| | | | |  | | By Nick Taylor-Vaisey and Kyle Duggan | | | Thanks for reading the Ottawa Playbook. Let’s get to it. In today's edition: → The number of Canadian troops available for overseas missions this year. → The quarterly, taxpayer-funded cellphone overage bill paid by MPs. → And Durham's new MP is…
|  | DRIVING THE DAY | | THE FIRST THING — Finance Minister CHRYSTIA FREELAND scheduled her budget unveiling for April 16 — aka The Week After All The Conferences. 'WORK TO DO' — Defense Minister BILL BLAIR faced questions Monday on the Canadian military's state of readiness. Blair acknowledged an uncomfortable reality. "My assessment is we've got some work to do," he told reporters. The minister was in Edmonton to announce C$45.3 million in infrastructure upgrades at the city's military base — a drop in the bucket of the Department of National Defence's worsening backlog of deferred maintenance. Blair said the military he oversees has to do better at arming itself and recruiting new members. DND's most recent annual plan, published as the department faces the bite of federal fiscal restraint, reveals the extent of issues plaguing the military. These are but a few of them: — Available troops: Only a fraction of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) is available to ship out at any given moment. The 2024-25 plan pegs the "approximate total" of deployable soldiers in the coming year at 13,000. Still, DND expects to concurrently deploy more than 2,000 personnel overseas, thanks in large part to an expanded brigade-level presence alongside NATO allies in Latvia. → The consequence: The math worries the planners. "This sustained effort will extend the Canadian Army to its maximum sustainable capacity, necessitating continued reliance on contributions from the Army Reserve for both domestic and expeditionary operations." — Crumbling infrastructure: DND is juggling two trends on its bases. As new capabilities (say, an incoming F-35 fleet) attract "significant investment," the rest of the department's property "will continue to degrade at an accelerated rate due to systemic and significant underfunding in maintenance and recapitalization." → The consequence: Muddling through. The competing trends "both have the potential to create significant disruption to CAF missions and will require thorough planning, coordination, and prioritization." — Stat of note: In 2020-21, 15.5 percent of the military self-identified as victims of harassment. That number climbed to 20.8 percent in 2021-22, and 24 percent in 2022-23. The department's target for the year is "at most 11.9 percent." VOX POPULI — More than half of Canadians (53 percent) support a boost in defense spending to meet NATO's target of 2 percent of GDP, according to a survey from the Angus Reid Institute out this morning. When respondents were informed of DONALD TRUMP's threat to pull military support for NATO members that don't pony up, support for the NATO target jumped from 53 percent to 65 percent. ARI noted that twice as many women aged 18-34 liked the sound of a boost at the mere mention of Trump's name. — More military, please: In 2015, only 12 percent of Canadians told the pollster that "focusing on military preparedness and presence on the world stage" should be a top priority. That number has more than doubled to 29 percent. Canadians' top foreign priority is still bolstering trade, but only 43 percent said so — down from 57 percent in 2015.
| | | | A message from Google: We can all use a little nudge to get off our screens sometimes, and that includes teens. To help, YouTube sends take-a-break notifications at regular intervals, plus a special reminder when it’s time for bed. For teens aged 13–17, these reminders are set to “on” by default. To find more online safety features for kids and teens, visit youtube.com/myfamily | | | | | For your radar | | ALWAYS CONNECT TO THE WIFI — Every so often, the House of Commons tells us how much money our elected officials spent on cellphone voice and data overage fees. New figures dropped recently, covering the second quarter of 2023-24, as part of a broader disclosure of MP expenditures. That reporting period ran July 1 to Sept. 30, 2023 — the summer break, essentially. MPs' offices managed to rack up C$125,138.89 in overage fees. Five topped the C$2,000 mark: → Industry Minister FRANÇOIS-PHILIPPE CHAMPAGNE: C$2,863.20 → Health Minister MARK HOLLAND: C$2,854.25 → Labor Minister SEAMUS O'REGAN: C$2,261.07 → Tory MP LAILA GOODRIDGE: C$2,067.17 → Independent MP ALAIN RAYES: C$2,030.36 We get it. Who among us hasn't scanned our phone bill only to realize our pesky telecom charges an absurd amount for, say, calling or sending texts to the U.S.? (Clearly, your host needs a new North America-wide plan.) — Top 5 suppliers: Bell nabbed C$491,917.40 for phone and internet services, topping competitor Rogers' haul of $174,352.56. Grand & Toy netted C$179,422.79, ahead of Canada Post at C$117,728.50 and Toshiba Tec Canada Business Solutions at C$96,505.39. — The MSM Award: Tory MP RAQUEL DANCHO spent the most on newspaper and magazine subscriptions. Dancho paid up for the Winnipeg Free Press, The Globe and Mail, The Economist, the Toronto Star and National Post. — For the record: Conservative MP PIERRE PAUL-HUS had a C$76.90 line item for a month's worth of home internet fees removed from his disclosures. The original claim was an apparent clerical error. Playbook noted the line item at the time because every party had long since agreed to stop billing taxpayers for the use of their home internet — even in a hybrid Parliament. Glad we could be of service.
| | | Where the leaders are | | | — Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU is in Ottawa. At 2:30 p.m., he'll meet DANIEL NOBOA, the president of Ecuador. At 4 p.m., Trudeau will meet CINDY WOODHOUSE NEPINAK, national chief of the Assembly of First Nations. — Deputy Prime Minister CHRYSTIA FREELAND is in Ottawa with no public events scheduled. — Bloc Québécois Leader YVES-FRANÇOIS BLANCHET is in Washington. Blanchet is visiting the State Department, Canadian American Business Council, Wilson Center, the delegation of the government of Catalonia in the U.S., the representative of the Dalai Lama in Washington, and the Québec government office. Bloc MPs SIMON-PIERRE SAVARD-TREMBLAY, CHRISTINE NORMANDIN and JEAN-DENIS GARON are also making the trip. — NDP Leader JAGMEET SINGH is on Vancouver Island. He'll visit Ocean Pacific Marine Store & Boatyard in Campbell River with NDP MP RACHEL BLANEY. They'll join NDP MP GORD JOHNS in Comox for an evening meet-and-greet.
| | DULY NOTED | | 8:30 a.m. Statistics Canada will release new reports on December farm product price index, the 2022 number on consulting services and Canadian foreign post indexes for March. 9 a.m. The Parliamentary Budget Officer will publish a new report titled, “Economic and Fiscal Outlook — March 2024.” 1:30 p.m. Energy Minister JONATHAN WILKINSON will make a critical minerals announcement at the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada convention in Toronto. 2:30 p.m. Industry Minister FRANÇOIS-PHILIPPE CHAMPAGNE, Trade Minister MARY NG and Canadian Ambassador to the U.S. KIRSTEN HILLMAN will bring “Team Canada” to Detroit for a photo-op at the Gordie Howe International Bridge, the largest infrastructure project between the U.S. and Canada. (POLITICO's ZI-ANN LUM is along for the ride and will report from behind the scenes later this week.) 3 p.m. The House public accounts committee will meet to hear from Customs and Immigration Union National President MARK WEBER and Association of Canadian Financial Officers President DANY RICHARD as part of its ongoing study of the ArriveCAN app. We're tracking every major political event of 2024 on a mega-calendar. Send us events and download the calendar yourself for Google and other clients .
| | ALSO FOR YOUR RADAR | | DURHAM PICKS JAMIL JIVANI — In the end, it wasn't close. Jivani, the Tory favorite in an Ontario by-election that was likely never in doubt, trounced Liberal challenger ROBERT ROCK. — The result: Jivani hit the 57 percent mark. Rock persuaded less than one in four voters. CHRIS BORGIA, the NDP candidate, managed less than half of Rock's result. Turnout landed at 27.9 percent. — Final push: The Tory candidate in Milton, PARM GILL, helped Jivani pull the vote on Monday. LESLIE CHURCH, the sole candidate so far for the Liberal nomination in an upcoming Toronto by-election, posed for a GOTV selfie between doors on the Rock campaign. Even Foreign Minister MÉLANIE JOLY lent the Liberal hopeful a hand on E-Day. Joly was at least the 14th Cabmin to do so, by Playbook's count. — The biggest surprise: Permacandidate JOHN TURMEL, a fixture of by-elections whose name has appeared on a world-record number of ballots, was absent from this one.
| | 2024 WATCH | | SUPER TUESDAY — DONALD TRUMP scored a predictable U.S. Supreme Court victory on Monday when justices barred states from removing the former president from the ballot before November's likely rematch with JOE BIDEN. The top court didn't express an opinion about the allegation at the center of the dispute: that Trump stoked the Capitol insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021. But even if he had, the justices ruled that only Congress can take a candidate off the ballot. More from POLITICO: The glaring omissions and telling fractures in the Trump ballot ruling Trump celebrated the news on the eve of Super Tuesday, when voters in more than a dozen states will cast ballots in Democratic and Republican primaries. Trump is so far running up his delegate count. GOP voters have only delivered one victory to NIKKI HALEY in Democrat-heavy Washington, D.C. → East Coast: Our Playbook colleagues in Boston set the stakes for their corner of the country: "New England — and Massachusetts in particular — should be fertile ground for Haley. Each of the three New England states voting on Super Tuesday have open or semi-open primaries with large swaths of the independent voters her campaign is actively working to court." → Midwest: Our Playbook friends in Chicago spotted Illinois Gov. JB PRITZKER on MSNBC over the weekend, where the governor hoped the Supreme Court would side with Trump. “He’s in trouble in Illinois,” Pritzker said. “We want him on the ballot because he’s a detriment to Republicans across the United States but especially in Illinois.” At a weekend speech in Virginia, Pritzker repeatedly dissed Trump — and explained why: “Don’t mince words in the fight of your life. Don’t hold back. This is an existential battle. I’m done giving any of these insurrectionists the benefit of the doubt. … I’m done pretending that we can debate nuance in this fight.” — Calling all expats: Americans of a certain persuasion who live in Canada are casting ballots for the next week. The Democrats Abroad global presidential primary gets underway today. The overseas arm of the Democratic National Committee sends eight delegates to the party's summer convention. Registered voters can submit ballots at booths in Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver. Americans in the nation's capital can vote at the Senate Tavern in the ByWard Market, a short walk from the U.S. Embassy, from 12-2 p.m. and 5:30-7:30 p.m.
| | | | A message from Google:   | | | | | MEDIA ROOM | | — The Globe breaks down the Liberal and NDP push to block a committee study of the Winnipeg lab docs scandal. — From the Star's TONDA MACCHARLES this morning: "Palestinian Canadians to sue Foreign Affairs Minister MÉLANIE JOLY, alleging Canada's military exports to Israel are illegal" — Local councilor ZEE HAMID is DOUG FORD’s pick to run in the provincial Milton by-election to replace PARM GILL, ROBERT BENZIE writes for the Star. — TYLER MEREDITH and LAURA KURKIMAKI are on FRED DELOREY’s iPolitics pod to talk about how to sell a budget and how one gets put together behind the scenes. — JEN GERSON, PAUL WELLS and STEPHEN MARCHE are on the "Canadaland" pod with JESSE BROWN talking over what a PIERRE POILIEVRE government would look like. — From The Narwhal: Why did Indigenous-led conservation funding set off furious backlash from First Nations? — Nunavut celebrates its 25th year as a territory on April 1. MLAs unveiled a flag for the occasion.
| | PROZONE | | Don’t miss our latest newsletter for Pro subscribers from ZI-ANN LUM: Freeland sets a budget date In other news for Pros: — Washington state ballot initiative threatens $4.6B in climate funds — By the numbers: How conflict in the Red Sea disrupts global trade — Totals, policy riders, earmarks: What’s in the six-bill funding package — House to approve bill elevating DOE's grid security work — Will Colorado jump-start national push to ban new oil wells?
| | PLAYBOOKERS | | Birthdays: HBD to StrategyCorp VP GARRY KELLER. Former NDP MP PENNY PRIDDY celebrates a milestone (80!). Celebrate your day with the Playbook community. Send us the details. We’ll let everyone know. Spotted: Industry Minister FRANÇOIS-PHILIPPE CHAMPAGNE and Trade Minister MARY NG, jetting from Toronto to Windsor in time for an evening fundraiser. Movers and shakers: STEVE LAFLEUR joins the Institute for Research on Public Policy as research director, where he'll head up the Building New Foundations for Economic Growth research program. Earnscliffe’s MÉLANIE RICHER, MERRIAH MICHEL, NICKO VAVASSIS and SEAN MURPHY have all been promoted to the role of principal. NATIONAL Public Relations SVP KAREN WHITE is taking on an expanded role at the firm nationally dealing with crisis and cybersecurity communications.
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| | TRIVIA | | Monday’s answer: PIERRE ELLIOTT TRUDEAU was married on March 4, 1971. Props to BOB GORDON, KATIE FEENAN, NANCY WAUGH, DOUG SWEET, MARTIN PARTRIDGE, GABE COUNSIL, MARCEL MARCOTTE, RALPH LEVENSTEIN, LAURA JARVIS, ANTHONY VALENTI, JEFF VALOIS, ROBERT MCDOUGALL, JOHN DILLON, MATT DELISLE, JIM CAMPBELL, HEATHER CHIASSON and WAYNE EASTER. Jarvis shared this anecdote with us: "My mom and I were both PET fans — he was our MP — and were shocked when we didn't hear about his marriage until several days after it happened because Montreal was in the midst of a huge snow storm. Only info on the radio was all about the snow storm and what was closed, nothing about Canada’s most eligible bachelor!" Today’s question: The Globe was founded on this day in 1844. The Mail followed in 1872. JOHN A. MACDONALD launched a Toronto newspaper in 1887. Name it. Answers 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? Run a Playbook ad campaign. Contact Jesse Shapiro to find out how: jshapiro@politico.com. Playbook wouldn’t happen without: POLITICO Canada editor Sue Allan, editor Willa Plank and Luiza Ch. Savage.
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