Playbook Canada

Little irritants are piling up ahead of the July 1 USMCA deadline: a suspended defense board, revived potato tensions, mushrooms duties and renewed attacks on the Online Streaming Act. Nick Taylor-Vaisey and Mickey Djuric unpack the friction. POLITICO’s Anne McElvoy joins to discuss her interview with Chrystia Freeland in Europe, including a Mark Carney nickname and a “lubricious” dinner from their Kyiv days. Plus, Steve Outhouse replaces Ian Todd as Pierre Poilievre’s chief of staff, and former Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole sits down for a 200-second interview.

A grand bargain between Ottawa and Edmonton appears to be taking shape, and details leaking out of Alberta connect carbon, pipelines and national unity. As Carney's Cabinet turns one, insiders are whispering about who should go. And finally, the first time Ottawa faced a separatist threat, they wrote it all down. What 50-year-old Cabinet minutes tell us about today's national unity battles.

U.S. Ambassador Pete Hoekstra pulls back the curtain on why Canada-U.S. trade talks fell apart in October: Danielle Smith keynotes the Canada Strong and Free conference in Ottawa, and the separatism question walks in with her: The childcare agreements that helped define the Trudeau era are coming up for renewal. Carney keeps citing them. Now he has to fund them.

A decision on 24 Sussex is coming, raising questions about where Mark Carney will end up living: The Spring Economic Update was called boring, but buried inside it is a political play targeting voters Poilievre thought were his. And finally, the Hill has a new energy this week, but it's not flowing in the Conservatives' direction.

On this special edition, Nick Taylor-Vaisey and Mickey Djuric speak with Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne ahead of the release of his Spring Economic Update. They press him on how the government plans to attract investment in a time of global uncertainty, and find out how it is balancing fiscal prudence with mounting economic pressures. And finally, the most contentious question of all: What color apple is best?

Mark Carney and Pierre Poilievre take their rivalry off the Hill and onto YouTube. Nick Taylor-Vaisey and Mickey Djuric explore what it means when the House of Commons stops being the main event: The Carney government has a hushed approach to trade talks. What the silence signals, and how long it can hold: And finally, Canada is the only G7 country that can't put a payload into orbit. A new bill aims to finally change that.

Reaction to the Liberal majority ripples through the Conservative caucus as Nick Taylor-Vaisey and Mickey Djuric dig into what the result means inside the opposition benches. Carney and Poilievre present duelling policies for high gas prices — each with its own gloss on tax relief at the pump. Finally, an international bromance blossoms. Mark Carney and Finnish President Alexander Stubb put their partnership on display. What it signals about Canada's place in a shifting global order.

POLITICO's Nick Taylor-Vaisey and Calder McHugh break down the latest Ottawa bombshell, as another Conservative MP crosses the floor to join Mark Carney’s Liberals ahead of the party’s convention in Montreal. Plus, a closer look at the Liberal mood on the ground as delegates gather for a high-energy weekend. Finally, what the U.S.-Iran ceasefire could mean next, including the potential fallout on gas prices in Canada.  

Hosts Nick Taylor-Vaisey and Mickey Djuric examine the latest developments in Canada’s deepening trade relationship with China, with Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne and executives courting business in Beijing. Plus, a closer look at the Conservatives’ shift against high-speed rail. Finally, reflections on the life and legacy of NDP icon Stephen Lewis.  

POLITICO’s Deborah Kahn joins from CERAWeek in Houston to unpack Canada’s latest pitch to the global energy market with hosts Nick Taylor-Vaisey and Mickey Djuric. Then, as the NDP prepares to elect a new leader, Nick and Mickey dig into a race defined more by low energy than momentum, and Mickey speaks one on one with one of the front-runners, Edmonton MP Heather McPherson. Finally, the pair digs into the prime minister’s pick for parliamentary budget officer – and why it feels like déjà vu.