| | | | |  | | By Zi-Ann Lum | | Presented by |  | | |
Thanks for reading Ottawa Playbook. Let's get into it.
In today's edition: → How 500,000 tonnes of plastic waste went unaccounted for. → We get JOHN MCKAY on the phone to tell us what MPs and senators are up to in Washington. |  | For your radar | |
DEPT. OF OOPS — Bad data is a problem Canada's environment commissioner JERRY DEMARCO has had to deal with over and over again.
Long lags between when greenhouse gas emissions occur and when they get accounted for in reports from Environment and Climate Change Canada suggest governments aren’t serious. DeMarco routinely advocates for up-to-date info, be it real-time or at least recent data, to demonstrate policy action on climate files. “If you're gonna call these issues crises, then you should be managing them with more dispatch,” DeMarco told Playbook recently. “Having data that's three years old and making decisions today — that just doesn't cut it.” Good policy, be it climate or whatever, lives and dies by the quality of its data. — Which brings us to: “Have you seen Exhibit 3.1?” the federal environment watchdog asked Playbook. — Pull up the PDF: DeMarco’s spring reports included an audit on the government’s push to reach zero plastic waste by 2030. He pointed out that the very first chart on page 1 of his report is inaccurate. The line graph of pulled data from a 2023 Statistics Canada report shows that the amount of disposed plastic waste in Canada increased to 3.9 million tonnes in 2019 from 3.5 million tonnes in 2012. DeMarco’s plastic waste audit was printer-ready when the national statistics agency released its 2024 report featuring new data. DeMarco noted that every data point was different, but it was too late for his report. — Off by a half million: “All of the last several years, from 2012 to 2019, were off by approximately 500,000 tonnes,” DeMarco said of the Statistics Canada numbers. “The 2024 report and the 2023 report have an entirely different set of data points for the last eight years,” he said, using the example to underline why high-quality data matters to push government policy along. — The bigger picture: Underreporting plastic waste creates the impression that fewer resources are needed to tackle it, undermining the urgency of the environmental problem. — Learning curve: Part of the issue is that Statistics Canada is relatively new to pulling data on plastic waste collection. “This was not an error,” said CARTER MANN, chief of the statistics agency’s strategic communications and planning division. Mann explained the numbers in DeMarco’s published report were based on a pilot version of Statistics Canada modeling that estimated the amount of plastics recycled, exported or disposed of in landfills. The module has been updated after a full review. “As a result, the most recent estimates are more robust than those from during the pilot phase,” Mann said. — Translation: The bugs are fixed. It took a while, yes. Statistics Canada was off by 500,000 tonnes every year for eight years. — Bottom line: There is way more disposed plastic waste in Canada than previously reported. | | | | A message from Canadian Chamber of Commerce: Bill C-64, the Pharmacare Act, establishes the foundational principles for the initial phase of a national universal pharmacare program in Canada. The 2024 federal budget allocates $1.5 billion over five years, starting in 2024-25, to launch the National Pharmacare Plan. However, a single-payer system is a costly plan that may result in longer wait times for fewer drugs for many Canadians, instead of focusing on those who currently lack coverage. Learn More. | | | | | Where the leaders are | | — Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU is in Quebec City and will participate in an announcement about the Québec Bridge at 9:30 a.m. A media availability will follow. At 11:10 a.m., he’ll participate in a briefing on dental care. — Deputy PM CHRYSTIA FREELAND is in Toronto with no public events on her schedule. — Conservative Leader PIERRE POILIEVRE and NDP Leader JAGMEET SINGH have not released their public schedules. — Bloc Leader YVES-FRANÇOIS BLANCHET will be in Sherbrooke. At 10 a.m. he will visit Soprema. At 2 p.m., he will visit Oneka. — Green Party Leader ELIZABETH MAY will be in Victoria, B.C., with plans for an afternoon meeting with the Berwick Royal Oak retirement community’s climate action committee. | | | DULY NOTED | | |
— International Trade Minister MARY NG is in Arequipa, Peru, to attend APEC trade ministers meetings.
— Treasury Board President ANITA ANAND is in Washington to meet with her counterpart, U.S. Office of Management and Budget Director SHALANDA YOUNG, to talk about resurrecting the Canada-United States Regulatory Cooperation Council. 9 a.m. The Parliamentary Budget Officer will publish a new report on the government’s pharmacare plan. 1 p.m. National Defense Minister BILL BLAIR and Industry Minister FRANÇOIS-PHILIPPE CHAMPAGNE will headline a fireside chat at the Montreal Council on Foreign Relations to talk about Canada-U.S. defense relations. A media availability will follow. 9:30 a.m. (11 a.m. NT) A trio of Cabmins (Families Minister Jenna Sudds, Labor Minister Seamus O'Regan and Rural Economic Development Minister Gudie Hutchings) will share the mic at a St. John’s YMCA to make a child care and early learning announcement. | | | 2024 WATCH | | | 
The U.S. Capitol building is seen May 8, 2024. | Francis Chung/POLITICO | SPRING FLING — A flock of parliamentarians are in Washington today on a two-day “Congressional visit,” armed with a secret list of lawmakers for private meetings. The Canada-United States Inter-Parliamentary Group regularly travels to Washington to maintain and build relationships with members of Congress. Regular, according to group co-chair Liberal MP JOHN MCKAY, means “more than twice a year and less than four.” Nailing the timing of this trip has been a trick for the parliamentary group. — Why now: “It's an election year, and we've been holding up because it's been primary season for the first three months,” McKay said. “There's no point going down when it's primary season, because you can't get their attention.” There’s also no point scheduling a visit between September and October because America is in election mode, he added. This spring visit will likely be followed by a winter one — after the U.S. election. Planning for that trip, he said, will have its own headaches. “You don't want to be talking to people that are going out the door. You do want to be talking to people coming in the door — and the ones that are coming in the door aren't quite in the door yet. So it becomes a bit of a challenge.” — Whose attention they want: McKay politely declined Playbook’s attempts to extract the names of U.S. lawmakers the publicly funded Canadian delegation will meet. They’re private chats, he said, and confirmed the delegation’s schedule includes time with congressional members they haven’t met with before. “We have three or four Texans on our list,” McKay let slip. Playbook: I guess I’ll wait for the Twitter photos, if they’re approved, to see who you met. McKay: It's much better to release with permission than to beg for forgiveness. — Who’s joining McKay in Washington: Liberal MP JAMES MALONEY, Conservative MPs ZIAD ABOULTAIF and RANDY HOBACK, NDP MP BRIAN MASSE, Bloc Québécois MP SIMON-PIERRE SAVARD-TREMBLAY and Sens. JIM QUINN, MARTY DEACON and ANDREW CARDOZO. — What’s on the agenda: Perennial Canada-U.S. relations issues including the Line 5 pipeline, softwood lumber, defense and security, Canadian concerns over the new “Product of USA” final rule, as well as the CHIPS Act and Buy America policy. Buy America has had unintended consequences in creating unnecessary supply chain bottlenecks, McKay said. Playbook asked the Liberal MP to give an example. “I had one constituent who was selling PVC pipe. The ultimate destination was a U.S. military installation. And when they realized that the origin was from Scarborough of all places, they had to rip it all out,” he said. “Which made no sense whatsoever.” | | | | A message from Canadian Chamber of Commerce:   | | | | | MEDIA ROOM | | — It’s wildfire season and Kansas City is blaming Canada for the fact it has the worst air quality in America, reports SCOTT DANCE in The Washington Post. — The Canadian Press reports: Wildfire forces out thousands of residents in parts of Fort McMurray. — When Conservative Deputy Leader MELISSA LANTSMAN fed the people a “campaign stump speech” at the Association of Yukon Communities annual meeting, people apparently walked out. CHRIS MACINTYRE of CBC News has the story. — Bloomberg’s THOMAS SEAL and BRIAN PLATT report that Conservative Leader PIERRE POILIEVRE’s war chest is getting by with a little help from really rich friends including billionaire EDWARD ROGERS and private equity executive PAUL DESMARAIS III. — Over on The Hub, HOWARD ANGLIN and RAY PENNINGS penned a new column on an old chestnut about Canada careering toward a constitutional crisis in the Senate. Blame “overweening” senators. — MATTHEW MENDELSOHN, the PM’s ex-results & delivery guy, has an op-ed in the Toronto Star pouring cold water on MARK CARNEY-for-Liberal-leader buzz because of a “disappointing” answer he gave to Liberal MP NATE ERSKINE-SMITH on wealth inequality. — For J-Source, journalist ROMAIN CHAUVET explores the risks of Meta’s news ban as a challenge for Canada’s democracy and asks if an election-year blackout will be an opportunity for politicians to “play with the limits of misinformation.” | | | PROZONE | | |
Our latest policy newsletter for Pro subscribers by KYLE DUGGAN and ZI-ANN LUM: Trudeau takes an EV victory lap.
Just published from Pro's ALEX NIEVES: How California Republicans learned to buck Trump and love electric vehicles. In other news for Pro readers: — Red states sue Biden, California over climate rules for trucks. — US tariff smackdown on Chinese EVs leaves EU playing catch-up. — Estonian battery-maker Skeleton aims for IPO, unveils plans in France — IRS urged to bolster oversight of carbon capture and storage tax credit. — Disasters displaced more than 26 million people in 2023. | | PLAYBOOKERS | |
Birthdays: Parliamentarians celebrating today include Liberal MPs ANTHONY ROTA, MP FAYÇAL EL-KHOURY. They share a birth date with former senator PATRICIA BOVEY and former MP BRAD TROST (50!) and Cardus executive VP RAY PENNINGS.
HBD +1 to Conservative MP SHELBY KRAMP-NEUMAN, whose staff praised the all-caps “JOY” she brings to their lives. Spotted: NDP MP CHARLIE ANGUS sharing a snap of a subpoena he got to testify about death threats made to him and his staff as a reflection of today’s political climate … Foreign Affairs Minister MÉLANIE JOLY in Beirut meeting with Lebanese caretaker PM NAJIB MIKATI. Six Ottawa restaurants nabbing spots on the new Canada’s 100 Best Restaurants list — congrats to Riviera, Atelier, Arlo Wine & Restaurant, Supply and Demand, North & Navy and Buvette Daphnée (h/t Ottawa Citizen). Movers and shakers: Navigator's CLARE MICHAELS is now lobbying for Northern Graphite, a mining company that hopes to attract federal funding for an eastern Ontario project that could contribute to Canada's battery supply chain. During the pandemic, Michaels was director of strategic communications and principal writer for Ontario Premier DOUG FORD. Farewells: Canadian literary titan ALICE MUNRO has died at 92. The Globe’s SANDRA MARTIN has an obituary about the “master of the contemporary short story” who won the 2013 Nobel Prize in Literature. | | | | A message from Canadian Chamber of Commerce: A report by the Parliamentary Budget Officer estimated that implementing a comprehensive, single payer pharmacare plan would cost the government $33.2 billion in the first year, rising to $38.9 billion within three years. Despite the high cost, such a plan would leave most Canadians worse off.
Most Canadians have drug insurance through their employers, giving them faster access to more medications. Those on public plans wait over two years for new medicines. People with private coverage have access to 64% of new drugs, while public plan members have access to only 18%.
With 97.2% of Canadians already eligible for some form of drug coverage, transitioning to a single-payer system would disrupt a system most Canadians are satisfied with to close a small 2.8% coverage gap.
As legislation moves through parliamentary and public discussion, the government should consider a more sensible approach that improves coverage and provides all Canadians with faster access to the lifesaving and life-improving medicines. | | | | | | ON THE HILL | |
→ Find House committees here.
→ Keep track of Senate committees here. — Parliament will return May 21. 12 p.m. The House government operations and estimates committee will meet for 45 minutes to resume debate on a motion by Conservative MP GARNETT GENUIS and amendment by Conservative MP LAILA GOODRIDGE. 1 p.m. The House government operations and estimates committee will meet to launch a new study on GAC’s audit of procurement of consulting services. Three foreign affairs, trade and development department officials are on the witness list | | | TRIVIA | | |
Tuesday’s answer: McGill and Harvard played the first game of intercollegiate football in America.
Props to ROB LEFORTE, ALANNA SOKIC, ROSS LECLAIR, DONALD STEWART, RICHARD REMILLARD, ROBERT MCDOUGALL, GEOFFREY HALL, DON NEWMAN, BARRE CAMPBELL, JIM CAMPBELL, SEAN MOORE, JUSTIN MARGOLIS, JOHN MATHESON, STEPHEN KAROL, PHAEDRA DE SAINT-ROME, MARK RAMZY, HUGUES THEORET, OWEN CRAWFORD-LEM, BOB GORDON, JOHN ECKER, MARCEL MARCOTTE, JOSHUA DADJO, JOE MACDONALD and JOHN MERRIMAN. Wednesday’s question: About how many varieties of tulips will you find in Canada’s capital region this spring? Answers to ottawaplaybook@politico.com Writing Playbook tomorrow: NICK TAYLOR-VAISEY. 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 | | | | 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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