| | | | |  | | By Nick Taylor-Vaisey, Kyle Duggan and Zi-Ann Lum | | Presented by |  | | | Send tips | Subscribe here | Email Nick | Follow Politico Canada Thanks for reading the Ottawa Playbook. Let’s get to it. In today's edition: → Your guide to caffeine in the capital. → Ontario's "gateway to navigation" welcomes the circus to town. → Takeaways from JUSTIN TRUDEAU's latest pod talks.
|  | DRIVING THE DAY | | COFFEE CULTURE — Playbookers spend countless hours satisfying a caffeine fix. The business of government would grind to a halt without a wide variety of Hill-adjacent cafés. Playbook canvassed our readers about their daily routines. If you're new to the capital, or want to shake up your daily joe, here's a route map. — The most convenient: West Block, for Hill staffers, when time is short. — The new one: Little Victories' grab-and-go spot at the northeast corner of Bank and Queen. — The fishbowl: Everybody knows Little Victories on Elgin is the place to be seen to be seen. Want word to quietly get out that you're sipping joe with somebody in particular? Take a window seat. The Wi-Fi-free zone is also a great place to stamp squares on your BINGO card of CHRYSTIA FREELAND staffers. They joke that one of them is usually holding down a table. → The walk-and-talk: Want the same cup of coffee with a little more privacy? Get outside, says Global Automakers of Canada's LUCAS MALINOWSKI. "There is no good indoor place to have a discreet conversation and a good cup of coffee in Ottawa," he writes to Playbook. "But now that the weather has turned, my go-to is grabbing some brews at Little Victories and going for a nice walk along the canal. There's usually no one but geese down there to listen in." — Hiding in plain sight: The Council of Canadian Innovators' NICK SCHIAVO prefers the other side of the National War Memorial. "The real action is across the street [from Little Victories] at Equator Coffee in the NAC. A bit more tucked away and with plenty of seating, it makes for a lively atmosphere that allows for important conversations to get drowned out from nearby sippers." — The PMO digs: Bridgehead at Sparks and Metcalfe, d'uh. A reliable place to catch a senior Trudeau staffer on the way into the office across the street. Immigration Minister MARC MILLER is also a Bridgehead guy — double espresso, though he's trying to quit. → Fun fact: Miller is also a tea-drinker. He escapes staff by vanishing in search of a cup. — Speaking of tea: Labor Minister SEAMUS O'REGAN convenes cross-partisan afternoon tea sessions in his Confederation Building office. — The secret patio: We won't completely give this one away because Playbook's inbox will ping with gripes from people who treasure this central spot. But grab a latte from Starbucks in the Sun Life building and look around the atrium. You'll find it. — Hidden gem: The little spot beside the Office Pub, formerly the site of a TD Bank ATM. The Hill Times' CHRISTINA LEADLAY, a former barista, gushed about the hole in the wall. "It ticks so many boxes: it has a cool, NYC vibe with its street art on the wall and lack of seating; the food is largely homemade; the staff is so friendly; I rarely have to wait in line; and the coffee (from Equator roasters) is both hot and a good price (C$2 for a medium)." — Two birds, one stone: JAMES RICHARDSON wrote in to recommend Café Délice, which operates locations at Bank/Queen and Kent/Laurier. Each shop sells 49th Parallel roast from Vancouver and imported Leonidas chocolates from Belgium. In Ottawa, that's what we call a twofer. — Other popular options: Le Moulin de Provence at Queen and Metcalfe; Bread & Sons on Bank near Gloucester; Bar Robo at Queen St. Fare; and McDonald's on Bank, a more popular stop than some might admit. — Who needs coffee? Fertilizer Canada's MATTHEW DON TRAPP says informal encounters in strategic locations are easier than ever. "There are so few people in the downtown now that if you are on Sparks Street at certain times of day, the only people there are MPs and their staff," he writes. "You can lobby MPs going between buildings. I've had full-on meetings just standing outside of Valour or Wellington. Another key spot is the top of the steps heading to West Block. If the traffic lights line up, you can get a few minutes; however, protesters know this and set up shop there." What did we miss? Send us your go-to meeting spot . | | | | 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 Port Colborne, Ont., where he's expected to announce a battery separator plant connected to Honda's investment in the province. Trudeau will be joined by Ontario Premier DOUG FORD, Industry Minister FRANÇOIS-PHILIPPE CHAMPAGNE and Ontario Economic Development Minister VIC FEDELI. Later, the PM is in Quebec City for a 6:30 p.m. fundraiser at the Garrison Club, the same venue where PIERRE POILIEVRE padded his warchest before the Conservative convention last September. Cabmins joining the PM: JEAN-YVES DUCLOS, MARIE-CLAUDE BIBEAU, PABLO RODRIGUEZ and Champagne. — Deputy PM CHRYSTIA FREELAND is in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. At 11:30 a.m. local time, Freeland will tour a local child care center and hold a media availability. She'll be joined by Families Minister JENNA SUDDS and Nova Scotia Early Childhood Development Minister BECKY DRUHAN. — Conservative Leader PIERRE POILIEVRE holds a press conference in B.C.'s Lower Mainland at 8:30 a.m. local time. Later in Vancouver, he hosts a party fundraiser at the Black & Blue steakhouse, which has Japanese A5 Wagyu and Kobe beef on the menu. — At 11:45 a.m., NDP Leader JAGMEET SINGH speaks at the Ontario Public Service Employees Union retiree lunch. Afterwards, Singh and Thunder Bay-Rainy River NDP candidate YUK-SEM WON will hold a media availability. — Bloc Québécois Leader YVES-FRANÇOIS BLANCHET will speak at the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal at 11:30 a.m. He'll also hold a media availability. — Green Party Leader ELIZABETH MAY will meet with constituents in her riding.
| | DULY NOTED | | 10 a.m. Canada Border Services Agency President ERIN O'GORMAN will be at the House public accounts committee as study of ArriveCAN continues. We're tracking the political events of 2024 on a mega-calendar. Send us events and download the calendar yourself for Google and other clients .
| | For your radar | | CHARGING UP — Liberal MP VANCE BADAWEY is surrounded on two sides by Conservative ridings. To his east lies TONY BALDINELLI. To his west, DEAN ALLISON. Badawey, and fellow Liberal CHRIS BITTLE to his north, are red-shaded exceptions to a blue-heavy Niagara peninsula where 338Canada projects a Tory sweep in the next election. But those are tomorrow's problems for JUSTIN TRUDEAU's squad. Today, Badawey and company welcome a major multinational investment to Port Colborne, a tourist-friendly former industrial center on the shores of Lake Erie at the foot of the Welland Canal. — Fun fact: Former Justice Minister DAVID LAMETTI was born and raised in the area. — Hello, Honda: Trudeau and Ontario Premier DOUG FORD are in town today with assorted ministers and municipal officials to fête Honda Canada brass. — Rust belt no more: Port Colborne is the latest market to get a boost courtesy of federal, provincial and corporate investments in Canada's electric vehicle supply chain. CBC News reported the specifics. iPolitics broke the news that the automaker was poised to announce a “new battery parts manufacturing facility in the Niagara Region” as part of its C$15-billion expansion into the province. Honda will receive billions in tax credits from governments designed to woo the setup of EV industrial bases. — Details to come: Speaking to reporters on Monday, Finance Minister CHRYSTIA FREELAND dodged questions about how many jobs or spin-offs it might create, or what the federal contribution to the plant will be. Instead, she touted the importance of the tax credits that helped seal the deal. — Timeline: Freeland expects the Fall Economic Statement implementation legislation, Bill C-59, to be passed by the end of the month. That will bring online the first few investment tax credits, including one for clean technology equipment. She expects two more, including the EV supply chain investment tax credit which was designed to encourage this kind of investment, will be passed by the end of the summer.
| | ALSO FOR YOUR RADAR | | MAN OF POD — Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU’s tour of the podcast circuit has him popping up in surprising places between his budget "echo" announcements and EV supply-chain deals. If you were placing bets at the start of the year, would you have expected a nearly half-hour long post-budget appearance by Trudeau on the “The Gritty Nurse” health care podcast? — Toughie question: Can he name a famous nurse? He went with KAMAL KHERA, LEIGH CHAPMAN, and the hosts. His latest appearance: Ottawa investment analyst RICHARD COFFIN’s personal finance pod “The Plain Bagel,” the name a reference to spending within one’s means. Trudeau got his points in on the budget, housing and notably what PMO really wants to talk about: the capital gains tax hike. (Also see: the three-minute video on X where Trudeau makes the case for it.) Coffin pitched a classic: Define “middle class.” The PM also accidentally dropped some governmentese: referencing the BIA bill. — Lessons in spin: Coffin said he was hesitant to do the interview since politics isn’t his realm, but who could resist? He wrapped with this note: The PM made some really good points, but there were some he didn’t “inherently agree with and I think in hindsight, I would have liked to press harder on some of the areas that sometimes got lost a bit more in the weeds.” “Given that we only had 20 minutes, which is a one-shot-and-done kind of thing, I was very focused on my prepared questions. It didn't really respond to the answers being provided.” — What you really want to know: Trudeau’s fave bagel. “Just plain sesame from either St-Viateur or Fairmount,” PMJT stated. The host’s reply: “Interesting choice.” — Armchair bagel-ology: Some of the YouTube commenters chimed in on whether sesame counts as plain. “He [is] clearly just trying to appeal to the audience but then realized he doesn't actually relate to us,” wrote StinkPickle4000. “Plain bagel was a symbol of austerity; Trudeau classic elite!” “Yeah, I am from Montréal and plain is pretty much with sesame seeds,” writes DerekBee. Otsoko66 was impressed that the PM sidestepped the biggest point of contention in Montreal: “Which is better, St-Viateur Bagels or [Fairmount] Bagels? Nicely done.”
| | | | A message from Canadian Chamber of Commerce:   | | | | | MEDIA ROOM | | — From our POLITICO colleagues: With eyes shut, Trump endures testimony from his nemesis — The prime minister's half-brother and RFK fanatic, KYLE KEMPER, joined TUCKER CARLSON for an interview. The Western Standard has the rundown on their nearly hour-long conversation about freedom, vaccines, trucker convoys, tax policy, and so much more. — As some daycare centers in Ontario pull out of a federal program, CBC's J.P. TASKER chronicles a brewing child care battle between Ottawa and Queen's Park. — Globe real estate reporter RACHELLE YOUNGLAI is on The Decibel to discuss reporting that suggests Ottawa is funding affordable rental projects that aren’t actually affordable. — In the Star this morning via MARTIN REGG COHN: DOUG FORD has bungled affordable housing and now Ottawa is rubbing his nose in it. | | PROZONE | | Don’t miss our latest newsletter for Pro subscribers. Pro’s GAVIN BADE reports this morning: The U.S. will raise tariffs on electric vehicles, clean energy technologies, computer chips and metals imported from China, the culmination of a years-long review and spirited debate within the administration over the Trump-era duties. In other news for Pros: — Historic ocean heat wave heralds dangerous hurricane season. — Carbon removal intensifies competition for land. — Putin puts an economist in charge of the military. — Cybercriminals claim hack of EU police agency, posting data online.
| | PLAYBOOKERS | | Birthdays: HBD to Sen. DON PLETT (74!), Conservative MP ROB MOORE (50!), PATRICK KENNEDY of Earnscliffe Strategies and former Ontario MPP GILLES BISSON. Celebrate your day with the Playbook community. Send us the details. We’ll let everyone know. Spotted: MARK CARNEY, chatting up French President EMMANUEL MACRON. Ottawa Mayor MARK SUTCLIFFE, gifting PM Trudeau a copy of his book, "Long Road to Boston,” at an April 18 city hall bilat. Sutcliffe also gave Trudeau four "#TeamOttawa" toques and a wooden bowl crafted by Within the Grain Ottawa. Three sets of silver cufflinks, a gift for Trudeau from Polish President ANDRZEJ DUDA when the pair met at CFB Esquimalt last month. A Salvatore Ferragamo scarf, declared to the ethics commissioner by Foreign Minister MÉLANIE JOLY. The source: ANTONIO TAJANI, Italian deputy PM and minister of foreign affairs and international cooperation. Movers and shakers: LINDSAY DOYLE is YouTube’s new head of government affairs and public policy in Canada, previously government affairs manager at Google Canada. Former Liberal Cabinet minister TONY VALERI logged two April meetings with PMO senior adviser BEN CHIN on behalf of steel and mining company ArcelorMittal Dofasco. AMY BUTCHER joins Sandstone Group as senior associate. JAI SINGH starts at the same firm as a summer intern … NIVITHA JEYAKUMAR recently joined McMillan Vantage as a senior consultant. Media mentions: DAVID RIDER is now a senior political reporter at the Toronto Star focused on the Greater Toronto Area. BEN SPURR takes over as the paper's city hall bureau chief. Heritage Minister PASCALE ST-ONGE has tapped a seven-member panel to advise on CBC/Radio-Canada's funding and governance structures: MARIE-PHILIPPE BOUCHARD, CEO of TV5 Québec Canada; JESSE WENTE, chair of the Canada Council for the Arts and founding executive director of the Indigenous Screen Office; JENNIFER MCGUIRE, managing director of Pink Triangle Press; DAVID SKOK, CEO and editor-in-chief of The Logic; MIKE ANANNY, associate professor of communication and journalism at University of Southern California Annenberg; LOC DAO, executive director of DigiBC; and CATALINA BRICENO, professor at Université du Québec à Montréal. Skok wrote about his decision to join the effort.
| | | | 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 | | Parliament will return May 21. → Find House committees here. → Keep track of Senate committees here.
| | TRIVIA | | Monday’s answer: In 1924, Prince Edward Island became the last province in Canada to make the switch to driving on the right-hand side of the road. Newfoundlanders made the switch on Jan. 2, 1947 — before joining Canada. Props to MALCOLM MCKAY, ROBERT MCDOUGALL, BOB GORDON, RALPH LEVENSTEIN and JOHN ECKER. Today’s question: On this date in 1874, the first game of intercollegiate football in America took place. Who played? Answers to ottawaplaybook@politico.com . Writing Wednesday’s Ottawa Playbook: ZI-ANN LUM. 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. | | | | 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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