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Thanks for reading the Ottawa Playbook. I’m your host Nick Taylor-Vaisey. Today, we take stock of the constitutional unpleasantness gripping the nation. Plus, Happy FES Day! Finance Minister CHRYSTIA FREELAND tables her fiscal update this afternoon. Look to Friday’s Playbook for full coverage.
LOOKIE HERE — We won’t have to wait long for a look at the legislation flowing from Freeland’s fiscal update. A soon-to-be-tabled bill that popped up Wednesday on the House of Commons notice paper will implement measures from the Fall Economic Statement and last April’s budget.
CONSTITUTIONAL FRACAS — Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU and Ontario premier DOUG FORD exchanged views Wednesday on a high-stakes provincial labor fight that comes to a head this week.
Ford is planning to invoke a constitutional rights override, the rare-but-increasingly-called-upon notwithstanding clause, to bypass a pesky union’s right to collective bargaining on the eve of a planned Friday strike.
In an evening “readout” that described the conversation, the Prime Minister’s office said Trudeau “emphasized the critical importance of standing up for Canadians’ rights and freedoms, including workers’ rights.” He called the notwithstanding clause invocation “wrong and inappropriate.”
For his part, Ford tweeted that he “made clear” to the PM that “shutting down classrooms would have an unacceptable impact on students.”
The premier “reiterated that Ontario is determined, if necessary, to pass legislation to keep classrooms open and ensure stability for parents and students.”
So it’s notwithstanding if necessary, but not necessarily notwithstanding.
A source tells Playbook the PMO initiated the tête-à-tête, the latest episode in a stressful period for intergovernmental affairs that shows no sign of abating.
A brief summary of what else is up in constitutional spats:
→ Saskatchewan Premier SCOTT MOE tabled a bill Tuesday meant to assert his province’s autonomy over natural resources — a proposed law that would unilaterally alter the constitution.
→ Alberta Premier DANIELLE SMITH still plans to boldly legislate a sovereignty act that will assert a right to ignore federal laws.
→ NDP health critic DON DAVIES renewed an age-old federalism fight Wednesday by calling for urgent federal-provincial negotiations on health-care funding. Emergency rooms all over the nation, Davies reminded the feds, are running out of beds.
— What’s the solution? Everyone’s got a take. We’ll zero in on the Globe and Mail’s ANDREW COYNE, who says Trudeau should squelch Ford’s anti-union broadside by invoking the long-unused power of disallowance.
As in, disallowing the provincial law.
Huh? That’s a thing?
Been a while since we’ve cracked open our undergrad constitutional textbook. Let’s see here. Ah, yes. The venerable polisci legend PETER RUSSELL explained disallowance in your host’s third-year polisci text: Constitutional Odyssey.
Turns out SIRJOHNA. MACDONALD fought for that provision, which gave Ottawa a bludgeon against provinces deemed to have overstepped their jurisdiction. And bludgeon they did, dozens of times in Canada’s first decades.
Provinces have always hated it. They tried to shiv disallowance after an 1887 conference, they tried to negotiate its removal in failed 1971 constitutional talks, and they moved to kibosh it in the 1992 Charlottetown Accord — aka the constitutional debate that Boomers are still reminding us nearly killed Canada. (We get it.)
No federal government has disallowed a provincial law since 1943. But the power remains. Should Trudeau use it to make a point?
We’ll give the last word to PHILIPPE J. FOURNIER: “That would be… constitutional war. Perhaps we’re due for one.”
BUILDING A WAR CHEST — Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU will kick off next week’s break from the House with a jaunt to Montreal, where he’ll headline a Monday evening party fundraiser hosted by Liberal MP SAMEER ZUBERI.
Yes, that’s the same Zuberi who recently passed a unanimous motion affirming the Uyghur people in western China are facing genocide. Cabinet abstained on the vote, save for Trade Minister MARY NG’s accidental vote in favor for which she was denied a mulligan.
The price of entry is C$1,600 for attendees over 35. Youths pay a mere C$800.
— Firing up the circuit: Defense Minister ANITA ANAND headlines a fundraiser the same night in her Oakville riding. Entry requires a donation of C$500–C$1,675.
Justice Minister DAVID LAMETTI is at Toronto’s National Club on Tuesday evening. He’ll raise money for the Spadina–Fort York Federal Liberal Association, presumably because the party wants to crush Liberal-turned-indie MP KEVIN VUONG — a maverick who often votes against his former party — if he runs for re-election. Admission: C$125–C$350.
— Beer draws a crowd: When MPs return to Ottawa, Industry Minister FRANÇOIS-PHILIPPE CHAMPAGNE will headline a Nov. 15 fundraiser at Stray Dog Brewing in suburban Orleans.
The brewers say they embraced the “freedom to do what feels right, the defiance of a life of confinement, and taking the risk to do something great, even if it means leaving the security your current life offers.” They sound like Hill staffers.
OH, THE PLACES HE’LL GO — Trudeau’s office announced an eight-day, four-summit tour in mid-November. The PM will attend the ASEAN summit, the G20 summit, the APEC Economic Leaders’ meeting and the Francophonie summit.
He’ll be out of the country Nov. 12–20.
POILIEVRE’S GROWING TEAM — The Office of the Leader of the Opposition’s transition is slowly winding down. The chair of that effort, JENNI BYRNE, is back in Toronto. The new chief of staff, IAN TODD, is firmly ensconced in the directory of federal employees.
— HR updates: Since we last dug through the OLO’s burgeoning staff list, KATE HARPER told her LinkedIn followers that she took a job as manager of tour and event planning. MATTHEW ANTONITTI is Poilievre’s executive assistant. Longtime Poilievre staffer CRAIG HILIMONIUK is director of parliamentary affairs.
HOLLY DUGGAN, an OLO veteran dating to the early ERIN O’TOOLE era, reupped as director of stakeholder relations.
DARIA FESENKO was promoted to director of video production. ANTHONY CINERARI, the man behind the camera on those viral Poilievre walk-and-talk campaign videos, is listed as a senior video specialist and photographer.
SABRINA KOOISTRA is a correspondence adviser.
Transition d-comm ANTHONY KOCH is for the moment still dealing with journalists, alongside press secs SAM LILLY and PHIL REFGHI.
— Out on the town: Some of the new hires are testing out the cocktail circuit. D-comm BEN WOODFINDEN was at Spotify’s Tuesday reception at Riviera. Also in the room: tour director STEPHANIE DUNLOP and MADDY STIEVA, senior adviser to CPC executive director MIKE CRASE.
CPC MPs MELISSA LANTSMAN, MICHELLE REMPEL GARNER and GLEN MOTZ dropped by, too.
— Deputy PM CHRYSTIA FREELAND will table her Fall Economic Statement in the House around 4 p.m.
9 a.m. The Parliamentary Budget Officer will post a new PBO legislative costing note entitled “Taxation of Vaping Products.”
10 a.m. NDP leader JAGMEET SINGH will “speak about the NDP’s priorities ahead of the Fall Economic Statement.”
11:30 a.m. PM Trudeau chairs Cabinet.
7 p.m. The Young Greens of Canada host a virtual leadership debate.
9:15 p.m. Singh will board an airplane to Berlin, alongside NDP MPs CHARLIE ANGUS and HEATHER MCPHERSON, as well as national director ANNE MCGRATH. They’re meeting with Germany’s Social Democratic Party.
MO’ MONEY, MO’ PROBLEMS — No googling. Which federal official said these words Wednesday at the Canadian Innovation Exchange Summit in Toronto?
“As the Notorious B.I.G. so aptly said: it’s like the more money we come across, the more problems we see.”
— The answer: That’d be RON MORROW, the Bank of Canada’s executive director of retail payments supervision. “There are new ways to pay and an abundance of new players in payments. When money changes hands electronically in these new and different ways, we all need to make sure that consumers and the payments ecosystem are protected,” he said.
It falls to Morrow to supervise payment service providers. And, apparently, quote Biggie Smalls. Watch his speech here.
— “The conspiracists aren’t getting any saner,” writes LISA VAN DUSEN in a Policy magazine essay on propaganda, politics, and the Pelosi attack.
— At the Line, intelligence expert JESSICA DAVISruns down a litany of shortcomings in police intelligence before and during the freedom convoy occupation of downtown Ottawa.
— Postmedia’s BRYAN PASSIFIUME writes about indie MP KEVIN VUONG’s longshot legislative attempt to force the Liberal government to keep an election promise. Bill C-301 would eliminate interest on student loans. (Vuong campaigned as a Liberal before he was booted from the party shortly before voting day.)
— Your daily Canadian angle: President JOE BIDEN claimed Tuesday to have spoken to the inventor of insulin about why that scientist didn’t want his name on the drug’s patent. Everyone north of the border has seen the Heritage Minute about FREDERICK BANTING, the Canadian who co-discovered insulin. He died in 1941. Biden was born the following year.
— The Toronto Sun’s BRIAN LILLEYnotes a possible admission from PM Trudeau in question period. Asked by Poilievre who stayed in a lavish London suite for the Queen’s funeral — the government simply hasn’t said who bunked there — the prime minister complained that the opposition was focused only on him. Okay, then.
What are you reading? Playbook wants to know.
If you’re a subscriber, don’t miss our latest newsletter: Highlights from the fiscal fray
In other Pro headlines:
— The oil and gas paradox threatening Biden’s party at the polls— A handful of states are headed to one-party rule — and its drama— North Korea is secretly supplying Russia with ammunition, Kirby says— U.S. clean power growth slides to lowest level in three years— Biden suspends Burkina Faso from Africa trade benefit program
Birthdays: HBD to Indigenous Services Minister PATTY HAJDU and Liberal MP ALEXANDRA MENDÈS. Former NDP MP CHARMAINE BORG also celebrates today.
Birthdays, gatherings, social notices: Send them our way.
Movers and shakers: Toronto-based comms guy CHRIS BALL, an NDP-aligned strategist who most recently toiled at Earnscliffe, has launched his own firm: Bounce Strategies.
The Northern Road Link Project has enlisted Maple Leaf Strategies partner GORDON QUAIATTINI to help secure federal funding. The proposed 120-kilometer road would link two other key routes in the resource-rich Ring of Fire region.
Chief BRUCE ACHNEEPINESKUM of Marten Falls First Nation calls the project an “economic lifeline” that will “bring jobs, training and prosperity where our youth currently have no opportunities.”
— Bell Canada tapped a trio of Rubicon consultants on the Hill: ANDREW BALFOUR, ELIZABETH ROSCOE and DON NEWMAN.
Cocktail circuit: The Agri-Food Innovation Council hosts its national meeting at the Hilton Garden Inn. A reception follows at 5 p.m. … At 7 p.m., Bellingcat senior investigator GIANCARLO FIORELLA will deliver the Peter Stursberg Foreign Correspondent’s Lecture at the Canadian War Museum. A Zoom link is available.
Media mentions: CBC News EIC BRODIE FENLONexplains the network’s decision to shutter its China bureau — tl;dr the Chinese government wouldn’t grant visas to the broadcaster’s journalists. Fenlon also noted that SAIMAH SHIVJI and GLEN KUGELSTADT are opening an India bureau “after nearly two years of administrative paperwork, logistical challenges and one-off deployments.”
CTV’s RACHEL AIELLO was promoted to senior digital parliamentary reporter.
Send Playbookers tips to [email protected].
→ Find the latest on House committee meetings here.
→ Keep track of Senate committee meetings here.
9 a.m. The Senate energy, the environment and natural resources committee meets to hear from Canadian Nuclear Laboratories and Renewable Industries Canada as it studies hydrogen.
9 a.m.The Senate agriculture and forestry committee will consult Fertilizer Canada and CropLife Canada as part of senators’ ongoing study of soil health.
9 a.m. The study of Canada’s seal population and their effect on fisheries continues at the Senate fisheries and oceans committee.
9:30 a.m. The Public Order Emergency Commission continues hearings in Ottawa.
11 a.m. The Security and Intelligence Threats to Elections Task Force is at the House procedure and house affairs committee to continue its study of foreign election interference.
11 a.m. The House health committee holds its 5th meeting studying children’s health.
11:30 a.m.The Senate banking, commerce and the economy committee meets to study the “state of the Canadian economy and inflation” on the same day as Finance Minister Freeland’s fiscal update. Witnesses include economist JACK MINTZ, the Canada West Foundation’s JANET LANE and two Competition Bureau Canada officials.
11:30 a.m. The Senate social affairs, science and technology committee meets to study Canada’s temporary and migrant labor force.
11:30 a.m. Sen. PIERRE-HUGUES BOISVENU takes questions at the Senate legal and constitutional affairs committee about his Senate public bill proposing to amend the Criminal Code related to intimate partner violence offenses.
12:30 p.m. International Development Minister HARJIT SAJJAN will be backed by three department officials for his hearing at the Senate foreign affairs and international trade committee as part of senators’ study of the country’s foreign service and Global Affairs Canada.
6:30 p.m.The special joint committee on the declaration of emergency meets to hear from Interim Ottawa Police Service Chief STEVE BELL and Ontario Provincial Police Commissioner THOMAS CARRIQUE.
Wednesday’s answer: The former clerk of the Privy Council who ran under the Liberal banner in the 1993 election was MARCEL MASSÉ.
Props to JOHN ECKER, STEVEN HOGUE, MARTIN CHAMPOUX, CHRISTOPHER LALANDE, BOB GORDON, JOHN DILLON, PATRICK DION, GUY SKIPWORTH, NANCI WAUGH, ROBERT MCDOUGALL, and LAURA JARVIS.
Dion reminds us that Massé shouldn’t be confused with Mulroney Cabinet minister MARCEL MASSE: “To anglophones east and west of the Province of Quebec, the necessity of ‘e accent aigu’ never was better understood than when comparing les deux Marcels.”
Today’s question: A 1929 Studebaker was the first car across the Canada-U.S. border crossing that opened on this day in 1930. Name the crossing.
Send your answers to [email protected]
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