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WELCOME TO OTTAWA PLAYBOOK. I’m your host, Maura Forrest, with Nick Taylor-Vaisey and Zi-Ann Lum . Today, CHRYSTIA FREELAND is in Indonesia for the G-20 finance ministers meeting. We take a closer look at #EVWeek. And we bring you a very important update on chairs.
BIG TECH TAX — Ottawa insists Canada will go it alone if a global taxation deal for tech giants is delayed past the end of next year.
Finance Minister CHRYSTIA FREELAND is in Bali, Indonesia today for a G-20 meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors that will likely be dominated by the Russian war in Ukraine. On Thursday, U.S. Treasury Secretary JANET YELLEN set the stage for the meeting, saying Russian officials “have no place” at the forum.
But Ukraine isn’t the only item on the agenda. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) will also give ministers an update on plans for a long-awaited global tax overhaul.
— The background: The agreement would give countries outside the U.S. more rights to tax some of the biggest tech giants, including Amazon, Google and Meta, and would set a minimum 15 percent corporate tax rate for multinational companies.
The new rules were supposed to come into force in 2023, but the OECD revealed this week that the deal won’t take effect until at least 2024.
— The Canadian context: Freeland, however, has promised that Canada’s own digital services tax will take effect Jan. 1, 2024 if the OECD agreement is delayed — and it will be retroactive to January of this year.
— On Thursday: A spokesperson for the finance minister told POLITICO her position hasn’t changed. “Canada's priority and preference has always been a multilateral agreement, however, to ensure Canadians' interests are protected, we intend to move ahead with legislation finalizing the enactment of a Digital Services Tax,” ADRIENNE VAUPSHAS said in an email.
“It is our sincere hope that the timely implementation of the new international system will make this DST unnecessary.”
— Back to Ukraine: It’s unclear whether Yellen is planning another walkout on Russian officials, similar to one she led during a G-20 meeting in Washington in April. But she is planning to continue a push for a cap on Russian oil prices that would limit Moscow’s ability to finance the war, POLITICO’s JOHANNA TREECK reports.
On the eve of talks, Yellen said Russian officials have no place at the G-20 meetings. “Russia's actions are not the actions of a government that upholds international norms and laws. Representatives of the Putin regime have no place at this forum,” she said.
— In overnight news:The Guardian reports that Freeland directly addressed the Russian delegation during the opening session, telling them today: “It is not only generals who commit war crimes, it is the economic technocrats who allow the war to happen and to continue.” The report from a western official said Freeland called the war the “single biggest threat to the global economy right now.”
TAKE A LOAD OFF — Thursday brought news that Canada's federal government is, contrary to popular belief, able to buy things quickly. Employment and Social Development Canada put out an urgent call for 801 office chairs on June 30. The seats were headed for offices in Montreal and Saint-Laurent, Quebec.
Ottawa made the request for 535 “armrest-free” chairs and 266 seats with armrests in a tender entitled “URGENT FOR PASSPORT OFFICES.” The notice says the chairs must be hard-surfaced, such as plastic, to “facilitate maintenance.”
For a government taking heat, time was of the essence.
Bids closed July 7. A day later, the feds inked a deal with Montreal-based Ameublement Bureau Intérieur, a furniture dealer and regular government supplier that makes a bold promise: "If you are a federal employee looking for office or seating solutions, we can help."
Take a gander at ABI's catalog of ergonomically appropriate offerings.
— The cost: The contract is worth C$145,927, or roughly C$182 per chair.
SPENDING BLITZ — The government would very much like you to be aware that this is EV Week. #EVWeek, if you will. Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU made the biggest splash of the week (#EVWeek) on Wednesday, when he announced a deal with Umicore to build a C$1.5-billion electric-vehicle battery plant in Ontario.
But the bread and butter of #EVWeek has been a cross-country blitz of funding announcements for EV charging stations, from Halifax to Yellowknife. The federal government promised during the last election to pump C$700 million into installing an additional 50,000 charging stations across Canada.
— According to Playbook’s count on Thursday: This week’s battery of announcements adds up to about 2,000 new charging stations so far — not a huge chunk of the 50,000 promised, but not nothing when you consider there are only about 16,000 public charging ports currently in use across the country.
— However: It turns out not all charging stations are created equal. For example, one project to install 79 chargers at 37 Shell gas stations across Ontario and Western Canada came with a price tag of C$3.95 million — or a cost of C$50,000 federal dollars per charger.
— Meanwhile: Hydro-Québec is getting a cool C$4.6 million to install 840 chargers across la belle province, at a mere $5,500 from Ottawa per station.
— What gives? According to Natural Resources Canada, it all comes down to the type of charger. A level 2 charger — the kind you might install at home to power your electric car overnight — is eligible for up to C$5,000 of federal funding. But fast-charging stations, which can power a car’s battery in half an hour or so, can receive up to C$100,000 each.
Deputy Prime Minister CHRYSTIA FREELAND arrived last night at the G-20 finance ministers and central bank governors meeting in Bali, Indonesia (8 a.m. local time). Freeland will hold bilateral meetings with G-20 partners throughout the day.
10 a.m. The House of Commons foreign affairs committee meets to discuss a request to study Canada’s decision to return turbines to Germany to be used in a pipeline carrying natural gas from Russia.
10 a.m. Reporters are invited to a background briefing and a walkthrough of the Conservative Party of Canada Ballot Verification Centre in Ottawa.
10:30 a.m. Health Minister JEAN-YVES DUCLOS will announce an agreement regarding influenza vaccines at GSK Canada in Quebec City.
12:30 p.m. Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU will visit a local children’s day camp in the National Capital Region.
1 p.m. The House of Commons industry committee meets to discuss a request to study last week’s Rogers Communications outage.
1:45 p.m. The PM will meet with a local family to discuss the Climate Action Incentive payment.
4:15 p.m. The PM will visit a brewery.
2 p.m. The Ottawa branch of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress has organized a rally on Parliament Hill to protest the federal government’s decision to return the Nord Stream 1 turbines to Germany.
Today’s picks come from ANDREW MACDOUGALL, director at Trafalgar Strategy and former director of communications to former prime minister STEPHEN HARPER.
— Brain food: “Machines Behaving Badly: The Morality of AI,” by TOBY WALSH; “How Minds Change: The Surprising Science of Belief, Opinion, and Persuasion,” by DAVID MCRANEY; “The Family Roe: An American Story,” by JOSHUA PRAGER; and “Wagnerism: Art and Politics in the Shadow of Music,” by ALEX ROSS
— Guilty pleasure: “Sweet Dreams: The Story of the New Romantics,” by DYLAN JONES
Here’s our summer 2022 reading list so far.
Send us your reading suggestions — your brain food and your guilty pleasure! We'll share them in the Playbook newsletter.
— Top of POLITICO this morning: Manchin rejects climate, tax elements of party-line Dem bill.
— From POLITICO's HANNAH ROBERTS in Rome: Draghi dangles resignation, just when Europe needs him.
— The Globe's DOUG SAUNDERSsums up the turbines story this way: "Germany panicked. Its Chancellor leaned on Canada. Canada caved. And Russia got what it wanted."
— Will DONALD TRUMP run in 2024? “In my own mind, I’ve already made that decision,” he tells New York Magazine’s OLIVIA NUZZI.
— One more question: Is BA.5 the reinfection wave? The Atlantic’s ED YONGtakes on the answer.
— Professors LISA YOUNG and JARED WESLEY examine support for separatism in Alberta and advise Canadians outside the province to monitor the dynamic: “While … a minority view in Alberta, it’s not a fringe position,” they write for The Conversation. “An overwhelming majority of separatists support the UCP provincially and make up a substantial part of its base of support.”
— Still on Alberta, here's GRAHAM THOMSON in iPolitics: The anti-vax, anti-science and anti-reality campaign: Meet Danielle Smith, the favorite to be Alberta’s next premier.
— From APTN reporters KENNETH JACKSON and CULLEN CROZIER: Life and death in Fort Frances.
— PAUL WELLS talks to Germany’s ambassador to Canada, SABINE SPARWASSER, about Ukraine and turbines. And for paying subscribers, he dives into ÉRIC DUHAIME’s attempt to shake up Quebec politics.
— And on the City Space pod, ADRIAN LEE asks, "How can cities prepare for climate change."
GAC GAFFES — Summertime has us taking a second look at our stack of sessional papers and today’s find pulls at an old “payment error” that landed in last year’s finance books.
— Blame the Americans: Global Affairs Canada reported a loss of C$85,320.15 in the fiscal year 2021-22 and $82,902.37 of it was the result of a single blunder.
The error happened five years ago, but showed up as a Jan. 18, 2022 line item in documents tabled in the House at the end of May seeking details on lost expenditures.
“In 2017, the Algiers mission made a payment to the Friends of the American Int. School in order to reserve seats in the soon to be built school,” the documents explained.
— Here’s the kicker: “Unfortunately, in the view of the American school, this payment was a donation and no reimbursement is intended.”
WOOF! — Someone's gotta protect 300 hectares of research crops at the Central Experimental Farm from the ravages of visiting Canada geese. And the bureaucrats at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada have found their guardians.
They're highly trained border collies known as the Goose Dogs, the "only breed that can successfully work waterfowl with their outstanding herding abilities and use of ‘collie eye.’ "
— At your service: Border Control Bird Dogs Inc., run by GARETH WILLIAMS in Stirling, Ont., was the official goose-disperser — using only "non-lethal scaring methods" — for the 2015 Pan Am Games in Toronto.
The feds require at least two dogs to be on duty for up to 153 days per year, during designated periods in all four seasons. They set out for morning and evening patrols. They must be trained "for scaring, not for retrieving." The handlers must be experts in migratory bird laws and regs.
— The best of the best: "All our working dogs have been bred with health, temperament and working performance in mind," claims the company. "DNA testing and skeletal x-rays have been conducted within our breeding program."
— In action: Check out this shot of a goose dog at work on a golf course littered with fowl.
For POLITICO Pro subscribers, our latest policy newsletter by NICK TAYLOR-VAISEY: Summer Friday plans: Turbines and outages.
In other headlines for Pro readers: — China stands in the way of Biden’s Saudi outreach. — Why natural gas could ditch its ‘evil’ energy reputation. — House Dems bristle over rubber-stamping Senate deals — again. — Italian antitrust watchdog opens a fresh investigation into Google. — Canada's climate fund slow to get money out the door. — Tech is working to water down California's kids web safety bill. — The gold rush is over for the U.S. Bitcoin mining industry.
Birthdays: Former MPs GILLES BERNIER, JOHN BRYDEN and STEVEN LANGDON.
Also celebrating, LYNN MCDONALD, “the first MP to be addressed as Ms.” Her private member’s bill, the Non-smokers’ Health Act, 1988, was the first in the world to establish smoke-free work and public places.
Saturday celebrations:LOUISE FRECHETTE, the first deputy secretary-general of the United Nations, was born on July 16. Also celebrating: Former MNA PIERRE PARADIS, pundit and former Saskatchewan MLA ANDREW THOMSON.
Sunday: MNA MARTIN OUELLET, former MP CYRIL KEEPER.
Spotted: MP KODY BLOIS, hitched.
The acting Commissioner of Canada Elections, MARC CHÉNIER, laying down the law.
The SNOWBIRDS fleet, recently grounded by a problem with the emergency ejection parachute system discovered during routine maintenance, perpetually in need of spare parts. Suppliers have a week to bid on the federal tender.
BRITTLESTAR, with “farm fresh local Covid.”
AARON WHERRY, making us all feel old with a reminder that PMJT has dealt with four Italian prime ministers, three UK PMs, three U.S. presidents and three Japanese PMs since 2015.
Movers and shakers: VIRGINIA MEARNS of Iqaluit is a new member of the Institute for Research on Public Policy board. She’s senior director of Inuit Relations for the Qikiqtani Inuit Association. RAY WILLIAMS has also joined the board of the IRPP. He is also managing director and vice chairman, financial markets at National Bank Financial.
— The Public Order Emergency Commission headed up by Justice PAUL S. ROULEAU announced its beefed up staff list Wednesday.
Recent hires include senior counsel FRANK AU, ERIN DANN, GABRIEL POLIQUIN, and NATALIA RODRIGUEZ; counsel ALEXANDRA HEINE and ÉTIENNE LACOMBE; senior policy adviser MARK J. FREIMAN and MARK SANDLER; regional counsel for B.C., MAIA TSURUMI; executive director HELENE LAURENDEAU; and senior comms adviser MICHAEL TANSEY.
— BCE Inc. chief executive MIRKO BIBIC will join the board of directors at Royal Bank of Canada next month. The Globe’s JAMES BRADSHAWhas those details.
— The Canadian American Business Council is welcoming three new board members: STEVEN HOGUE, KATHRYN R BURTON and GRETA SCHUERCH.
— DIANA MENDES has left government “after a decade in partisan politics,” most recently as the policy director for MARCI IEN, the minister of women and gender equality.
Thursday’s answer: JIM MUNSON retired from the Senate on July 14, 2021 — when he turned 75.
Props to ELIZABETH BURN, DOUG RICE, ALYSON FAIR, ROBERT MCDOUGALL, LORENZO O. GRANDINI and NICK MASCIANTONIO.
Friday’s question: Who started this week as CEO and acting director of the National Gallery of Canada? Bonus mark: Who recently vacated the position?
Send your answers to [email protected]
Playbook wouldn’t happen without Luiza Ch. Savage, Sue Allan and editor John Yearwood.