By Nick Taylor-Vaisey, Zi-Ann Lum and Kyle Duggan

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

In today's edition:

→ GREG FERGUS tried to reset House decorum. He got heckled.

→ It was a busy night in the fishbowl; we have spotteds!

→ Plus, CHRYSTIA FREELAND is in Washington today.

LOSING THE ROOM — So much for "not bad, not bad," which was Conservative Leader PIERRE POILIEVRE's assessment of GREG FERGUS's speaker debut earlier this month.

— Quiet, children: On the cusp of Wednesday’s QP, Fergus interrupted proceedings to announce a new tone for decorum in the chamber. He faced a rowdy bunch of MPs, like a teacher about to scold misbehaving students.

It was past 2:15 p.m.

Poilievre rose on a point of order: Time for question period. Fergus insisted on making his statement. Poilievre insisted it was time for the “sacred period during which we hold the government to account.” Fergus would not relent.

Former speaker ANDREW SCHEER stood to cite the rules. The Conservative MP reminded Fergus that the standing orders governing the House dictate QP "shall" start at 2:15 — and Fergus was out of line and in the way.

Fergus conferred with the House clerk, who affirmed he was within his rights to make a statement. (For the record, QP often starts after 2:15. Scheer's second-last as speaker in 2015 got underway shortly after 2:20.)

It was 2:30 p.m. when Fergus got rolling.

— A new sheriff: Fergus used a 1,765-word speech to establish three targets in his Commons crackdown.

→ Heckling: "Excessive, disruptive and loud heckling must be toned down," he told the House.

→ Language: "Unnecessarily provocative statements will no longer be tolerated."

→ Personal attacks: "The growing tendency to make pointed criticisms in a way that is unnecessarily personal, and designed to denigrate, bully, elicit an emotional reaction, or to attack the integrity of the person, introduces a toxicity to our proceedings which hampers our ability to get things done," Fergus added.

The Tory benches heckled Fergus mightily. Oh, the irony.

At one point, Tory MP CHRIS WARKENTIN interrupted to ask the speaker for an ETA on the end of his speech — "for planning purposes," he deadpanned.

"It will continue for the time it will take," Fergus replied. "It shouldn't be too long."

He spoke for another 10 minutes.

— The peanut gallery: Conservatives carped while Fergus was speaking: "Let the players play!" "Nobody pays to see the referees!" "It's not your stage!" "Homer!" "Yaaaawn."

— Plan B: Past speakers have convened small groups of MPs for collegial dinners at the Kingsmere estate, the speaker's official residence in Gatineau Park. Fergus has been a constant presence at evening receptions, and works any room he's in with a broad smile.

But he has plenty of work to do with the Tories, who are visibly less enthused with his presence in the chair than they were with former speaker ANTHONY ROTA, who owed his secret-ballot election in 2019 in part to the Conservative benches.

— Impossible to ignore: Wednesday QPs always serve up the most standing ovations, fueled as they are by big caucus meeting energy from earlier in the day. Still, the press gallery couldn't help but notice a lack of enthusiasm on the Liberal benches for almost any minister's reply.

The tepid applause on the government side would have been drowned out by a first-round golf clap at a far-flung pro-golf tourney. The collective vibe was seriously ho-hum.

— In related reading, here's AARON WHERRY: The speaker tried to make a speech about decorum — did anyone hear it?

— Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU is in Ottawa before leaving for Toronto.

— Deputy PM CHRYSTIA FREELAND is in Washington with Energy Minister JONATHAN WILKINSON.

— NDP Leader JAGMEET SINGH will participate in question period. Later in the day, he’ll meet the Canadian Mental Health Association’s nationwide leadership team.

8:30 a.m. Trudeau will meet with Guyana's president, MOHAMED IRFAAN ALI. He'll be joined by Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth MARCI IEN.

9 a.m. Trudeau will meet with Jamaican PM ANDREW HOLNESS. He will be joined by Foreign Minister MÉLANIE JOLY and Trade Minister MARY NG.

10:30 a.m. Trudeau will chair the CARICOM Trade and Investment Relations Roundtable.

11:30 a.m. Industry Minister FRANÇOIS-PHILIPPE CHAMPAGNE will appear at the Senate banking, commerce and economy committee to discuss Bill C-42.

1:30 p.m. Trudeau will participate in the Canada-CARICOM Summit closing press conference.

3:30 p.m. Labor Minister SEAMUS O'REGAN will speak to reporters about the launch of the B.C. ports dispute review under section 106 of the Canada Labour Code.

3:30 p.m. Veterans Affairs Minister GINETTE PETITPAS TAYLOR will appear at the House veterans affairs committee with department officials.

3:30 p.m. Immigration Minister MARC MILLER will appear at the House immigration committee.

3:30 p.m. Privacy Commissioner of Canada PHILIPPE DUFRESNE will appear at the House industry committee to discuss Bill C-27.

5 p.m. Economist ANDREW LEACH, author of "Between Doom and Denial: Facing facts about climate change," delivers the Max Bell Lecture at the National Arts Centre. Leach sits down with HEATHER SCOFFIELD for a conversation and a moderated Q&A.

5:30 p.m. In Toronto, Trudeau will meet with the Prime Minister of Barbados, MIA MOTTLEY. They'll then participate in a town-hall discussion with students.

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ONE BITE AT THE APPLE — Canada’s private radio and television industry is seeking to widen the scope of companies targeted by the Liberal government’s Online News Act so it includes aggregation services, such as Apple News+.

The law currently only covers Meta and Google, “even though there are other platforms that benefit from the distribution of news content and are negatively impacting news businesses in Canada,” the Canadian Association of Broadcasters told the government in its regulatory submission.

“There's growth in this area,” CAB President KEVIN DESJARDINS tells Playbook. “We just want to make sure that we don't lock the regulations down so that new players or different sorts of players in the system aren't included.”

— The context: The association is one of several big backers of the new law, aimed at supporting Canada’s struggling news industry by introducing bargaining between media outlets and large tech firms.

PAUL DEEGAN, the head of News Media Canada, which represents newspapers in Canada,recently said the government should accommodate Google’s concerns about the regulations, following warnings the search giant may be ready to follow in Facebook’s footsteps by pulling out of news link sharing in Canada.

But the CAB did not go so far.

“Fairness is paramount for us,” Desjardins said. “Our concern with what Google put out was that it does seem as though they're attempting to find a way to scope broadcasters out of the regime.”

The CAB submission calls for Ottawa to include wording in the regulations to specifically recognize the need for tech giants to “make deals with private radio and television news businesses as a necessary precondition for exemption” from participating in mandatory bargaining before the country’s communications regulator, the CRTC.

— Clock’s ticking: The government has received draft submissions from interested parties and will work toward final regulations with a mid-December deadline set for when the law comes fully into force.

— Not much more to say: A CBC/Radio-Canada spokesperson said the public broadcaster did not submit recommendations on the proposed regs, but continues to back the law as a way to support a “healthy and vibrant news ecosystem for private and public media.”

“We remain concerned by the willingness of the digital giants to restrict Canadians’ access to news and information, not just from CBC/Radio-Canada, but from all news organizations,” LEON MAR said in an email.

CABMINS IN D.C. — Deputy Prime Minister CHRYSTIA FREELAND is in Washington today to meet with White House energy and investment adviser AMOS HOCHSTEIN.

It will be the second meeting of the Canada-U.S. energy transformation task force.

— On the agenda: The gathering will focus on critical minerals, nuclear and grid integration, a senior Canadian government source tells Playbook. Green aluminum and steel as well as an update on Canada’s “Buy Clean Strategy” are also expected to come up.

— Freeland’s entourage: Energy and Natural Resources Minister JONATHAN WILKINSON; Wilkinson’s chief of staff CLAIRE SEABORN; Freeland’s policy director BUD SAMBASIVAM; and Canadian Ambassador to the U.S. KIRSTEN HILLMAN.

— Hochstein’s team: Representatives from the National Security Council and officials from the state and energy departments. U.S. Secretary of Energy JENNIFER GRANHOLM is not expected to attend.

The one-year bilateral task force held its inaugural meeting in May.

— Two First Nations women have been named to NDP Premier WAB KINEW’s new Cabinet in Manitoba: NAHANNI FONTAINE, the party's house leader, who is serving her third term and is now the minister of families; and BERNADETTE SMITH, who is minister of housing, addiction and homelessness.

— The Edmonton Journal rounds up the back-and-forth between JUSTIN TRUDEAU and DANIELLE SMITH, who traded open letters Wednesday about the Alberta's plan to withdraw from the Canada Pension Plan. The PM pledged to save the CPP. Smith claimed he was overstating the impact of the province going it alone.

— The Assembly of First Nations released its national climate strategy in Ottawa on Wednesday. FRASER NEEDHAM of APTN News has details.

— From POLITICO's JONATHAN MARTIN: Why Republicans can't unite

— GERRY BUTTS and JAMES MOORE discussed crisis management on The Bridge.

— U.K. Prime Minister RISHI SUNAK will travel to Israel today. POLITICO’s BETHANY DAWSON has the details.

— Parti Québécois MNA PAUL ST-PIERRE PLAMONDON waxed on to reporters about an independent Quebec, saying it would have its own army and currency, PHILIP AUTHIER reports for the Montreal Gazette.

— From PETER ARMSTRONG of CBC News this hour: Inflation is cooling. The cost of living crisis is not.

Birthdays: HBD to EnterpriseHealth consultant KEVIN DEN HEIJER and Crestview VP FRANK PARKER.

Send birthdays to [email protected].

Spotted: Immigration Minister MARC MILLER, lunching at the NAC.

At an evening CARICOM reception at the Château Laurier hosted by Trudeau and Guyanese President IRFAAN ALI: Barbados Prime Minister MIA MOTTLEY; Barbados Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister KERRIE SYMMONDS; Grenada Foreign Affairs Minister JOSEPH ANDALL; Canada’s Ambassador to Haiti ANDRÉ FRANÇOIS GIROUX … Foreign Affairs Minister MÉLANIE JOLY; International Trade Minister MARY NG; International Development Minister AHMED HUSSEN; Treasury Board President ANITA ANAND; Justice Minister ARIF VIRANI; Environment Minister STEVEN GUILBEAULT; Emergency Preparedness and Privy Council President HARJIT SAJJAN; Diversity, Inclusion and Persons with Disabilities Minister KAMAL KHERA; Citizens’ Services Minister TERRY BEECH, Tourism Minister SORAYA MARTINEZ FERRADA … Liberal MPs MONA FORTIER, RYAN TURNBULL, JULIE DZEROWICZ, RUBY SAHOTA, SALMA ZAHID, JUDY SGRO and PAM DAMOFF … Sen. HASSAN YUSSUFF; House Speaker GREG FERGUS and U.N. Ambassador BOB RAE ... JULLY BLACK … Trudeau deputy chief of staff BRIAN CLOW, hanging in the back of the room during the PM's remarks.

At the Rideau Club for an evening to support Ukraine and Israel, BOB RAE honored with a special bank note … MPs CAROLYN BENNETT, JAMES BEZAN and SHUVALOY MAJUMDAR; Sen. DENISE BATTERS, sporting a support Ukraine shirt; CIJA’s DAVID COOPER; TOM CORMIER from the Parliamentary Centre … ROB ROSENFELD of GreenShield; the Toronto Star’s STEPHANIE LEVITZ; Ukraine’s ambassador YULIYA KOVALIV and several people spilling over from an earlier event down the hall, including MARCUS KOLGA from Disinfo Watch; CP’s JOANNA SMITH; HEATHER BAKKEN and YAROSLAV BARAN of Pendulum Group; Public Policy Forum’s MIKE BLANCHFIELD and ALLISON GIFFORD.

At an Arctic Research Foundation reception at the Metropolitain: co-CEO TOM HENHEFFER, Waterloo businessman JIM BALSILLIE, and the Blackbird Strategies crew. Sen. MARC GOLD dined in the other room.

Veterans Affairs Minister GINETTE PETITPAS TAYLOR, declaring a gift to the ethics commissioner. JOHNNY MERCER, the U.K.'s minister of state for veterans, gave Petitpas Taylor a “Palace of Westminster encaustic tile” at a September meeting. (They sell for north of C$200 in the U.K. Parliament shop.)

Movers and shakers: BEN MULRONEY has joined Aurora Strategy Global as a principal. A news release highlighted Mulroney's "relationships on Bay Street, Queen's Park, Parliament Hill, and internationally." He promises he's not a lobbyist.

Counsel's BEN PARSONS, SHEAMUS MURPHY and WILL SHELLING signed up in the lobbyist registry for Woodland Cree First Nation, which seeks "an acknowledgement of Canada’s role" in the community's relocation — and “compensation including the return of Woodland Cree First Nation land as a reserve.”

If you’re a subscriber, don’t miss our latest policy newsletter from KYLE DUGGAN and ZI-ANN LUM. 

In other Pro headlines:

— Flame retardant chemicals detected in 100+ species worldwide.

— ‘The wrong person’: Senate Republicans slam Biden’s pick for Israel ambassador.

— Western U.S. can expect more simultaneous megafires — study.

— Biden administration launches $3.5B effort to bolster electric grid.

— ‘Beyond absurd’: Reports of deal to ease Venezuelan oil sanctions spark GOP anger.

9 a.m. The Senate fisheries committee continues its study of Canada’s seal populations.

9 a.m. The Senate agriculture committee will be busy with clause-by-clause consideration on Bill C-234 before turning off the cameras to discuss its draft agenda.

9:15 a.m. The Senate energy and environment committee will study Bill S-234 before closing the meeting to discuss agenda items.

9:30 a.m. The Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund releases a new report "showcasing the need for 'avenues to justice' in Canada to address sexual violence." LEAF executive director PAM HRICK joins the report's authors, survivors and advocates for a West Block press conference.

10 a.m. Auditor General KAREN HOGAN and her crew will be at the House public accounts committee in its opening hour to discuss 2023 reports.

11 a.m. ROB STEWART, deputy minister of international trade, will attend the House procedure committee to discuss questions of privilege and the intimidation campaign against MP MICHAEL CHONG.

11 a.m. The House finance committee continues pre-budget consultations. On the roster: Professor PIERRE-OLIVIER PINEAU; SYLVAIN CHARLEBOIS, director of the Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University; BENJAMIN DACHIS of the C.D. Howe Institute; Jim Stanford of the Centre for Future Work; plus, officials from Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists and Confédération des syndicats nationaux.

11:30 a.m. MORNA BALLANTYNE of Child Care Now will lead a contingent of child care experts at the Senate social affairs committee, which is studying Bill C-35. 

11:30 a.m. Industry Minister FRANÇOIS-PHILIPPE CHAMPAGNE will be at the Senate banking, commerce and economy committee.

11:45 a.m. The Senate legal and constitutional affairs committee will hear from justice department officials.

3:30 p.m. Veterans Affairs Minister GINETTE PETITPAS TAYLOR will be at the House veterans affairs committee.

3:30 p.m. Immigration Minister MARC MILLER will be at the House immigration committee.

3:30 p.m. Privacy Commissioner of Canada PHILIPPE DUFRESNE will be at the House industry committee.

3:30 p.m. The House defense committee will receive a briefing on the Israel-Hamas conflict from RAPHAEL S. COHEN of the RAND Corporation; JONATHAN PANIKOFF of the Atlantic Council; and NATAN SACHS of the Brookings Institution.

3:30 p.m. Justice officials will be at the House justice committee as MPs there review Bill S-12. 

3:30 p.m. Chief STEPHEN AUGUSTINE of the Mi’kmaq Grand Council and ADAM MUNNINGS of Semiahmoo First Nation will attend the first hour of the House committee on Indigenous and Northern Affairs. 

Behind closed doors: The House heritage, agriculture, fisheries and oceans, environment and trade committees will meet in camera.

Wednesday’s answer: When BERTHA WILSON applied to Dalhousie Law School in 1954, the dean said to her, “Madam, we have no room here for dilettantes. Why don’t you just go home and take up crocheting?” She was appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada March 4, 1982.

Props to ANJUM SULTANA, STACEY NORONHA, ROBERT MCDOUGALL, GUY SKIPWORTH, JOANNA PLATER, GEORGE SCHOENHOFER and BOB GORDON.