By Zi-Ann Lum

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

In today's edition:

→ The Inflation Reduction Act turns 1 and there are worries about a Canadian brain drain.

→ HBD to us.

→ Who’s running the show? We name names.

Playbook authors Nick Taylor-Vaisey, Kyle Duggan and Zi-Ann Lum in conversation with Canada's ambassador to the U.S., Kirsten Hillman, earlier this summer. | Francis Chung/POLITICO

OTTAWA PLAYBOOK IS 2 — What a ride it’s been.

We launched this newsletter two years ago with a dispatch from NICK TAYLOR-VAISEY in Lytton — the village in British Columbia destroyed by wildfires. Back in Ottawa, Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU had just called a summer election.

Today, we’re in the throes of Canada’s worst wildfire season on record. An area roughly the size of the state of Louisiana has burned down this summer. Trudeau, worn down by the post-pandemic politics of inflation, heads into fall with the baggage of a three-term government, adamant he’s in for another if his party and Canadians will have him.

As Nick wrote last year, Playbook covers all the players without allegiances to any.

Our deeply reported newsletter aspires to be the first read of the day for anyone who cares about Canadian politics.

We’re obsessed with the Hill and curious about the way power moves and manifests inside the Ottawa fishbowl. We strive to keep you connected to the best reads, the latest lobbyist registrations, the moveshakes and, yes, to birthdays and super niche trivia questions.

Thanks for making Ottawa Playbook a part of your routine. We’re always game to hear from you, so drop us a line.

President Joe Biden speaks at Ingeteam Inc. Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2023, in Milwaukee. | Morry Gash/AP Photo

HBD, IRA — Today is the first anniversary of the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the gale-force climate law that ruffled feathers in Brussels and stoked a C$80-billion response from Ottawa.

U.S. President JOE BIDEN will mark the occasion by stumping the IRA in Wisconsin, extolling it as a branch of “Bidenomics,” which the White House is struggling to make a thing.

On Parliament Hill, the government has known since the start that Canada can't afford to be pulled into a subsidy race with the U.S. Treasury. A “race to the bottom” is Deputy Prime Minister CHRYSTIA FREELAND’s worst-case green economy scenario — a point she has emphasized in front of American audiences.

— Love thy neighbor: Now, a year after the IRA was signed into law, Canadian chambers of commerce say they’ve worried about labor following the capital investment that they’ve seen move to the states.

In other words: A new era of brain drain.

“Now that the U.S. has established such a head start, we're going to see next this sucking sound of capital come into the U.S.,” the Canadian Chamber of Commerce’s MATTHEW HOLMES, senior VP policy and government relations, tells Playbook.

“Next, what follows is people. And then what follows them is going to be investment dollars in research and innovation.”

The Liberals have tabled two consecutive budgets with incremental investment in Canadian research and innovation, Holmes said. “We're very exposed when it comes to talent — the housing crisis is affecting our competitiveness.”

He believes Ottawa waited too long — until the 2023 federal budget — to respond to the IRA.

— Surprise: Freeland’s office disagrees that Canada moved slowly.

“When the IRA was passed in the U.S., we knew Canada had to respond at speed and at scale,” spokesperson KATHERINE CUPLINSKAS said in an email. “We did so — with a C$120-billion clean economy plan which has positioned Canada as the second most competitive place in the world for clean economy investments.”

— Follow the money: Post-IRA, Ottawa has focused on carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) — tech with a dual use that could shield Canadian industry by abating emissions while generating intellectual property to share with other industrial hubs around the world.

— Another race: According to the Global CCS Institute, the U.S. has 19 CCUS facilities while Canada has seven in operation. Public funding for the technology has been criticized by environmentalists as another kind of fossil fuel subsidy for Big Oil.

Holmes said figuring out CCUS is critical because negotiations between Ottawa and the provinces and territories over proposed clean electricity regulations won’t be simple and quick.

“We have to be there because of our own ambitions for net zero,” he said. “There's no pathway to net zero without natural gas right now in Canada.”

Freeland said much the same Tuesday during a stop in Peace Country, Alberta, noting that liquefied natural gas and natural gas are “very much” part of Ottawa’s clean economy plan.

Like Ottawa Playbook? Maybe you know others who’d like to start the day with a free rush of intel. Point them to this link where sign up is free.

POST-SHUFFLE CHANGES — It’s been three weeks since Trudeau’s major Cabinet shuffle and Playbook got its hands on a list of the names of chiefs of staff for 33 ministers. (There are 38 Cabinet ministers, excluding the prime minister.)

International Development Minister AHMED HUSSEN: MIKE MAKA

Justice Minister and Attorney General of Canada ARIF VIRANI: LISA JORGENSEN

Defense Minister BILL BLAIR: TARAS ZALUSKY

Sport and Physical Activity Minister CARLA QUALTROUGH: KELLY BRYANT

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister CHRYSTIA FREELAND: LESLIE CHURCH

Northern Affairs Minister DAN VANDAL: KATHY KETTLER

Fisheries Minister DIANE LEBOUTHILLIER: FAIZEL GULAMHUSSEIN

Intergovernmental Affairs and Public Safety Minister DOMINIC LEBLANC: JAMIE INNES and CORY PIKE

Southern Ontario FedDev Minister FILOMENA TASSI: JENNIFER KUSS

Innovation Minister FRANÇOIS-PHILIPPE CHAMPAGNE: IAN FOUCHER

Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister GARY ANANDASANGAREE: SHAILI PATEL

Veterans Affairs Minister GINETTE PETITPAS TAYLOR: GUY GALLANT

Rural Economic Development Minister GUDIE HUTCHINGS: ALLIE CHALKE

Public Services and Procurement Minister JEAN-YVES DUCLOS: ANTHONY LAPORTE

Families, Children and Social Development Minister JENNA SUDDS: CHRIS EVELYN

Energy and Natural Resources JONATHAN WILKINSON: CLAIRE SEABORN

Government House Leader KARINA GOULD: RHEAL LEWIS

Agriculture Minister LAWRENCE MACAULAY: MATTHEW MANN

Immigration Minister MARC MILLER: MIKE BURTON

Women and Gender Equality and Youth Minister MARCI IEN: DUNERCI CACERES

National Revenue Minister MARIE-CLAUDE BIBEAU: FRÉDÉRIQUE TSAI-KLASSEN

Health Minister MARK HOLLAND: CYNDI JENKINS

Foreign Affairs Minister MÉLANIE JOLY: PETER WILKINSON

Quebec Lieutenant PABLO RODRIGUEZ: GENEVIEVE HINSE (our list makes no mention of transport)

Heritage Minister PASCALE ST-ONGE: JUDE WELCH

Indigenous Services and Northern Ontario FedDev Minister PATTY HAJDU: KATHERINE HEUS

Employment, Workforce Development and Official Languages Minister RANDY BOISSONNAULT: ELLIOT LOCKINGTON

Small Business Minister RECHIE VALDEZ: ANGAD DHILLON

Labor and Seniors Minister SEAMUS O’REGAN: PAUL MOEN

Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Minister SEAN FRASER: SAVANNAH DEWOLFE

Tourism and Regions of Quebec FedDev Minister SORAYA MARTINEZ FERRADA: ALEX CORBEIL

Environment Minister STEVEN GUILBEAULT: DOMINIC CORMIER

Mental Health and Addictions Minister YA’ARA SAKS: SARAH WELCH 

Are you ANITA ANAND, TERRY BEECH, KAMAL KHERA, MARY NG or HARJIT SAJJAN and can share the name of your chief of staff in the name of public transparency? Drop us a note at: [email protected]

— Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU is on vacation.

— Deputy Prime Minister CHRYSTIA FREELAND's itinerary had yet to be released by our publication time.

— NDP Leader JAGMEET SINGH is in Edmonton. First up in his day, is a meeting with the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 569. At 10:30 local time, he’ll speak at the University of Alberta during a celebration of women in science and engineering.

1:30 p.m. (2:30 AT) Health Minister MARK HOLLAND is in Charlottetown, P.E.I., to announce an update to the Improving Affordable Access to Prescriptions Drugs program.

7 p.m. (6 p.m. AT) Conservative Leader PIERRE POILIEVRE will be in Rustico, Prince Edward Island to hold an “Axe the Tax” rally at the Cymbria Lions Club.

— Our own KYLE DUGGAN sits down with POLITICO Tech podcast host STEVEN OVERLY to take listeners inside Trudeau’s blinking contest with big tech.

— TFW the federal government says an update will come in “the coming days” on what it plans to do about Emergencies Act inquiry recommendations. CBC News’ CATHARINE TUNNEY has the story.

— In Substack land, PAUL WELLS has a new post about Treasury Board ANITA ANAND and the lists of programs that have reportedly been drawn to exempt programs from cuts.

— An interview with ex-finance minister BILL MORNEAU popped up in Harvard International Review where he talked about pandemic monetary and fiscal policy: “... we put more money into the economy than we needed to.”

— In the National Post, auto magnate FRANK STRONACH’s prescriptions for national prosperity is becoming a talker. And check out the bullet points.

— For the POLITICO Magazine, TERRIL YUE JONES writes about meeting QIN GANG, China’s once “wolf warrior” diplomat 30 years ago. Qin has since vanished.

Our latest policy newsletter for Pro subscribers: Trudeau’s C$15-billion shave.

In other news for Pros: 

— Report: Climate law puts U.S. at risk of critical mineral shortage.

— White House challenges GOP on debt reduction tactics.

— Datapoint: FY 2024 appropriations — House and Senate still far apart.

— Washington can’t get a climate pact. Gavin Newsom just cut another one.

— POLITICO Q&A: Gene Seroka, executive director of the Port of Los Angeles.

Birthdays: HBD to CBC dynamo and West of Centre podcast host KATHLEEN PETTY.

Also celebrating today: former parliamentarians IRENE MATHYSSEN, DEAN DEL MASTRO and STOCKWELL DAY.

Spotted: The Liberal Party of Ontario’s dates for leadership debates. CP reports the first will take place in Thunder Bay on Sept. 14. Also in the lineup: Oct. 1 in Stratford; Oct. 24 in Toronto; Nov. 8 in Ottawa and either Nov. 18 or 19 in Brampton.

Movers and shakers: Finland’s ambassador to Canada, ROY ERIKSSON, bids adieu to Ottawa after a four-year stint in the capital: “I’m leaving with fond memories.”

ANIE PERRAULT has been appointed as vice chairperson of the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board.

SARAH HUNTER has left her NYC posting at the permanent mission of Canada to the U.N. She’s heading to a new gig in Brussels with Canada’s mission to the European Commission and delegation to NATO.

The United Nations Association in Canada has named model WINNIE HARLOW as the recipient of its 2023 Global Citizen Award … Foreign Affairs Minister MÉLANIE JOLY has appointed KEVIN HAMILTON as Canada’s new ambassador to Turkey.

Media mentions: The Canadian Press’ RITIKA DUBEY is making a move from the wire service’s Prairies bureau to take on the business beat in Toronto.

Send Playbookers tips to [email protected] .

Tuesday’s answer: It’s ELSIE MACGILL, a.k.a. “Queen of the Hurricanes” who led production of fighter planes during World War II, whose legacy is being honored on a new loonie. 

Props to ELLA D’SILVA, CHARLIE SKIPWORTH, LAURA JARVIS, JOSH DADJO, ROBERT MCDOUGALL, SARA MAY, JOHN MERRIMAN, RYAN HAMILTON, GANGA WIGNARAJAH and GERMAINE MALABRE.

Think you have a harder trivia question? Send us your best.

Wednesday’s question: On this date in history what took off from the De Havilland Airstrip at Downsview?

Answers to [email protected]

Playbook wouldn’t happen without: POLITICO Canada editor Sue Allan, Luiza Ch. Savage and David Cohen.

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