| | | | |  | | By Nick Taylor-Vaisey, Zi-Ann Lum 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: → Who wants the ear of PIERRE POILIEVRE's office? → The Nunavut hydro project looking for a budget nod. → Elsewhere in headlines still to come: interest rates and ArriveCAN.
|  | DRIVING THE DAY | | IDEA FACTORY — Conservatives are plastering the House with bumper sticker slogans, but the party's sharpest minds know they can't govern on a four-sentence mantra. You know the one: "Ax the tax. Build the homes. Fix the budget. Stop the crime." PIERRE POILIEVRE's policy shop is busy mining the stakeholder class for ideas that could find their way into a campaign platform. They're less fussed with day-to-day noise; for them, the real prize is often not a winning daily news cycle. Whenever an election comes, they don't want to be scrambling for a plan. — Slogans aren't enough: Federal Tories have been out of power for eight-plus years, but they know governing requires deep thinking about far more than whatever they're jawing about on social media. STEPHEN HARPER famously focused on five key promises that brought him to power in 2006, but his platform was still 25 pages long. Poilievre has already gotten in the weeds. — Exhibit A: Take the idea of a First Nations Resource Charge, a proposal developed by the First Nations Tax Commission over the last decade that would give Indigenous communities more power to collect resource revenues on their own lands without government involvement. Last month, Poilievre embraced the plan, with Conservatives describing the revenue-sharing status quo as "a broken colonial system that takes power away from" First Nations and "places it in the hands of politicians in Ottawa." (Of course, the endorsement came with a video.) — It takes a village: Former Ontario Premier MIKE HARRIS also once campaigned on "common sense," with a view to dramatic policy changes. Harris' policy "revolution" was years in the making, a deliberative process led by a gaggle of party activists between the party's defeat in 1990 and landslide win in 1995. That entire process is laid out in "Cycling into Saigon: The Conservative Transition in Ontario", which extensively recounts the experience. Tories with a winning track record already have it on their bookshelves. (DAVID R. CAMERON and GRAHAM WHITE, the authors, will likely soon see an uptick in royalties.) — Who's taking meetings in OLO? The lobbyist registry produces a list of meetings only with, naturally, registered lobbyists — by no means an exhaustive account of the party's inputs, but still a measure of activity. We dug out the names that have popped up in recent months. The policy director is DAVID MURRAY, who led national polling on the Conservative party's 2019 campaign. Murray later toiled in the data and polling trenches at the Conservative Research Group. DARREN HALL and CONNOR MACDONALD are policy advisers. MARK EMES is a junior policy adviser. BRYCE MCRAE and JWANE IZZETPANAH are managers of stakeholder relations. ANTON LORI is a stakeholder relations adviser. — Another name that keeps popping up: Tory MP ADAM CHAMBERS, a former policy director and principal secretary to then-finance minister JIM FLAHERTY. He's a key player in whatever happens next.
| | | | A message from Google: At Google, we know it can be tough keeping your family safe online. So we help make it easier by automatically turning on safety settings for kids and teens. With protections like filtering explicit content with SafeSearch, blocking age-restricted videos on YouTube, and more. To find online safety features for kids and teens, visit:g.co/families | | | | | Where the leaders are | | — Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU is in Ottawa with no public events on his schedule. — Deputy PM CHRYSTIA FREELAND is in Ottawa with “private meetings” including with private sector economists for pre-budget consultations. — Conservative Leader PIERRE POILIEVRE attends a pair of fundraisers in the Greater Toronto Area. He'll head up a 2 p.m. event at the Interior Finishing Systems Training Centre for tradespeople in Woodbridge, Ont., before hosting a 5:30 p.m. reception at a restaurant in Freeland's riding. — NDP Leader JAGMEET SINGH is on Vancouver Island, touring the LUSH Valley Food Action Society with MPs GORD JOHNS and RACHEL BLANEY. The NDP trio have a 1:15 p.m. (10:15 a.m. PT) media availability to call for a national school food program. They finish their day with meetings on Denman Island. — Green Party Leader ELIZABETH MAY will meet constituents in her riding.
| | DULY NOTED | | — Foreign Affairs Minister MÉLANIE JOLY begins an 8-day tour of the Middle East, making stops in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Israel, Jerusalem and the West Bank “to exchange views on the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict.” 8:30 a.m. Statistics Canada will release new reports, including Q4 numbers for labor productivity, hourly compensation and unit labor cost; control and sale of alcoholic beverages and cannabis; and use of government pandemic liquidity support programs by immigrant- and Canadian-born-owned businesses. 9:45 a.m. The Bank of Canada will announce its interest rate decision. 10 a.m. Auditor General KAREN HOGAN and Treasury Board Secretariat officials appear at the Commons public accounts committee to discuss the audit of the ArriveCAN mobile app. 2 p.m. The Wilson Center will host a webinar titled, “Political risk and Mexico's investment climate.”
| | For your radar | | BIG BUDGET ASK — The push is on for a federal injection into a high-profile Inuit-owned resource project. Nukik Corporation's Kivalliq Hydro-Fibre Link is a project namechecked in two recent federal budgets that aims to bring renewable energy and fiber-optic internet to Nunavut. Playbook's inbox pinged Monday with a missive from Spark Advocacy, which was shopping around a poll the public affairs agency conducted in December — and, Spark claimed, showed substantial support for the project across Canada. Spark also circulated an opinion piece penned by Nukik CEO ANNE-RAPHAËLLE AUDOUIN. — Nothing solid yet: Budget 2021 committed C$40.4 million over three years for "feasibility and planning" related to projects like the hydro-fiber link. Budget 2023 broadly stated that federal clean electricity measures could "support projects across the North," including the link, "that support the transition away from diesel and in meeting emissions goals." — The ask: In 2023, Nukik asked for C$1 billion in federal cash during pre-budget consultations. The House finance committee endorsed that request, and re-upped its support again this year (see recommendation 287). — The lobbying push: Nukik has logged 48 meetings with federal officials since September. The target list includes high-profile policymakers. A sampling: BEN CHIN, senior adviser to the PM; GALEN RICHARDSON, Freeland's senior regional advisor for West and North; CHERYL CARDINAL, director of strategic initiatives and Indigenous equity in Freeland's office; HANNAH WILSON, senior policy adviser to Freeland; MIODRAG JOVANOVIC, assistant deputy minister for tax policy at Finance; SAMIR KASSAM, Energy Minister JONATHAN WILKINSON's director of policy; SANDY SCHEMBRI, Wilkinson's director of net-zero energy; JONATHAN ALOMOTO, senior policy adviser to Northern Affairs Minister DAN VANDAL; JOHN MOFFET, assistant deputy minister at Environment and Climate Change; and PAUL HALUCHA, deputy secretary to the Cabinet for clean growth.
| | 2024 WATCH | | MEANWHILE, IN AMERICA — DONALD TRUMP and JOE BIDEN both romped through Super Tuesday contests, but there's more to the massive primary night than that. Our POLITICO colleagues were up all night covering the voting. — 7 things Super Tuesday just taught us about the November election — Trump is rolling. But here are the 4 potholes still ahead. — Biden can’t quite shake the protest vote, even on his big night — JASON PALMER: The man who provided Super Tuesday’s most surprising upset — What Super Tuesday left unanswered
| | MEDIA ROOM | | — The Star's RAISA PATEL and ALEX BALLINGALL go inside the pharmacare deal that put the Liberal-NDP governing accord to its greatest test yet. — CBC's ASHLEY BURKE reports that "more than 100" Iranian-Canadians want the Conservative Party to investigate "the party's handling of allegations of Iranian regime interference" in a recent nomination race. KAVEH SHAHROOZ dropped a bid to seek the federal nod in Richmond Hill, Ont. — Burke's bureau colleague, CATHERINE CULLEN, reported late Tuesday that Ottawa would "resume funding" to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees. — The Calgary Herald's DON BRAID expects NAHEED NENSHI to run for Alberta NDP leader — if, that is, the party will have him. — Over at The Line, MICHAEL DEN TANDT reflects on the “great gulf that separates us from the era of Mulroney and Reagan.” — GRADY MUNRO and JAKE FUSS write for The Hub: “Trudeau government faces lose-lose situation with NATO spending pledge”
| | PROZONE | | Our latest policy newsletter for Pro subscribers from KYLE DUGGAN and ZI-ANN LUM: Waiting out the clock In other news for Pro readers: — Lawmakers renew push for ByteDance to sell TikTok — Pillar One would have cost $1.4B in 2021, JCT says — Treasury finalizes direct pay for clean energy tax credits — Majority of Biden voters oppose weapons shipments to Israel, poll says — Hungary opposes Mark Rutte’s bid to run NATO
| | | | A message from Google:   | | | | | PLAYBOOKERS | | Birthdays: HBD to Conservative MP KAREN VECCHIO, former B.C. Deputy Premier JOY MACPHAIL, Sen. MARTY KLYNE and former Sen. LORNA MARSDEN. Birthdays, gatherings, social notices for this community: Send them our way. Spotted: An upcoming Liberal fundraiser for Sherbrooke MP ÉLISABETH BRIÈRE, headlined by Industry Minister FRANÇOIS-PHILIPPE CHAMPAGNE and Revenue Minister MARIE-CLAUDE BIBEAU. Current 338Canada projection: Toss-up LPC/BQ. A pro-Palestinian protest, which disrupted a Liberal fundraiser last night in downtown Toronto featuring Deputy PM CHRYSTIA FREELAND and Mental Health Minister YA'ARA SAKS. The Task Force for Housing & Climate's final report to governments. Top recommendation for Ottawa: "Tie all federal infrastructure, transit, and housing funding to provincial and municipal adoption of pro-density legalization reforms." The First Nations Major Projects Coalition, sounding the opening bell at the Toronto Stock Exchange. 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 . Movers and shakers: JAMES MITCHELL, a former Tory staffer on the Hill, is the BC United candidate for North Vancouver-Seymour … MICHAEL DODSWORTH leaves Queen's Park for a new gig as senior consultant at Enterprise Canada … GABY BOURBARA is now president of AstraZeneca Canada. Send Playbookers tips to ottawaplaybook@politico.com .
| | TRIVIA | |
TRIVIA CUP — Ottawa Mayor MARK SUTCLIFFE kicked off the third round of the First Annual POLITICO Canada Trivia Cup. The special guest quizmaster took on a category entitled From Hunters To Hunted — i.e. former journos who, like him, jumped from the newsroom to the life of a politician.
|  The CPAC squad. | Nick Taylor-Vaisey |
— The winners: Nobody could touch CPAC BRAINIACS, whose squad featured legit JEOPARDY! Champion ANDREW THOMSON. They racked up 26 points out of 30 and qualified for the Trivia Cup's June 3 championship round.
Also qualifying: PARLIAMENT HILLBILLIES (The Hill Times, 24 points), Trivia Night in Canada (CBC News, 22 points) and Newsroom Nomads (journo supergroup, 22 points). — Tie-breaker Tumilty: One of the teams nailed the evening's tie-breaking question, which quizzed players on the precise number of active members listed on the Parliamentary Press Gallery website. National Post reporter RYAN TUMILTY was bang-on, answering 321 — though a rival team insisted he wrote 322. See the photo evidence for yourself:
|  We can't zoom in any more than this. | Nick Taylor-Vaisey |
Do you see a 1 or a 2? Drop us a line with your strongest opinion .
Tuesday’s answer: JOHN A. MACDONALD launched The Empire in 1887. That paper later merged with The Toronto Mail, which eventually merged with the Globe. The Empire moniker didn't stick. Props to RYAN HAMILTON, MARCEL MARCOTTE, HELEN DARBY, MATT DELISLE, KEVIN BOSCH, BOB PLAMONDON, Sen. DAVID WELLS, ROBERT MCDOUGALL, NICK CHAN, TRISTAN DENNISTON, KEN FAULKNER, DOUG RICE, STEPHEN HAAS, YAROSLAV BARAN, CRAIG ALLARDYCE and PIERRE JURY. Wednesday’s question: Which Canadian city celebrates its 190th birthday today? 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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