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WELCOME TO OTTAWA PLAYBOOK. I’m your host, Maura Forrest, with Zi-Ann Lum. Today, we dive into the drama unfolding at St. Brigid’s Church in Ottawa. Tempers flared at a committee studying the government’s decision on the Nord Stream 1 turbines. And the Coalition for a Better Future celebrates its first birthday.

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DRIVING THE DAY


BAD BLOOD — Ottawa isn’t over the Freedom Convoy. That much is clear from the brewing conflict over the soon-to-be owners of a former church in the oldest part of the capital city.

Much of the rest of the story is murky. The United People of Canada (yes, they go by TUPOC) deny any affiliation with the Freedom Convoy, though there are some connections. What they want to do with the building seems a little fluid.

A couple of local community organizations are worried the property will end up being a staging ground for future trucker protests. They’ve launched a petition asking the city to either take ownership of the church or help local organizations buy it.

The city, thus far, seems to be staying out of it.

— The whole affair is exposing Ottawa’s frayed nerves, six months after the protests that paralyzed the city’s downtown. “I would say we’re a fragile community,” SYLVIE BIGRAS, president of the Lowertown Community Association, told Playbook. “The wound is still not quite healed.”

WILLIAM KOMER, one of TUPOC’s directors, says he wants the church to be some mix between a co-working space, an event space and a community center. He mentioned a café and outdoor concert spaces.

— For now, the big event on the agenda is a two-week “community conversation” about the Freedom Convoy, which he says will feature presentations from filmmakers who documented the protest. It starts Monday.

Komer says everyone is welcome, and he hopes it will be an opportunity for “healing.” He also suggested it might be a chance to get to the bottom of whether a Nazi flag that appeared during the protest was flown by a “paid agitator.” So there’s that.

— Where does he stand on the protest? “We believe people have a right to be heard,” Komer told Playbook. “It’s our understanding that the Freedom Convoy had a stage on the street. Perhaps that might have been seen as more appropriate if somebody had booked a venue space down the street.” A venue space like an old church, perhaps.

But Komer says he’s not interested in hosting protests — he just wants to offer a “safe space” for people to meet and talk.

— Bigras is skeptical. She believes TUPOC is being “untruthful” in denying links to the convoy, and she’s not alone. The petition asking the city to intervene has racked up nearly 1,800 signatures.

But it seems unlikely the city will get involved. Komer said the C$6-million sale will go ahead pending inspections, and in a statement, the city said “no activity has been initiated to acquire the subject property.”

— In the meantime, Komer says TUPOC is on the receiving end of some of the community’s nastiest vitriol. He says he’s been getting death threats and the church has been vandalized. He’s taken some of his complaints to Ottawa police, he says.

Bigras said the TUPOC folks haven’t done anything to cause a disturbance in the community, though a couple of very convoy-esque vehicles showed up there last weekend.

— Both sides say they’ll reach out to the other, but the animosity is clearly growing. Komer said they’re looking into whether the community association contravened the Ontario Human Rights Code by trying to get the city to interfere with a private sale.

Bigras said the group’s presence is “reopening wounds.” By Ottawa standards, them’s fightin’ words.

AROUND THE HILL


TESTY TURBINE HEARING — A parliamentary committee digging into the government’s decision to return Gazprom turbines to Germany went sideways a few times Thursday when Cabinet ministers in the hot seat tried turning the tables on the Tories.

Foreign Affairs Minister MÉLANIE JOLY and Natural Resources Minister JONATHAN WILKINSON tried to get Conservative MP JAMES BEZAN to state on the record that his party would not have returned the Nord Stream pipeline components to Germany.

— “I’m asking the questions here,” an irritated Bezan said after a few rounds of chaotic crosstalk.

Another detour brought attention to a Globe and Mail report that alleges Canada abandoned Ukrainian embassy workers in Kyiv amid hit-list concerns. Foreign Affairs Deputy Minister MARTA MORGAN said she wasn’t aware of “any lists specifically targeting locally engaged staff” in the Ukrainian capital.

— Related: Joly suggested the national security and intelligence committee of parliamentarians (NSICOP) could study the allegations regarding the embassy, the Canadian Press reports.

— The House foreign affairs committee interrupted its summer hiatus this week to study Ottawa’s decision to waive sanctions for six Gazprom Nord Stream 1 pipeline turbines — an action Ukrainian Ambassador YULIIA KOVALIV warned sets a “very dangerous precedent.”

Ukraine wants Ottawa to cancel its waiver covering five other Gazprom turbines due for servicing by Siemens Canada over the next two years.

Read the full story from POLITICO’s ZI-ANN LUM.

TODAY'S HIGHLIGHTS


Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU is in Costa Rica.

Today is the deadline to apply to be the next leader of the Green Party of Canada. Prospective candidates have until 11:59 PDT to submit their applications. Approved candidates will be announced Aug. 31.

8:30 a.m. Statistics Canada will release its labor force survey for July.

8:30 a.m. (9:30 a.m. ADT) Official Languages Minister GINETTE PETITPAS TAYLOR will make an announcement in Charlottetown regarding support for Prince Edward Island to host the 2023 Canada Games.

10:45 a.m. (11:45 a.m. ADT) Deputy Prime Minister CHRYSTIA FREELAND will tour a local winery and hold a press conference in Grand Pré, N.S.

HALLWAY CONVERSATION


LOOKING AHEAD — Today marks one year since former Liberal and Conservative cabinet ministers ANNE MCLELLAN and LISA RAITT launched the Coalition for a Better Future, with the lofty goal of helping Canada reach its full economic potential.

While governments frequently get caught in short-term, election-cycle planning, McLellan and Raitt are pushing for a long-term vision. The coalition has published a scorecard to track Canada’s progress on 21 indicators from now until 2030 — everything from the percentage of households with broadband access to the number of Canadian companies worth more than C$1 billion. They’re planning to release a first report card in early 2023.

The coalition boasts an impressive roster of names on its advisory council, including Canadian Chamber of Commerce CEO PERRIN BEATTY, Sagard CEO PAUL DESMARAIS III, Canada 2020 executive chair ANNA GAINEY, Public Policy Forum CEO EDWARD GREENSPON, Business Council of Canada CEO GOLDY HYDER, former Bank of Canada senior deputy governor CAROLYN WILKINS, former Nova Scotia premier STEPHEN MCNEIL, former Desjardins CEO MONIQUE LEROUX and former Harper adviser SEAN SPEER.

Playbook spoke with McLellan ahead of the coalition’s one-year anniversary. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

A lot has changed in the last year. There’s a war in Ukraine, there’s an energy crisis in Europe, we have surging inflation. How does all of this play into the work you’re trying to do?

It makes the work we’re doing more important. Because we are focused on inclusive, sustainable, long-term economic growth, to position this country by 2030 to be as competitive as any, and by 2050 to meet our net-zero goals.

There’s a high degree of uncertainty in the world, and no one should pretend otherwise. We are focused on making sure that while governments and the private sector and civil society absolutely need to understand and deal with short-term challenges, that we don’t lose sight of the long game.

What has the coalition achieved in the last year?

We’ve grown from virtually nothing to 131 members. We reach across all aspects of Canadian society: large, small, private sector, nonprofit and charitable. We’ve had a number of virtual meetings with Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU, Finance Minister CHRYSTIA FREELAND, Industry Minister FRANÇOIS-PHILIPPE CHAMPAGNE and Natural Resources Minister JONATHAN WILKINSON, all key ministers in terms of long-term sustainable growth and inclusive growth.

They have all been very welcoming of what we are doing, and they want us to check back with them. Champagne and Wilkinson both regularly make us the offer to talk with them.

Have you seen any results?

I think it’s fair to say you could have taken the last federal budget, and most of what is there fits into one of our three [priorities]: growing sustainably, winning globally, living better.

I would like to think that we help influence how governments and the private sector and civil society think about some of these big chunks that are going to be key to our competitiveness, and therefore our quality of life.

Tell me about the scorecard. Which indicators do you think will pose the biggest challenge?

I think all the climate change metrics. They are challenging right now. For example, year over year GHG emissions per unit of GDP. I’m not convinced that we’re going to see fewer emissions in the early years.

Participation in adult learning — that needs to increase almost immediately. Canada’s private sector does not invest as much in continuing education for their employees as many other countries do.

The share of women and Indigenous people in senior management — Are they making that leap to positions of influence? Are they being given the opportunities to move up the ranks?

One of my favorites is the share of youth not in education, employment or training. It’s becoming quite a common metric. You need to figure out who are the youth who aren’t in school, aren’t employed or in training, and then figure out why they’re not there. And then provide the supports and the programming to get them there.

And then, of course, business investment in research and development as a percentage of GDP. Canadian business, unfortunately, lags behind most of the countries to which we would want to compare ourselves.

So those are areas where I think you can look over these next eight years to 2030 and say, ‘Are we making progress? Are we being competitive with our comparator countries?’

You’ve got your work cut out for you.

The country has its work cut out for it, as does every other country in the world. But we have a generally stable government, which investors like, and we have high-quality infrastructure. We’re starting from a relatively strong place. And therefore, we should be able to do this.

For your radar


IN DEFENSE OF LISA RAITT — Certain corners of Twitter have been all in a tizzy this week over comments made by former Conservative cabinet minister LISA RAITT on a recent episode of the Curse of Politics podcast. Raitt made the unfortunate error of weighing in on The Millennials, who rarely like to be weighed in on by anyone older than we are.

Raitt has apparently been checking out TikTok (who knew?), and came across videos of people in their late twenties and early thirties crying about how they can no longer afford to live in Ontario.

“Now as a Gen X-er, I say, ‘You can’t eat out every night, guys, you can’t go to clubs all the time. Those $14 lattes are going to come and hit you at some point in time,’” she said.

— OK, OK, so it wasn’t great. It’s probably safe to say that economic anxiety caused by inflation won’t be alleviated by giving up lattes. And one suspects that most millennials in their thirties are no longer hitting up the clubs like they once did.

But the question she was answering was not, “Why can’t millennials afford to buy a house?” It was a much broader question about why so many people are so angry.

— Raitt went on to say this about us youngsters facing an existential threat to our lattes: “That’s not their lifestyle. They’ve grown up very differently, and they want to preserve what they have, and they’re being told, ‘You’ve got to go back to the way it was in the mid-80s.’ And I think it’s a huge backlash and they’re vocal.”

So maybe lattes weren’t the best example. But suggesting young people are angry because they can’t have the things they thought they could — isn’t that a fair point?

SUMMERTIME READS


Here’s our summer 2022 reading list so far.

Today’s picks come from Playbook reader DEAN VALENTINO, in LaSalle, Ont.

Here are the books opened and dog-eared on my night-stand:

“Son of Elsewhere: A Memoir in Pieces,” by ELAMIN ABDELMAHMOUD — Brilliant opening chapters!

“None is too Many: Canada and the Jews of Europe, 1933-1948,” by IRVING ABELLA and HAROLD TROPER — Updated, apparently.

“Unreconciled: Family, Truth, and Indigenous Resistance,” by JESSE WENTE

“Indigenous Relations: Insights, Tips & Suggestions to Make Reconciliation a Reality,” by BOB JOSEPH with CYNTHIA F. JOSEPH

“Disarm, Defund, Dismantle: Police Abolition in Canada,” edited by SHIRI PASTERNAK, KEVIN WALBY and ABBY STADNYK

“Nine Nasty Words — English in the Gutter: Then, Now, and Forever,” by JOHN MCWHORTER

“How Minds Change: The Surprising Science of Belief, Opinion, and Persuasion,” by DAVID MCRANEY

“Fired up about Capitalism,” by TOM MALLESON

MEDIA ROOM


— BURGESS EVERETT and MARIANNE LEVINE have the latest on efforts by Senate Democrats to advance their signature climate, tax and health care proposal. On Thursday night, Sen. KYRSTEN SINEMA said she will support the legislation.

— The Toronto Star: As the U.S. declares monkeypox a public health emergency, what does Canada need to do right now?

— “We were warned over and over that our health-care system was too small, not sustainable, and vulnerable to any sudden shocks,” MATT GURNEY writes of the growing crisis in Ontario. “We shrugged. Here we are. We have no one to blame but ourselves.”

— POLITICO profiles 30-year-old crypto billionaire SAM BANKMAN-FRIED, “the newest megadonor who wants to change Washington.”

— AMANDA KINGSLEY MALO of PoliticsNOW makes the case for more moms in politics.

PROZONE


For POLITICO Pro subscribers, catch up to our latest policy newsletter from ZI-ANN LUM: Turbine tussle: Cabinet ministers defend aid to Germany.

In other news for subscribers:

— Canada vows more litigation over U.S. lumber duties.

— Dems hurtle toward critical Saturday vote on clinching domestic agenda.

— Michigan senators hit opposition from fellow Dems on EV tax credit changes.

— Western Massachusetts challenges the U.S. dollar.

— Biden administration declares monkeypox a public health emergency.

— The Congressional Budget Office estimates EV sales will lag behind Biden’s climate goals.

PLAYBOOKERS


Birthdays: HBD to Senator GWEN BONIFACE, climate champ CATHERINE MCKENNA and former senator and mental health advocate MICHAEL KIRBY.

Saturday celebrations: Liberal MP HEDY FRY, former MP BRUCE HYER and MNA MARIE MONTPETIT.

Sunday: B.C. Premier JOHN HORGAN, economist CHRIS RAGAN, former MP JIM PANKIW, McMillan LLP CEO TIM MURPHY and MNA DONALD MARTEL.

Send birthdays to [email protected] .

Spotted: NATHAN COOPER, Speaker of the Alberta Legislature, introducing his new cat, Hansard.

Media mentions: MICHELLE CARBERT is now a communications adviser with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. “Looking forward to starting my career as a public servant,” the former Hill reporter tweeted.

The Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy has named KATHY GANNON a Fall 2022 fellow.

Movers and shakers: Former Supreme Court justice THOMAS CROMWELL will lead an independent review of Hockey Canada’s governance, with interim recommendations expected before the organization’s annual general meeting in November.

Former Conservative Senate leader LARRY SMITH has crossed the floor to become an independent senator and a member of the Canadian Senators Group.

Summa Strategies is moving after 25 years at 100 Sparks Street. KATE HARRISON bid the old office adieu on Thursday, and inadvertently slighted her whole team in the process.

Foreign Affairs Minister MÉLANIE JOLY on Thursday announced a slew of diplomatic appointments:

  • DANIEL AHMAD is the new ambassador to El Salvador, replacing KAROLINA GUAY.
  • ANDERSON BLANC is the new ambassador to Côte d’Ivoire, replacing CLAUDE DEMERS.
  • AMBRA DICKIE is the new high commissioner to Brunei, replacing JEANETTE STOVEL.
  • EMMANUEL KAMARIANAKIS is the new ambassador to Brazil, replacing JENNIFER MAY.
  • TARIK ALI KHAN is the new ambassador to Jordan, replacing DONICA POTTIE.
  • STEFANIE MCCOLLUM is the new ambassador to Lebanon, replacing CHANTAL CHASTENAY.
  • MARIE-GENEVIÈVE MOUNIER is the new ambassador to Senegal, replacing SÉBASTIEN BEAULIEU.
  • STEPHEN POTTER is the new ambassador to Ecuador, replacing SYLVIE BÉDARD.
  • BRIAN SZWARC is the new ambassador to Latvia, replacing KEVIN REX.
  • NADIA THEODORE is the new ambassador and permanent representative to the World Trade Organization in Geneva, replacing STEPHEN DE BOER.
  • EVA YU is the new consul general in Chongqing, China, replacing JEFF DAVID.

MAXWELL HAMILTON is now director for North America in the Western Hemisphere affairs directorate at the National Security Council. JAKE RUBENSTEIN is now special assistant to the representative for global partnerships at the U.S. State Department. h/t POLITICO Playbook

TRIVIA


Thursday’s answer: The quote was from Premier DANNY WILLIAMS — part of his 2010 retirement speech.

Props to DOUG RICE, BRAM ABRAMSON, SAM MACPHAIL, ROBERT MCDOUGALL and GLENN THIBEAULT.

Friday’s question: On Aug. 6, 2012, who tweeted, “GALE CRATER I AM IN YOU!!!”

Send your answers to [email protected]

Playbook wouldn’t happen without Luiza Ch. Savage and editor Sue Allan.