| | | | |  | | By Nick Taylor-Vaisey and Zi-Ann Lum | | Presented by |  | | | Send tips | Subscribe here | Email Ottawa Playbook | Follow Politico Canada Thanks for reading Ottawa Playbook. Let's get into it. In today's edition: → The things you learn with a reverse-image search. → How many Global Affairs employees are working on the Ukraine file? → The rise and fall of SABRINA MADDEAUX's Conservative star.
|  | DRIVING THE DAY | | ENHANCE — PIERRE POILIEVRE is holding his second press conference in Vancouver in three days today so you know he’s super committed to sweeping the Lower Mainland. The Conservative leader announced plans Tuesday to introduce a Tory private member's bill to ban illicit drug use in B.C. hospitals, despite the province moving ahead weeks ago to make such activities illegal in “all public places.” The gambit is part of Poilievre’s effort to end decriminalization, bringing energy to a new war on drugs. — That escalated quickly: Under the Constitution, provinces are responsible for managing hospitals. Poilievre had a two-word answer when asked if he was concerned the province could push back. “They might,” he said, before pivoting the focus by going hard on pathos to widen the appeal of his message, adding that it’s ultimately up to British Columbians. — Yes, and: “Do British Columbians believe that someone should be allowed to smoke crack, meth and bring machetes into hospitals, right next to patients who are trying to recover from cancer or a heart attack?” he asked. — Checking source material: Shortly after Poilievre pitched his bill, the online campaign began. Tory MPs MICHAEL KRAM and MEL ARNOLD posted social media cards from their X accounts, promising that their party will “STOP THE CRIME in OUR HOSPITALS.” The words, suggesting an endemic, were superimposed over a photo of an unidentified building. Curious about the building’s relationship to the problem presented, Playbook reverse image searched the photo. The results delivered a page of images of Vernon Jubilee Hospital in British Columbia’s northern Okanagan region. Hospital spokesperson JAMIE SHINKEWSKI confirmed the photo is indeed of their building — and that it’s at least 13 years old. “It appears this is an old photo of Vernon Jubilee Hospital from iStock images, but not a current photo as the additional tower that was opened in 2011 is missing,” Shinkewski wrote in an email. — No connection: Asked if the hospital has been dealing with a spate of crime, Shinkewski said no. The B.C. interior health authority is committed to making their hospital a safe environment for patients and staff, he added. “We are not aware of a site-specific connection to this site outside of a stock photo online.” — The kernel of truth: Debate turned heated in the B.C. legislature last month over a leaked memo that advised northern region health care workers to not confiscate drugs or knives (specifically with blades under 4 inches, not machetes) from a patient because of the province’s decriminalization experiment. The July 2023 memo was obtained by the BC United Party, formerly known as the BC Liberals until they changed their name last year to woo back conservatives allergic to the word “liberal.” (Update: it's not going well.) — The kicker: As for why the issue is on the radar now, Tory MP GERALD SOROKA credited CBC News’ coverage as a contributing factor.
| | | | 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's first public event of the day is in northern New Brunswick, where he'll talk up his government's proposed school food program. At 12:30 p.m. (1:30 local time), Trudeau will make an announcement. He'll be joined by Families Minister JENNA SUDDS, Public Safety Minister DOMINIC LEBLANC and Veterans Affairs Minister GINETTE PETITPAS TAYLOR. Trudeau heads to the Fairmont Winnipeg for a party fundraiser at 6:30 p.m. local time. Liberal MP TERRY DUGUID hosts the event. Three other ministers will be in the room: Sudds, RECHIE VALDEZ and DAN VANDAL. — Deputy PM CHRYSTIA FREELAND is in Ottawa with no public events on her itinerary. — Conservative Leader PIERRE POILIEVRE will hold a press conference in Vancouver at 12 p.m. (9 a.m. PT).
| | For your radar | | UKRAINE SQUAD — A curious Playbook reader asked us how many Global Affairs worker bees are full-timers on a Ukraine file heavy with a daunting combo of promises and urgency. We put that question to GAC. Here's what we learned from the department's response. — Weekly check-in: Nothing actually happens in Ottawa without a meeting. GAC Deputy Minister DAVID MORRISON chairs a regular gathering with various senior officials, including six ADMs and an assortment of senior officials. — A nesting doll: Here's the org chart for the bureaucrats focused on Ukraine. GAC tapped a Ukraine Strategic Action Team following Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022. That team has since been renamed the Ukraine bureau, which has 19 full-time personnel listed in the government's electronic directory service (GEDS). That bureau is broken into two divisions: a foreign policy and diplomacy team of nine, and a six-strong team focused on development. They report to ALEXANDRE LÉVÊQUE, the assistant deputy minister for GAC's Europe, Arctic, Middle East and Maghreb branch. → The overarching task: "Coordinating coherence across all lines of effort, managing diplomatic relations and delivering assistance to Ukraine," the department says. → The nitty-gritty: The foreign policy and diplomacy team supports the International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children, counters Russian disinformation, and advocates for Ukraine in multilateral meetings. The development team focuses on gender equality, mental health, small-scale farmers, as well as restoration of agricultural livelihoods and reconstruction of local infrastructure. — A numbers game: The department says GEDS is accurate, but "does not fully reflect" the total number of people who spend significant work hours on Ukraine issues. GAC referenced eight other departmental teams that work on the broader file, as well as embassy staff posted to Kyiv and others at various missions. — What we still don't know: The total complement of GAC full-timers on the Ukraine file.
| | HALLWAY CONVERSATION | | GAME OVER — Four months ago, SABRINA MADDEAUX appeared to be maybe, possibly a rising Conservative player in Canada. Maddeaux, then a National Post columnist, tossed her name into the ring for the party nomination in Aurora-Oak Ridges-Richmond Hill — a key suburban seat the Conservatives hope to flip in 2025. The stars looked to be aligning. In the end, not so much. Last week, Maddeaux dropped out of that race, citing "a corrupted process and potential illegal actions taken by another campaign." She told Playbook this week that she hasn't heard a peep from the party or the local riding association since lodging a complaint. The party categorically denied Maddeaux's claims, calling her allegations "completely false." — Key supporters: Maddeaux's nascent campaign had the backing of four MPs. They weren't exactly party outsiders. SHUV MAJUMDAR, a rookie in the House, has known Poilievre since they launched the University of Calgary's campus Reform Party club. ADAM CHAMBERS is a key pen on Poilievre's election platform. SCOTT AITCHISON ran for party leader and leads on the housing file. BRAD VIS is shadow minister for small business recovery and growth. — Wave of the future: Back in February, Maddeaux joined a Canadian Club panel on the "new federal Conservative movement and its impact on Canada." Majumdar and Chambers sat onstage, alongside Conservative Deputy Leader MELISSA LANTSMAN. Crestview's GINNY ROTH, the former comms director on Poilievre's leadership campaign, was moderator. → Fun fact: Poilievre adviser JENNI BYRNE's firm co-sponsored that event. — Blacklisted: Maddeaux described "red flags" developing behind the scenes. For example, this bombshell: "Caucus was asked not to publicly be associated with me." Maddeaux doesn't know who made that edict, only that it allegedly dropped during a caucus meeting. Playbook couldn't verify the claim. The Conservative Party's spokesperson, SARAH FISCHER, offered Playbook a blunt, five-word response to the alleged caucus direction: "That is a complete lie." — Numbers game: Maddeaux's critics say she was going to lose the nomination anyway, having sold only several dozen party memberships. She insists she had a shot at winning it, claiming support of more than 1,000 members. The tl;dr of it all is that these races get messy. — Other contenders for the nod: Aurora town councilor RACHEL GILLILAND, former MP COSTAS MENEGAKIS, and former York Region councilor CARMINE PERRELLI. — Nomination transparency: The ways in which parties select candidates occasionally come under scrutiny. Liberals took heat over vulnerabilities in the 2019 contest that made HAN DONG the candidate in Don Valley North, Ont. Maddeaux said her potential voters simply weren't familiar with the nomination process. "The entire process isn't very transparent," she says. "You don't know when the membership sales deadline is going to be until 48 hours in advance. You don't know when the actual vote could be, or even whether it's days or months or weeks away." Nomination races can be notoriously opaque. Maddeaux's takeaway: potential voters should be kept in the loop on how these things actually work. There's a lot at stake in nomination fights, regardless of party, she says, "because they determine who ends up on the ballot, and could be an MP, and a potential cabinet minister, or a potential future party leader."
| | | | WE GET LETTERS — Playbook's how-to guide for caffeinated Hill people snubbed a major Canadian chain with about a dozen Centretown locations. Love it or hate it, Tim Hortons is a mainstay almost everywhere you look. The Brazilian-owned multinational exudes none of the glamour of the Little Victories fishbowl, and the fancy factor is zilch. But it's serviceable joe that feeds anybody in between meetings, and we're ashamed to have overlooked it. Which Tim's is the most discreet? Who do you see most sipping double-doubles and downing honey crullers? Tell us!
| | MEDIA ROOM | | — DANIEL LEBLANC of CBC News scoops: Ottawa is getting ready to ditch costly, error-prone Phoenix pay system. — DREW ANDERSON of The Narwhal reports that even as Alberta insists its pause on renewable energy projects was not political, emails and texts show otherwise. — CBC's KATE MCKENNA squeezes out each major party's count of nominated candidates. McKenna notes that JUSTIN TRUDEAU isn't yet nominated in Papineau, launching a bubble's worth of wagging tongues. — The Globe reports on a new Nanos poll that reveals a majority of Canadians have “intensely negative responses” to both the Conservative leader and the prime minister. — From our D.C. newsroom: It’s on (for now): Biden and Trump agree to 2 debates. — A sign of spring: Time magazine writes on the impact of inhaling wildfire smoke.
| | | | A message from Canadian Chamber of Commerce:   | | | | | PLAYBOOKERS | | Birthdays: HBD to 338Canada founder and POLITICO contributor PHILIPPE J. FOURNIER. Greetings also go to Liberal MP SEAN CASEY. Send birthdays to ottawaplaybook@politico.com. Spotted: Chicago's mayor getting a shout-out from Industry Minister FRANÇOIS-PHILIPPE CHAMPAGNE during a public program in Montreal on Wednesday. “Where is my new best friend, BRANDON JOHNSON? He is celebrating his one-year anniversary today,” Champagne said from the microphone. “I come to Chicago more than any other city in the U.S. And now I have your cellphone number. So if you get a phone call from a ‘no caller ID’ from Canada, you know who it is,” Champagne continued. (h/t POLITICO's SHIA KAPOS) KRISTIN RAWORTH, ringing the bell following cancer treatment: "It’s been a long road. Diagnosed with breast cancer in December, surgery in February and today I did it. I finished treatment and I rang the bell I’ve been looking at every day for a month. I beat this thing and I’m cancer free." Liberal MP GEORGE CHAHAL, on the ground in Taiwan and briefed by Canadian trade officials … House Speaker GREG FERGUS, greeting this summer's batch of parliamentary guides in the Commons. Tory deputy leader MELISSA LANTSMAN and MP RYAN WILLIAMS, attending an innovation roundtable in Toronto hosted by the Council of Canadian Innovators and Xanadu. Movers and shakers: MATTHEW GAGNÉ joined McMillan Vantage as an associate. Media mentions: CREESON AGECOUTAY is the host of a new midday show airing weekdays on APTN News. BRUCE CAMPION-SMITH has left the Toronto Star after 36 years. Campion-Smith, who holds a commercial pilot licence, is "looking forward to the chance to dive into new things, walk the dog and hang out at the airport." KELLY GERALDINE MALONE is heading to Washington for The Canadian Press. Farewells: ANDREW BEVAN, chief of staff to Deputy PM CHRYSTIA FREELAND, shared news of his father's death. David Bevan's obituary notes that the renowned anesthesiologist was also "one of two boys taken by the Archbishop of Wales to sing at the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II."
| | | PROZONE | | | Don’t miss our latest policy newsletter for Pro subscribers via KYLE DUGGAN: Blair cops a line from his critics. In other headlines for Pros: — How tariffs threaten Biden’s climate goals. — Trump trashes tariffs outside Manhattan trial. — How Turkey became Putin’s ‘pit stop’ for selling camouflaged fuel to the EU. — Two unlikely states are leading the charge on regulating AI. | | ON THE HILL | | Parliament returns May 21. → Find House committees here. → Keep track of Senate committees here. 10 a.m. Former president of the Canada Border Services Agency, JOHN OSSOWSKI, will be at the House public accounts committee. 1 p.m. Information Commissioner CAROLINE MAYNARD testifies at the House ethics committee on access to documents from the national microbiology lab in Winnipeg. 2 p.m. The same committee hears from House of Commons law clerk MICHEL BÉDARD. 3 p.m. Health Canada Assistant Deputy Minister NADINE HUGGINS and Public Health Agency of Canada President HEATHER JEFFREY testify to the ethics committee.
| | | | 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. | | | | | | TRIVIA | | Wednesday’s answer: The National Capital Commission says Canada’s capital region boasts about 100 varieties of tulips. Props to MARCEL MARCOTTE, DENISE SIELE, SHAUGHN MCARTHUR, GOZDE KAZAZOGLU, DARRYL DAMUDE, ARTUR KRZYSZTON GOMES and ROBERT MCDOUGALL. Today’s question: What statue was the first on Parliament Hill? Send your answer to ottawaplaybook@politico.com Playbook wouldn’t happen without: POLITICO Canada editor Sue Allan 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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