Biden world today, Trump world tomorrow

A daily look inside Canadian politics and power.

May 22, 2024 View in browser   By Zi-Ann Lum Send tips | Subscribe here | Email Ottawa Playbook | Follow Politico Canada Thanks for reading Ottawa Playbook. Let's get into it. In today's edition: → First in Playbook: Texas Gov. GREG ABBOTT is next on the "Team Canada" charm offensive. → MARY NG tells us about today's United States-Mexico-Canada confab in Arizona. → A House committee moves its bird flu briefing behind closed doors. DRIVING THE DAY MEANWHILE IN AMERICA — Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU couldn’t have picked a friendlier audience for a big U.S. speech than the one he found himself in front of Tuesday. He did not mention the word “Conservatives” once. — The occasion: Trudeau’s address at the Service Employees International Union’s convention in Philadelphia offered the PM an opportunity to roll up his shirt sleeves, to advocate for workers’ rights — and to remember what applause from thousands of people sounds like. “It's pretty safe to say that's never happened before,” said SEIU President APRIL VERRETT when she introduced Trudeau as the first Canadian leader to walk their stage. — Among friends: The SEIU represents 2 million members internationally, including roughly 100,000 members in Canada — a majority of whom are health care workers. The union is also affiliated with the Canadian Labor Congress, whose President BEA BRUSKE has made it no secret she’s not a fan of Conservative Leader PIERRE POILIEVRE, calling him a “fraud” when it comes to advocacy for the working class. Bruske told Playbook the CLC played no role in getting Trudeau an invite to speak. “We are encouraged to see federal party leaders attend union conferences and events,” Bruske said in an email. “But words and empty promises are not enough, workers are looking for concrete actions.” — Applause lines: Trudeau received a round of claps for acknowledging that the world is in “a really difficult place” right now. “The fight for progress has been very long, but it must never stop,” he said, prompting the crowd to cheer the progressive truism. — Talking about polls at home, maybe: “It's understandable that people say they want change,” said Trudeau, who has not been able to shake his low popularity. “But like all moments in history, the question can't simply be about whether people want change or not — it's what kind of change they want, what kind of change they need.” — Translation: Let's talk about change that doesn't require me to pack up my office. — ‘Team Canada’ tracker: Trudeau’s Philly pit stop marks the first time he’s travelled to the states since announcing his government’s pre-U.S. election charm offensive in January. — The other objective of his big union speech: To remind a key swing state of Canada’s relevance in case DONALD TRUMP returns to the White House. It's dual purpose messaging that also works should President JOE BIDEN and the Democrats’ protectionist agenda stick around. “Roughly 80 percent of Canadian goods exported to the U.S. are incorporated directly into U.S. supply chains,” Trudeau told SEIU members before tailoring his message to his local audience. “Right here in the state of Pennsylvania, they export more to Canada than to their next four largest foreign markets combined — that’s how connected we are.” The statistic was met with light applause. — Making that jet fuel count: Trudeau’s schedule aligned for a sit-down meeting with U.S. VP KAMALA HARRIS. They covered the situation in Haiti, cooperation in both the Arctic and Ukraine, according to a readout from the veep’s office sent three hours after the meeting. The PM also got time with Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. JOSH SHAPIRO. Canadian Ambassador to the U.S. KIRSTEN HILLMAN and Canada’s Consul General in New York, TOM CLARK, got time to check in with the big boss. The occasion brought U.S. Ambassador to Canada DAVID COHEN back to Philly, where he once served as chief of staff to former mayor ED RENDELL. Cohen did not hitch a ride on the PM’s plane from Ottawa to Philadelphia. While Trudeau spent time with Democrat allies like Harris and Shapiro, senior members of his team are working on inroads with Trumpworld. Last month, Hillman and Industry Minister FRANÇOIS-PHILIPPE CHAMPAGNE dined with ex-Trump officials in Washington. On Thursday, another member of “Team Canada” will head to Texas to continue the outreach. — First in Playbook: International Trade Minister MARY NG’s office confirms she will meet with Republican Gov. GREG ABBOTT in Texas tomorrow. Where the leaders are — Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU is back in Ottawa and will attend the Liberal caucus meeting at 10 a.m. and QP at 2 p.m. — Deputy PM CHRYSTIA FREELAND is in Toronto where she and Health Minister MARK HOLLAND will tour a dental clinic at 10:30 a.m. and make an announcement. A media availability will follow. — Conservative Leader PIERRE POILIEVRE and Bloc Leader YVES-FRANÇOIS BLANCHET had not released public itineraries by the time of our newsletter send. — NDP Leader JAGMEET SINGH will speak to media at 2 p.m. before taking part in QP. — Green Party Leader ELIZABETH MAY will begin her day with an 11:30 a.m. caucus meeting. May’s day ends at the Shaw Centre at an evening celebration for JOE CLARK, commemorating the 45th anniversary of his election as PM. DULY NOTED 9 a.m. The Parliamentary Budget Office will post a new report: “Federal Spending to Address Homelessness.” It will also publish a costing note: “Accelerated Capital Cost Allowance for Eligible New Purpose-built Rental Housing.” 11:30 a.m. Church leaders will arrive on the Hill to urge parliamentarians to support sustainable peacebuilding in Palestine and Israel. 1 p.m. NDP MPs JENNY KWAN, HEATHER MCPHERSON, MATTHEW GREEN and BLAKE DESJARLAIS will hold a media availability in West Block with Palestinian and Sudanese families to call out the government for failing to bring their relatives to Canada. For your radar DOWN IN THE DESERT — International Trade Minister MARY NG says the agenda for today’s trilateral with the United States and Mexico risks coming off as “a bit boring” to some. Ng is in Phoenix, Arizona, a swing-state location chosen by U.S. Trade Representative KATHERINE TAI for this year’s United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) Free Trade Commission meeting with Mexico’s Secretary of Economy RAQUEL BUENROSTRO. — Reality check: Ng said 75 percent of the day’s schedule is filled with committee meetings between teams sharing reports on everything from competition to small- and medium-sized enterprises. High-level discussions about specific issues take up the rest of the time, she said. — Top talker: USMCA loopholes and unresolved disputes are on the list of potential issues. And although the deal’s sunset clause is high on the minds of think tanks, the upcoming 2026 sunset review is not expected to dominate high-level talks. Both the U.S. and Mexico have elections on the horizon, which could change priorities heading into the scheduled review the following year. “Review” is not synonymous with rewrite, Ng said. “I keep sort of telling people that the six-year review is a review and not a renegotiation,” Ng told Playbook in an interview from Arequipa, Peru, before taking off for Arizona. “That's just a factual point.” ALSO FOR YOUR RADAR NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS — Earlier this month, the U.S. federal government announced that it plans to spend millions to stem the spread of avian influenza in the nation’s dairy herds to keep the virus from mutating and spreading among humans. The outbreak of bird flu stateside is prompting scrutiny of Canada’s surveillance of the virus. — And with the scrutiny — secrecy: Tuesday on Parliament Hill, MPs made a last-minute decision to turn a public briefing on bird flu in the U.S. into a session held behind closed doors. MPs on the House agriculture committee effectively put a cone of silence on the only meeting it plans to hold on the crisis. — On Tuesday’s witness list: Virologist ANGELA RASMUSSEN of the University of Saskatchewan and five department officials from the Canada Border Services Agency, Canadian Food Inspection Agency, agriculture and agri-food department and the Public Health Agency of Canada. Rasmussen told Playbook the meeting was “very collegial” and helped parliamentarians understand how Canadian government agencies and academics are monitoring the situation. — Just what was said, we don’t know: A public transcript of the meeting won’t be released, though partial minutes are expected to be made public tomorrow. If you were at the closed-door AGRI meeting, we're all ears. MEDIA ROOM — Top of POLITICO this hour: New York trial winds down — without Trump’s testimony. — SIMON HOPKINS of The Canadian Press reports: Senators pass new rules entrenching independent groups, angering Tories. — “The issue with many ‘star’ candidates who come from academia, media or business is that they can be out of touch with the realities of how elections are won in this country,” ZAHRA SULTANI writes at The Hub.  — CATHERINE LÉVESQUE of the National Post reports: House Speaker GREG FERGUS is under fire for link to event attacking Poilievre; Liberal party apologizes. — In an editorial on political toxicity, The Hill Times advises: “It's time to cut it out.” — In case you missed it via the Globe's MATT LUNDY: Inflation cools to 2.7% in April, increasing odds of a summer interest rate cut. PROZONE Our latest policy newsletter for Pro subscribers by KYLE DUGGAN, ZI-ANN LUM and SUE ALLAN: Spoiling for a tax fight. In other news for Pro readers: — Biden’s $7B “clean” hydrogen dream faces pipeline hurdle. — Why America’s hottest city is seeing a surge in deaths. — Trump’s EPA chief thinks Biden’s climate rules are doomed.  — Bill holding social media firms liable for harm to kids passes California Assembly. — How officials, campaigners and fact-checkers tackle AI’s influence. — Russian Starlink access ‘continuous problem’ on the battlefield, DOD official says. PLAYBOOKERS Birthdays: HBD to Québec solidaire’s MANON MASSÉ. “Our greatest strength is love,” she said last fall at a party convention. “Love is a weapon of mass construction. Don’t you ever forget that.” Spotted: THE LOCAL, celebrating its fifth anniversary.  Finance Minister CHRYSTIA FREELAND appearing before the TV cameras with written notes on the palm of her left hand, not quite legible enough for the viewers at home. Send us your best guesses/captions. A softball in QP from Liberal MP ANJU DHILLON to MARCI IEN: “Could the minister for women and gender equality and youth remind the House of our government's position on a woman's right to choose?” Nova Scotia’s governing Progressive Conservatives, retaining Pictou West in a Tuesday byelection. The riding was won MARCO MACLEOD, CP reports. Media mentions: CHANTAL HÉBERT and TERRY MOSHER will be recognized with the Michener-Baxter Award for exceptional service to Canadian public service journalism. They will receive their awards at a June 14 ceremony at Rideau Hall. Farewells: Veteran CBC News broadcaster LAURENCE WALL will step away from the microphone at the end of the month. “I've done everything that I've wanted to do and then some," he said in an interview. "But it's time." In memoriam: Tuesday in the House, MP ALI EHSASSI paid tribute to the Hon. JAMES SCOTT PETERSON, who died earlier this month. “What made him so incredibly memorable was not only his enviable number of years as a tireless parliamentarian, but his immense intellect and his exceptionally big heart,” the Willowdale MP told the House. “A larger-than-life personality, Jim was an inspiration to myself and many of the most discerning individuals who follow Canadian politics.” MP ADAM VAN KOEVERDEN used his SO31 to celebrate the life of broadcaster DARREN DUTCHYSHEN — “confident and kind, larger than life and always smiling.” Former Ottawa Business Journal editor LEO VALIQUETTE has died. ON THE HILL → Find House committees here. → Keep track of Senate committees here. — It’s caucus day on the Hill. 4:15 p.m. Three Senate committees will concurrently discuss Bill C-69: The Senate banking, commerce and the economy committee; the Senate foreign affairs and international trade committee and the Senate social affairs, science and technology committee, which will hear from a long list of government officials and industry stakeholders. 4:15 p.m. The Senate legal and constitutional affairs committee will take Bill S-15 through clause-by-clause consideration. 4:30 p.m. Minister of Indigenous Services PATTY HAJDU will be first up at the House committee on Indigenous and northern affairs. Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations GARY ANANDASANGAREE and Minister of Northern Affairs DAN VANDAL will appear in the second hour. Topic at hand: Main Estimates. 4:30 p.m. The House industry and technology committee will take Bill C-27 through clause-by-clause consideration with help from department officials SAMIR CHHABRA and RUNA ANGUS. 4:30 p.m. The House committee on veterans affairs has committee business on its agenda. 6:45 p.m. Parliamentary Budget Officer YVES GIROUX will be at the Senate national finance committee to advise on Bill C-69.  Behind closed doors: The House citizenship and immigration committee will work in camera to discuss the government’s response to the final report of the special committee on Afghanistan. The House operations and estimates committee will discuss its draft report on the changeover of public service health care to Canada Life from Sun Life. The House national defense committee will review its draft report on procurement. The Senate audit and oversight committee will discuss the Senate’s internal and external audits. The Senate ethics and conflict of interest committee will meet to discuss internal matters. The Senate Indigenous peoples committee will partially be held in camera so it can discuss a draft report. TRIVIA Tuesday’s answer: Historian JACK GRANATSTEIN wrote: “I will never forget the sight of young mothers in their twenties, weeping and cheering simultaneously while holding their babies up to get a sobbing veteran’s kiss.” Props to ROBERT MCDOUGALL, MARCEL MARCOTTE, BOB GORDON and JENN KEAY.  Wednesday’s question: Whose public debut on this date in history teased at the a-maze-ing phenomenon to come? Answers to ottawaplaybook@politico.com Writing Playbook tomorrow: NICK TAYLOR-VAISEY. Correction: Tuesday’s Playbook misidentified the riding of NDP MP DON DAVIES. It is, of course, Vancouver Kingsway. Playbook wouldn’t happen without: POLITICO Canada editor Sue Allan, editor Willa Plank and Luiza Ch. Savage. 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.   Follow us on Twitter Nick Taylor-Vaisey @TaylorVaisey Sue Allan @susan_allan 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

To change your alert settings, please log in at https://login.politico.com/?redirect=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.politico.com/settings This email was sent to rouf@idiot.cloudns.cc by: POLITICO, LLC 1000 Wilson Blvd. Arlington, VA, 22209, USA Unsubscribe | Privacy Policy | Terms of Service