By Nick Taylor-Vaisey and Zi-Ann Lum

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Thanks for reading Ottawa Playbook. Let's get into it.

In today's edition:

→ It's vacation season in Ottawa, which means we're talking about the PM's own choices.

→ Ontario's auditor general blasts DOUG FORD's Greenbelt land swap deal.

→ Canada's political circles mourn the death of HUGH SEGAL.

IT'S THAT TIME AGAIN — JUSTIN TRUDEAU’s vacations invariably turn into A Thing.

Let’s review:

On his first Christmas vacay as head of Government, Trudeau got the TMZ treatment when the family visited Paradise Beach Resort in St. Kitts & Nevis.

The next year he and an entourage landed on a private island in the Bahamas owned by the AGA KHAN — a close, personal friend. Then-ethics commissioner MARY DAWSON would later identify the ethical faceplant for what it was: An exclusive getaway with a federal lobbyist who received millions in government funding.

There was also that trip to Tofino in 2021, which coincided with Canada's first-ever National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. Trudeau had been invited to spend the day at Tk’emlúps te Secwe̓pemc, the community near Kamloops where it’s thought the remains of more than 200 children who died at a residential school were buried.

Trudeau’s airplane flew over Tk’emlúps te Secwe̓pemc en route to Vancouver Island.

There have been other trips outside of Canada — to Florida, to Jamaica, twice to Costa Rica. At least those flights were relatable: When it's cold, Canadians fly south.

This year’s summer excursion is set to be domestic, though the exact location has not yet been disclosed by the Prime Minister's Office.

— Been there, done that: A prime minister’s vacation planning can be laden with traps — some owing to glaring blind spots, others to a political culture that discourages taxpayer-funded vacays.

This prime minister has unintentionally cultivated a rep for ethical self-ownage. His critics can't resist digging up the literal receipts — trip expenses that include the staff and security that trails Trudeau et al wherever they go surfing and otherwise relax.

— Welcome to midsummer 2023: Time for a dose of sublime and a slower pace.

Cue the arguments about how the PM should spend this summer vacation — especially now it’s layered with new complications.

Trudeau, SOPHIE GRÉGOIRE TRUDEAU and their kids are vacationing together — and taking in the rival blockbusters du jour — as the family officially acclimatizes to co-parenting.

— How much is too much? In 2021, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation revealed the total cost of the Trudeaus' 16-day Christmas escape to Costa Rica in 2019: C$196,137, including C$57,647 in round-trip flight costs on a military jet.

Fair to say the average Canadian family isn't shelling out that kind of money for a winter sojourn, even in these inflationary times. Then again, as much as politicians want us to believe they're normal people, the PM's flock is not just like us.

Hands up if a policy ever required you to fly on a Canadian Armed Forces aircraft staffed by military personnel. Keep 'em raised if you look over your shoulder at the Mounties assigned to your detail.

These necessities come at a cost for prime ministers of every stripe.

— It's just inflation: Not that a getaway for a typical family is anywhere near cheap. CTV News analysis earlier this year pegged a seven-day trip to Disney World for an Ottawa family of four at approximately C$15,000.

— Brace yourself: Trudeau's travel is a guaranteed talker. The litany of snafus and receipts have seen to that. We'll always wonder where he's going, with whom he's partying, how much it'll cost us, and whether or not he'll come to regret it.

— Should the Trudeaus foot all the bills? Should we? Is consensus possible in a country that can't figure out what to do with the crumbling home where the PM refuses to live?

Seriously, drop us a line with your views on all of this. After all, arguing about a PM's personal time is a Canadian tradition.

ON THE WATER — We hadn't heard from Trudeau since he announced his, er, significant life event last week. Until, that is, he appeared Wednesday on a recently recorded Canadian Geographic podcast with host DAVID MCGUFFIN.

Trudeau, granted a half hour to talk about canoeing, was clearly in his happy place. Even his hardiest haters might soften a bit as the prime minister described the sense of balance required to properly paddle a canoe through Canadian waters.

Your mileage may vary on these quotes we pulled from the "Explore" pod. But jump in a canoe for an afternoon and try not to see the human side of a lifelong paddler who appreciates a J-stroke and glassy water with no breeze.

— A life lesson: "I have long used the image of paddling down rapids as the way you navigate through life. The current's bringing you in one direction. And you can sometimes eddy out and pause a little bit and catch your breath. You don't decide where the rocks are. You just decide how to make it around them. And you have to respond to what life throws at you as you keep paddling down the river.”

— Canoe repair meets Star Wars: "Duct tape is like The Force. It has a dark side and a light side, and it binds the universe together."

'A HAPPY WARRIOR' — HUGH SEGAL was a giant in Canadian politics.

News of his passing inspired a flood of tributes on social media late last evening:

GRAHAM FOX: "Canadian politics has lost its happiest warrior tonight. Hugh Segal's lifelong call for decency in our politics is at once a look back at what was, and a hope for what can be."

BRETT HOUSE: "It is nearly impossible to sum up what a great citizen Hugh Segal was, of Ontario, of Canada, & of the world. His joyful, principled, and kind leadership is the stuff we should all seek to emulate. His work lives on beyond him; his legacies are many and such blessings."

LISA VAN DUSEN: "A true believer in the positive power of policy and politics."

BILL FOX: "Hugh Segal lived a life of purpose, built on a foundation of principles, advanced with passion, and leavened with infectious good humour."

BERNIE FARBER: "He understood the art of politics, wisdom and humour. A wonderful raconteur and a trusted confidante to many. He will be dearly missed."

ADRIAN HAREWOOD: "A decent, generous & classy man who cared deeply about Canada."

DONNA DASKO: "He was a remarkable Canadian: enthusiastic about all things, learned, kind and wise."

JOHN BAIRD: "He was a fighter and his voice will be missed in our country."

Segal had been a long-time advocate for guaranteed annual income.

In 2019, he spoke to TALI FOLKINS about the importance of hope in society: "If we believe in 'small L' liberal democracy, and if we believe in a balance between freedom and responsibility, and if we believe in community, one of the critical adhesives that keeps that all together is really hope," he said.

"So we have to be honest about what are the threats to hope, and then we have to be serious about what we do to sustain and advance and deepen hope at every opportunity we have."

INSERT ADJECTIVE HERE — The Toronto Star called it "searing." Global News went with "blistering." The Globe and Mail picked "scathing." The Narwhal chose "explosive."

These words described Ontario auditor general BONNIE LYSYK's 93-page special report on the provincial government's Greenbelt land swap — a move that includes the removal of protected status from thousands of acres that ring the Greater Toronto Area.

Premier DOUG FORD's government has faced persistent claims of coziness with developers. Ford mostly defended the plan to build homes on formerly protected land and bolster the Greenbelt with thousands of other acres. Environmentalists worry about what's being lost.

Lysyk showed no quarter in a report that jolted Queen's Park on Wednesday.

— The AG's topline finding: "The lands removed from the Greenbelt in December 2022 were not chosen using an objective and transparent selection process. Although the government communicated that it was removing land from the Greenbelt to support its goal of building 1.5 million housing units over the next 10 years, there is no evidence this land is needed to reach that goal."

— Key stat: "Direct access to the housing minister’s chief of staff resulted in certain prominent developers receiving preferential treatment. At least 92 percent of the acreage removed from the Greenbelt was from five land sites passed on from two developers (which included a land site associated with a third developer) who had direct access to the housing minister’s chief of staff."

— Ford's defense: "While we'll never waver in our commitment to build more homes, we know that there are areas for improvement as we move forward. We were moving fast," he said in a press conference. "We could have had a better process. As premier, the buck stops with me and I take full responsibility for the need for better process."

INCOMING — The federal government is today poised to share a draft of its long-awaited clean electricity regulations. As ZI-ANN LUM reported Wednesday for Pro subscribers, Environment Minister STEVEN GUILBEAULT will announce the news in Toronto and draft regs will be published in the Canada Gazette Part I.

— Shorter version: The government is moving ahead on its goal of making the electricity grid net zero by 2035. But first it has to get through a 75-day consultation period.

— Sneak peek: Energy Minister JONATHAN WILKINSON teased details during an event in Vancouver on Tuesday, though he spoke in vague terms.

The government is “very cognizant” final regulations must be flexible to ensure a reliable and predictable supply of electricity, he said. “There needs to be some ability to have backup; there needs to be some allowance for emergencies. … It needs to be affordable … and it needs to ultimately be non-emitting.”

— Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU is on vacation.

12 p.m. (9 a.m. PT) NDP MP RICHARD CANNINGS holds a virtual press conference to call on the Liberal government to extend the Canada Emergency Business Account loan repayment deadline. Cannings will be joined by MICHAEL MAGNUSSON executive director of the Penticton & Wine Country Chamber of Commerce.

— It’s hard to argue with HARRISON RUESS, who makes the case on The Line that emergency services in Canada should be able to competently manage and communicate about emergencies.

— New at POLITICO this morning: Biden stuck between 2 priorities as UAW confronts EVs

— The Investigative Journalism Foundation’s KATE SCHNEIDER and National Post’s CHRIS NARDI collaborated on an exclusive: Data analysis reveals Liberals appoint judges who are party donors.

— Canada’s first-ever minister of citizens’ services spoke with KATHRYN MAY about his mandate.

For the record, here’s TERRY BEECH in Policy Options on his modus operandi: “My number one priority probably goes back to my vision for this role, which is waking up every day thinking about how I can improve customer service and the customer service experience for every Canadian. That’s literally what’s going to be on the piece of paper that I pull out of my desk every morning and think about as I go into every meeting.”

— JANICE PARSONS, president of the Qarjuit Youth Council, talked to CEDRIC GALLANT of Nunatsiaq News about her mission to improve school curriculums in Nunavik.

— Summa Strategies chair TIM POWERS writes in The Hill Times: “We are too far away from an election to emphatically state that the Liberals’ Atlantic fortress will fall, but it is corroding now and in need of repair.”

Birthdays: Former justice minister DAVID LAMETTI celebrates today.

Spotted: Chancellor ANGELA MERKEL’s hair and makeup bills — expensed to the government of Germany — since leaving office in 2021 … Still overseas, former Scottish first minister NICOLA STURGEON spilled news about her upcoming memoir that will “reveal the person behind the politics.”

Movers and shakers: CYNDI JENKINS, a chief of staff to four Liberal ministers since 2017, is now chief in Health Minister MARK HOLLAND's office … SABRINA KIM is Energy Minister JONATHAN WILKINSON’s new director of communications … Sen. MICHÈLE AUDETTE is now government liaison in the Senate.

ADAM BOLEK is the next CEO of the Canada Strong & Free Network.

BENJAMIN BÉLAIR, a former director of international and intergovernmental relations to Premier FRANÇOIS LEGAULT (and campaign platform writer for Coalition Avenir Quebec), is the new director of Quebec's government office in Washington, Le Soleil reports.

DON BOUDRIA is joining Sandstone Group as a senior adviser. New in the lobbyist registry: A raft of Sandstone lobbyists are repping the Halifax Port Authority, which wants to make its presence known in Ottawa and "ensure the government understands the role carried out by the Port and its contributions to the economy locally and nationally as part of the supply chain and cargo management planning."

Edelman consultant ASHLEY BRAMBLES is signed up in the registry for Accenture, which wants its health services arm to "drive transformational change in the Canadian health system." Worth noting: the firm conducted a 2022 poll that found 72 percent of respondents "are comfortable or neutral with the private sector playing a bigger role in Canada’s healthcare system."

If you’re a subscriber, don’t miss our latest policy newsletter: Guilbeault set to share clean electricity regs.

In other Pro headlines:

— Six big fights ahead for the Pentagon policy bill.

— U.S. President JOE BIDEN updates Depression-era labor rules for green energy.

— Biden sets new rules restricting U.S. investments in China.

— White House, DARPA to launch $27M AI contest to plug software bugs.

— WHO calls for bed nets and insecticides as mosquitoes carrying deadly disease spread to EU.

Wednesday’s answer: Rideau Hall says Barbie’s favorite room is the Tent Room.

Props to ROB LEFORTE, JOANNA PLATER, FERNANDO MELO, JULIE DEWOLFE, DAN FONDA, PATRICK DION, SHAUGN MCARTHUR, DAN MCCARTHY, ROBERT MCDOUGALL, ALYSON FAIR, KATELIN CUMMINGS, STUART BENSON, DOUG SWEET, GERMAINE MALABRE, AMY CASTLE, SHANE O’NEILL, CHRISTOPHER LALANDE, JILLIAN PIPER and MORGAN LARHANT. 

Today’s question: Another question about the pink-and-white striped Tent Room at Rideau Hall: What was its intended purpose when it was designed?

Send your answer to [email protected]

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