| | | | |  | | By Nick Taylor-Vaisey and Sue Allan | Send tips | Subscribe here | Follow Politico Canada Welcome to Ottawa Playbook. I'm your host, Nick Taylor-Vaisey with Sue Allan. Today is Monday, which means the start of another week that never ends. Ottawa is united in its support of Ukraine, and WAYNE GRETZKY has some things to say. And don't miss a former CRTC chair's spat on LinkedIn (yes, LinkedIn). Oh, and an explosive Sunday night fight between prominent Conservatives. — Sign up now: If you want to join Playbook's third virtual trivia night on March 10 at 8 eastern, drop us a line. There's limited space available, so submit your team name now! Two-time champ BROCK STEPHENSON could pull off a three-peat, solidifying his status as one-man trivia dynasty.
|  | Driving the Day | | POLITICAL CONSENSUS — On the heels of a bitter debate about the Liberal government's invocation of emergency measures, most of the Hill has found common ground opposing Russian President VLADIMIR PUTIN's attack on Ukraine. The weekend's non-stop news cycle found Canadian ministers cracking down bit by bit on Russia's footprint in Canada. — Shutting out Russia: Transport Minister OMAR ALGHABRA banned all Russian aircraft from entering Canadian airspace (an order violated by an Aeroflot flight on Sunday). Heritage Minister PABLO RODRIGUEZ was exploring options to remove Russian state-funded network RT from Canadian airwaves. Rodriguez later noted Bell and Rogers both removed the station from their services. Telus and Shaw took similar steps. Sen. PAULA SIMONS tweeted that she's putting questions about RT to the CRTC today. Further reading from POLITICO: The case for a little Russian propaganda. — More supplies: Foreign Minister MÉLANIE JOLY pledged C$25 million in additional protective gear to Ukraine, including helmets, body armor, night-vision goggles and gas masks. "And there will be more," she said. Defense Minister ANITA ANAND is sending two CC-130 Hercules aircraft to provide airlift support to NATO and Ukraine. — On today's agenda: The U.N. General Assembly will meet for its 11th-ever Emergency Special Session. Eleven member nations voted in favor of the resolution to call the session, with only Russia voting against it. — Opposition demands, unmet: Tory leader CANDICE BERGEN has broadly supported the government's sanctions against Ukraine. But she wants more. A weekend news release called on Ottawa to expel Russian ambassador OLEG STEPANOV; recall Canadian ambo ALISON LECLAIRE from Moscow; boot Russia from the G-20 and other international orgs; and offer visa-free travel to Canada for Ukrainians. On Sunday afternoon, Joly defended the decision to not recall Canada's envoy to Russia. It's better to have an interlocutor in the country than no one there at all, she said. — The Great One has some thoughts: Hockey legend WAYNE GRETZKY wants Russia banned from the rescheduled World Juniors tournament in Alberta this summer. The International Ice Hockey Federation will reportedly discuss sanctions today — including against Belarus, a key Russian ally that is slated to host next year's World Juniors. — In case you missed it: POLITICO's DAVID M. HERSZENHORN tells the story of VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, Ukraine's 'servant of the people' MEANWHILE, IN TRUMPLAND — The former president used his pulpit at the Conservative Political Action Conference to target Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU. POLITICO Canada's ANDY BLATCHFORD watched so you don't have to. — Key quote: "The tyranny we have witnessed in Canada in recent weeks should shock and dismay people all over the world. A line has been crossed — you're either with the peaceful truckers or you are with the left-wing fascists." Okay, then. More from Andy: How Canada became America's new culture war Related reading: "Let's seize — not freeze — the wealth of Putin's cronies," write the trio of Sen. RATNA OMIDVAR, former foreign minister LLOYD AXWORTHY and international affairs expert FEN HAMPSON. RALLYING FOR UKRAINE — Canada's politicians showed up at pro-Ukraine rallies. Deputy PM CHRYSTIA FREELAND was at a Toronto event, along with caucus colleagues ROB OLIPHANT, YVAN BAKER, JULIE DZEROWICZ, HAN DONG and ALI EHSASSI. CPC MP JAMES BEZAN was also in attendance. Mayor JOHN TORY was there, joined by councilor JOE CRESSY. Liberal MP ARIELLE KAYABAGA was in London (Ontario). Bergen, the Tory leader, was in Ottawa (where she was both cheered and jeered). Sen. PETER BOEHM, a former diplomat, was also marching in the nation's capital. The Peace Tower was bathed in blue and yellow on Sunday night. HOW TO FREEZE FOREIGN CASH — Freeland was lobbying all week for serious sanctions, JUSTIN LING wrote for Politico on Sunday: "The finance minister began floating the idea Tuesday, as speculation over whether President VLADIMIR PUTIN 's military build-up was a bluff. As his intention became clear, and the invasion began in earnest, Freeland began working on 'building some momentum' behind targeting the central bank in Moscow and cutting off the Putin regime from billions in foreign currency reserves." — Tag team: Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU and U.K. PM BORIS JOHNSON were reportedly pushing behind the scenes to bar Russian banks from the SWIFT payment system — a figurative, not literal, "nuclear option" (a relevant distinction as Putin orders his military's nuclear arsenal on alert). By Saturday, European Commission president URSULA VON DER LEYEN announced a deal — agreed to by France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States — to remove "a certain number" of Russian banks from SWIFT. More from POLITICO: Russia's hidden tool to undermine sanctions — Freeland's writing: Ling dug up a review of Freeland's "Sale of the Century," a book about the mass sell-off of Soviet assets after the fall of the Berlin Wall. JEREMY KINSMAN, a former top Canadian envoy in Moscow, wrote in 2020 that Freeland's book "remains a must-read for those of us who still care about what the hell went wrong with the naive best intentions for Russia's forward journey," — Freeland's writing, continued: The finance minister knows of whom she sanctions. She once joined a multi-outlet interview with Putin himself when she was a journalist with the Globe and Mail.
| | HALLWAY CONVERSATION | | Liberal MP YVAN BAKER sent a letter to House Leader MARK HOLLAND over the weekend to request a Take-Note Debate in the House on Russia's war on Ukraine. "This attack on a peaceful and sovereign democracy is the single greatest destabilizing event to occur in Europe since the end of the Second World War," he wrote. That debate is a go. PM Trudeau will address the House on the issue today at 6:30 p.m. Last week, Senators spoke of their connections to the unfolding story. Here is just some of what they said in the Senate: STAN KUTCHER "My ties are deep in Ukraine," he said. "My parents were World War II refugees. They knew real tyranny. They lost everything. Most of my relatives were sent to the gulag." The invasion comes as no surprise. It is not the result of an impulsive act by an unhinged mind but the cunning culmination of years of preparation — years during which we and the free world could have acted but did not, years during which the signs were clearly there for us to see but did not see, or, maybe worse, chose not to see, or, maybe even worse, aided and abetted. It was no surprise that, earlier this week, Trump praised the genius of Putin, and Fox News attacked Canada and fawned over Russia. Sadly, many Canadians may not realize just how real dictators operate. Russia has long been actively destabilizing Western democracies, including Canada, often by interfering in elections and stoking the flames of populism and libertarianism. As the Macdonald-Laurier Institute and DisinfoWatch have pointed out, during this pandemic Russia has been amplifying anti-vaccine rhetoric, pushing narratives that question the existence of COVID, the legitimacy of Canadian public health protocols, the safety of vaccines and inciting people to attack public health measures that were designed to protect them and their communities. My family knows these techniques all too well. The destabilization of legitimate governments that stand in the way of Russian interests has always been a hallmark of that regime. DENISE BATTERS Granddaughter of Ukrainian immigrants I feel this invasion deep in my soul. I visited Ukraine in 2014 as an observer for the presidential elections that year. I was struck then by the deep gratitude of Ukrainian people for their burgeoning democracy and was touched by the elderly women from Ukrainian villages who brought fresh flowers from their gardens to the polling station to give thanks for the opportunity to express their democratic right to vote. I am thinking of those elderly women in Ukraine today. DONNA DASKO Granddaughter of Ukrainian immigrants I was delighted to shake hands with President Zelenskyy here in Toronto at the UkraineReform Conference in 2019. I was honored to be a panelist at the Ukrainian Women's Congress in Kiev later that year. I could see there with my own eyes what I had been reading about for many years — that Ukraine was becoming a pluralist, open society where people could advocate for social change and vote in free elections. PAULA SIMONS "The tides of history brought my Jewish family and my German family from Ukraine to Alberta," she said in her speech to the Senate. There are actions we must take here to insulate ourselves from more subtle kinds of Russian aggression — from the sophisticated propaganda campaign already under way on Facebook and Twitter, designed to undermine our resolve and undermine the truth. We must push back against the Russian propaganda and disinformation on platforms such as RT and Fox News. Because make no mistake: This war isn't just being fought on the ground in Ukraine; it's being fought in the blogosphere, on social media and on cable television. And in a borderless online world, Canada, so far away from Kiev, is a battleground too. We must arm ourselves with common sense and common resolve.
| | TODAY'S HIGHLIGHTS | | — PM Trudeau will join a call with the leaders of the U.S., France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Poland, Romania, the United Kingdom, the European Union, and NATO. — Foreign Minister MÉLANIE JOLY is headed to Geneva for a meeting of the UN Human Rights Council. — The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change releases its latest report today. 11:30 a.m. Trade Minister MARY NG is Washington-bound for a pair of panels, starting at the Wilson Center. 12 p.m. Families Minister KARINA GOULD will speak to the Empire Club of Canada about the importance of child care and early learning. 2:30 p.m. Ng pops up at the Brookings Institute, where she'll deliver remarks and then sit down for a conversation with JOSHUA P. MELTZER. Other bold names: Power Corp chair PAUL DESMARAIS JR. will make remarks on the Brookings USMCA Initiative. Ontario economic development minister VIC FEDELI will also join a panel discussion.
| | MEDIA ROOM | | — "The world will never be the same," author and historian MARGARET MACMILLAN writes in The Globe and Mail. "We have moved already into a new and unstable era." — The Citizen's ANDREW DUFFY asks if Wellington Street will ever be the same. "Many believe it will never reopen to traffic," he writes in the wake of the trucker protest. — The Hub's inaugural pod for subscribers is a smart listen with a timely observation from editor-at-large SEAN SPEER inspired in part by debate around the Emergencies Act: "We have 330-plus members of Parliament in Ottawa, many of whom aren't motivated by the exercise of federal power," he said. "They want to be mayors of mid-sized cities in Canada — talking about zoning and health care and child care and neglecting the awesome power that resides at the federal level." — CATHERINE LÈVESQUE considers Poilievre vs. Charest. — Video: KETANJI BROWN JACKSON introduced as first Black woman selected for the U.S. Supreme Court in 180 seconds.More POLITICO coverage here.
| | ASK US ANYTHING | | TELL US EVERYTHING — What are you hearing that you need Playbook to know? Send it all our way.
| | PLAYBOOKERS | | Birthdays: HBD to Liberal MP FRANCESCO SORBARA. … Sen. LARRY CAMPBELL is officially one year away from mandatory retirement. Campbell's colleague, Sen. DAVID WELLS, also celebrates. … Alberta NDP MLA ROD LOYOLA is 48. HBD + 1 to MAUREEN MCTEER. h/t CATHERINE CLARK. HBD + 2 to AMY BOUGHNER. Spotted: Advice from ROB DEKKER, policy adviser to Tory House leader JOHN BRASSARD: "I think we all need to take a breath, close our eyes, and take a second breath." … MP ERIC MELILLO, walking with cause in Kenora. … Proof Strategies' CHRIS MCCLUSKEY, hanging out with RYAN REYNOLDS at a limited screening of The Adam Project in Toronto. — Tory infighting: Per LOUIS BLOUIN, Tory MP GÉRARD DELTELL is throwing his support behind JEAN CHAREST for Conservative leader. PIERRE POILIEVRE supporter JENNI BYRNE took a shot at Deltell, which prompted Charest promoter ALAIN RAYES to lash out at Byrne. "@erinotoole treated you like family," Rayes tweeted. "You lived in his house and you knifed him in the back. That alone says it all." Cue more sniping. And even more. And an apparently accidental retweet of Rayes's snipe (whoops) by party president ROB BATHERSON. Feels like this won't be a boring leadership race. — Innovation agenda: ICYMI, former minister-deputy minister duo NAVDEEP BAINS and JOHN KNUBLEY penned a comprehensive report on where Canada should go next. The must-read anecdote: That time they nearly dropped the "rather heavy" Great Seal of Canada on swearing-in day in 2015. The feds could be much better at buying things: "The federal government could be so much more effective with its procurement spending as the practices of other countries demonstrate." On the much-ballyhooed superclusters initiative, they wrote: "We were surprised by the impatience of critics and their misunderstanding of the program's goals." Oh, snap. — Telecom tussle: A little birdie in the telecom world tipped Playbook off on a spicy LinkedIn exchange between former CRTC chair JEAN-PIERRE BLAIS and former Bell Media exec GERRY FRAPPIER. The heated thread was prompted by EBOX CEO JEAN-PHILIPPE BÉÏQUE 's announcement that he'd be leaving the Quebec-based internet service provider as it's absorbed into Bell Canada as a subsidiary. "Very sad," wrote Blais, now an ADM at Public Services and Procurement. "Another example that the competitive framework in the telecommunications sector is failing hard working Canadian men and women." That got Frappier's attention. "Those big players who spend billions to create telecommunications infrastructure should be compensated how, Jean-Pierre?" he replied. In the ensuing debate, Blais let fly another zinger. "Winning by lobbying is not a healthy marketplace. You were part of the problem so don't now purport to be part of the solution." Read the feisty back-and forth here. — Sensitive global politics be damned! Liberals have fundraising targets to meet. "This deadline is coming up quicker than usual," reads the missive to supporters circulated on Sunday. "With tomorrow's February 28th deadline just hours away (it's a short month, after all!), we're reaching out to every supporter across the country to help us cross this finish line towards reaching our ambitious $175,000 online fundraising goal." Movers and shakers: Hill + Knowlton's ANDY SINGH, a former denizen of the Liberal Research Bureau, is repping Telus on the Hill. … Crestview's ASHTON ARSENAULT is lobbying for the P.E.I. Potato Board as it seeks to restore cross-border spud exports. … Rubicon's RYAN SPERO signed up for Alamos Gold, which wants to advance its interests in northern Manitoba. Media mentions: The BBC's LYSE DOUCET has been awarded the 2022 Shifa Gardi Award for warzone reporting. Doucet sent her thanks for the recognition from a rooftop in Kyiv where she has been reporting. Farewells: Montreal Gazette editor LUCINDA CHODAN has retired after 40 years in Canadian journalism. … This time almost for certain, CAROL OFF will sign off of CBC's As It Happens tonight.
| | PROZONE | | For Pro subscribers, here's our PM Canada memo complete with a boffo calendar of the week ahead: Parliament returns. Cue the second guessing. In other headlines for Pros: — Countries set to hash out terms of global plastics treaty.
— Putin's threat of 'consequences' heightens worries about Americans' electricity.
— Q&A with WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.
— Russia restricts access to Facebook.
— Social media platforms on the defensive as Russian-based disinformation about Ukraine spreads.
| | HOUSE BUSINESS | | 11 a.m. Infrastructure Minister DOMINIC LEBLANC will be at the transport committee to discuss his mandates. 11 a.m. The agriculture committee will hear from witnesses on the supply chain. 11 a.m. The finance committee will take clause-by-clause consideration of Bill C-8. 11 a.m. The foreign affairs committee will hear from department officials on Ukraine. 11 a.m. The human resources committee will discuss its report on the impact of Covid-19 on seniors. 11 a.m. Law prof MICHAEL GEIST and former Quebec politicians JEAN-PIERRE CHARBONNEAU will speak at the industry committee as it finishes up its study of the government's use of mobility data during the pandemic. 3:30 p.m. The natural resources committee will consult Environmental Defence Canada, TC Energy Corporation, Trottier Energy Institute and industry experts in its study of a greenhouse gas emissions cap for the oil and gas sector. 3:30 p.m. Officials from the Auditor General's Office and the Public Health Agency of Canada will be at the health committee to discuss Covid-19. 3:30 p.m. Heritage Minister PABLO RODRIGUEZ is scheduled in front of the heritage committee to talk about the pandemic and its fallout on the arts, culture, heritage and sports. 4 p.m. The official languages committee will discuss Francophone immigration to Canada and Quebec. 6:30 p.m. The special committee on Afghanistan will discuss humanitarian assistance for the Afghan people. 6:30 p.m. The subcommittee on human rights will hold a briefing with human rights organizations. — Meanwhile, in the Senate… 2 p.m. The social affairs, science and technology committee will hear from witnesses on Bill C-12, which would exclude Covid benefits from seniors' income for the calculation of the guaranteed income supplement. 5 p.m. The human rights committee will hear from witnesses as it studies Bill S-211, An Act to enact the Fighting Against Forced Labour and Child Labour in Supply Chains Act and to amend the Customs Tariff. 6 p.m. Treasury Board President MONA FORTIER will be at the official languages committee.
| | TRIVIA | | Don't forget: Sign up for Playbook's third virtual trivia night. Teams max out at 6. Bragging rights are at stake. Email us to book your spot. Friday's answer: In his memoir "Assignment Ottawa," newspaperman PETER DEMPSON noted that the Press Gallery Dinner was a men's-only event until 1967. Props to SEAN WEBSTER, JOHN GUOBA, AMY BOUGHNER, CHRISTOPHER HYDE, DAN MCCARTHY, GREG MACEACHERN, ROBERT MCDOUGALL, BOB GORDON, JOANNA PLATER, ELIZABETH BURN and BOB ERNEST.
| 
Joe Scanlon, dressed to the nines. | Photo courtesy of Amy Boughner |
Amy passed along this photo of her father, JOE SCANLON, before he headed to a Press Gallery dinner in the '70s.
Bob passed along a tidbit: "Press gallery members tried to make it a one-year exception, but women members of the gallery did attend in following years." Today's question: Who came up with the idea for the Rideau Canal Skateway? Send your answers to ottawaplaybook@politico.com
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