability challenges," he told Barton. "It isn't immigrants that raised interest rates, but volume is volume and it's something that we need to look at." — Oh yeah, federalism: In each of the interviews, Miller referenced negotiations with provinces about their role in controlling the number of students who enrol in post-secondary institutions — and said the feds have gamed out potential reductions. "We need to signal to [the provinces] that the bar is closed and we need to figure this out," he told The House. "And it's shared jurisdiction — the federal government is prepared to do something if they're not." — The opposition says: Tory Leader PIERRE POILIEVRE promised last week at a Winnipeg news conference that his party would "make a link between the number of homes built and the number of people we invite as new Canadians.” Poilievre, rallying across northern Ontario all weekend, took a dig at Housing Minister SEAN FRASER, one of his favorite Liberal foils. He claimed that Miller slammed Fraser, the former immigration minister, for failing to prevent the untenable situation. — Don't forget: The Canadian Press reported that bureaucrats warned the government in 2022 of the unintended consequences of a major immigration boost. They have since increased annual targets. In a joint statement released Friday, Miller and Fraser credited newcomers for helping to fix a troubling post-pandemic labor shortage. STRIKE WATCH — Five hundred public servants plan to go on strike today. They work for Canadian Forces Morale and Welfare Services, a 4,000-strong agency intended to "build self-reliance, resilience, and readiness" of military members "by enhancing mental, social, physical, and financial well-being." They're members of the Union of National Defence Employees, an affiliate of the Public Service Alliance of Canada. → Useful context: The strikers don't work for the core public service or the Department of National Defence. They're employed as "Staff of the Non-Public Funds, Canadian Forces," a separate employer under law equivalent to other federal agencies. — What do they do? Non-Public Funds staff work on Canadian Armed Forces bases across Canada. Their jobs include retail and food service, financial planning, and physical fitness and recreation programming. — Why go on strike? Ninety-four percent of union members voted in favor of strike action last month. Wages are a key stumbling block in negotiations, which broke down last week. The union claims NPF staff are "some of the lowest paid federal public service workers in Canada and currently do not make the same as other workers doing the same jobs in the core federal public service." Strike action is planned starting at 6:30 a.m. in Bagotville, Montreal, St-Jean and Valcartier in Quebec; and Kingston, Ottawa and Petawawa in Ontario. | 
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