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Welcome to Ottawa Playbook. I’m your host, Maura Forrest. Today, we look at what’s going on in the House of Commons ahead of the winter break. We tell you about a Canada Infrastructure Bank project that wasn’t to be. And we bring you the highlights from PIERRE POILIEVRE’s latest interview.

WHY IS THE HOUSE SO BORING? — There are two weeks left before the House of Commons rises for the winter break, but will anyone really notice?

It’s been hard to pay much attention to what’s going on in the Commons this fall sitting. The Emergencies Act inquiry drew attention away from Parliament Hill for weeks, especially when Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU and several of his ministers testified, displaying more candor than they ever do in Question Period.

Then there’s the war in Ukraine. Conservative Leader PIERRE POILIEVRE has been settling into his new job and making new hires. The QUEEN died. More recently, the U.S. midterms happened. There have been allegations of Chinese interference in the 2019 election. Trudeau went on his world tour of summits. There was an Indo-Pacific strategy.

And now there’s Alberta Premier DANIELLE SMITH and … well, you know.

— A lighter load: All this to say a lot of the action has been taking place off Parliament Hill. But as Le Devoir’s MARIE VASTEL pointed out this week, the agenda inside the House of Commons has also been a little light.

Since September, the Liberals have only tabled four new pieces of legislation, she reported — a number that doesn’t compare favorably to previous Parliaments.

— Targeting affordability: What the government has been focused on, of course, is inflation. Two of those four bills were meant to tackle the cost of living by doubling the GST rebate, topping up the Canada Housing Benefit and launching the first phase of a national dental care plan.

Those two bills have passed, and the dental program opened for applications Thursday.

The Liberals now need to pass a third bill that would implement parts of the Fall Economic Statement, which also focused on affordability. Expect that to take up a lot of time next week.

— And as for everything else? Well, it’s mostly taken a back seat. There are some big, controversial bills on the books, of course. The online streaming bill, C-11, is furthest along and is currently being amended by a Senate committee. Others, including the Liberals’ gun-control bill and the Online News Act, which would force online platforms to share revenue with news outlets, are still at committee stage in the House.

— The upshot: Sources told Vastel there’s a degree of fatigue in the government and the public service, after two and a half years of a pandemic. The Conservatives, of course, blamed the light legislative load on a government that’s “out of ideas.”

Then again, it’s also a government with some runway. If the next election isn’t until 2025, there’s presumably still some time for new ideas.

— Related: United States Trade Representative KATHERINE TAI has raised concerns about the Online Streaming Act and the Online News Act, the National Post’s ANJA KARADEGLIJA reports.

Elsewhere in the Post, here's JOHN IVISON arguing the Liberals should drop an amendment to their gun-control bill that could prohibit some hunting rifles, "for the sake of national unity."

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A CAUTIONARY TALE — Once upon a time, back in 2021, the Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB) made an announcement. Great news! We’re investing up to C$655 million in the Lake Erie Connector, it said.

The project, to build a C$1.7-billion, 117-kilometer underwater transmission line to move power between Ontario and Pennsylvania, was billed partly as a way to export clean electricity to the United States. It would have linked the province to the PJM Interconnection, a consortium of 13 states.

“Canada has an opportunity to export clean power, helping to reduce emissions, maximizing clean power use and making electricity more affordable for Canadians,” then-infrastructure minister CATHERINE MCKENNA said in a statement at the time.

— Early warnings: There were some doubts raised off the bat, including from those who suggested Ontario would end up relying on gas-fired electricity — not clean power — to meet the demand.

But the CIB hailed the project as “another example” of its “momentum to quickly implement” its C$10-billion Growth Plan, focused on investments to accelerate Canada’s low-carbon transition. ITC Holdings Corp., a subsidiary of Fortis and the project’s proponent, said it could start construction that year.

— Slow progress: In March 2022, the Logic took a closer look. In a story titled “The Canada Infrastructure Bank and the $655M mystery,” PAUL WELLS observed the CIB board had not yet approved the investment, in part due to doubts about its impact on emissions.

And then there was silence, more or less. Over the summer, a few local outlets reported the project had been suspended, but it barely made news. Then last week, Conservative infrastructure critic LESLYN LEWIS asked about it in the House of Commons. The Ontario end of the transmission line would have been built in her riding.

Yes, the project has been suspended, the Liberals responded. But don’t worry! The CIB never actually forked over that C$655 million.

— So what happened? According to a statement Fortis sent Playbook, the decision was driven by “macroeconomic conditions.” So there’s that.

JACK GIBBONS, chair of the Ontario Clean Air Alliance, suggested the Liberals’ plan for a net-zero electricity grid by 2035 may have ruined the business case for a project that was inevitably going to depend on gas-fired power. Which would be … ironic.

For its part, the CIB tells Playbook the Lake Erie project never received the board’s final approval. The bank never provided any funding to develop the project, but it did “incur routine due diligence expenses and staff time in undertaking its assessment of the investment opportunity.” The spokesperson didn’t say how much that cost.

— What’s the lesson for the infrastructure bank? According to a statement Lewis released, the story is further proof “this $35-billion-dollar boondoggle [should] be abolished.”

Gibbons tells Playbook it was “complete stupidity” for the CIB to get involved in the Lake Erie Connector. “It’s got to get a lot smarter,” he said. “And it’s got to focus on projects that will actually reduce greenhouse-gas pollution.”

IN HIS OWN WORDS — Conservative Leader PIERRE POILIEVRE has granted another interview, this time to right-wing outlet True North’s ANDREW LAWTON.

Here are a few of the highlights:

On the Alberta sovereignty act: “I suspect not long after I become prime minister, most premiers will stop talking about this stuff.”

On the “Freedom Convoy” protesters in Ottawa: “My preference would have been for them to be on foot and to park their trucks off-site. I think that would have been better. But that said, I think, overall, the reason we had these protests and all of this disruption was because of an unnecessary and very disruptive vaccine mandate.”

On the invocation of the Emergencies Act: “We need to have another look at the Emergencies Act powers to make sure that no prime minister is able to abuse the power in the act like that again. And there may be some more checks and balances required to do it.”

On why he’s (mostly) avoiding the parliamentary press gallery: “For the most part, there is a definite bias in favor of just defending the government and regurgitating its talking points, and I don’t need to validate that.”

— Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU is in Vancouver today.

— Deputy Prime Minister CHRYSTIA FREELAND has private meetings on her itinerary.

9 a.m. Defense Minister ANITA ANAND will make an announcement about next steps for Primary Reserve infrastructure in Sherbrooke, Que. Agriculture Minister MARIE-CLAUDE BIBEAU will also attend.

9:15 a.m. Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister MARC MILLER and Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami president NATAN OBED will be in Ottawa to give an update on the work of the Inuit-Crown Partnership Committee.

9:30 a.m. Transport Minister OMAR ALGHABRA will be in Mississauga to make an announcement about green transportation.

10:30 a.m. Mental Health and Addictions Minister CAROLYN BENNETT will be in Toronto to announce funding to prevent substance-related harms in Indigenous communities.

12:30 p.m. (9:30 a.m. PST) The PM will meet with British Columbia Premier DAVID EBY. He will hold a press conference at 1 p.m. (10 a.m. PST).

1 p.m.(11 a.m. MST) NDP Leader JAGMEET SINGH will speak to reporters at the United Steelworkers Local 1944 in Calgary.

2:30 p.m. International Trade Minister MARY NG will hold a press conference in Ottawa with European Commission executive vice president VALDIS DOMBROVSKIS, following a meeting to mark the five-year anniversary of the CETA.

3 p.m. (1 p.m. MST) Immigration Minister SEAN FRASER and Tourism Minister RANDY BOISSONNAULT will be in Edmonton to make an announcement about open work permits.

9 p.m. (6 p.m. PST) Trudeau will attend a Liberal fundraiser in Surrey, B.C. hosted by MP RANDEEP SARAI — ticket price C$500.

Who’s up: JASON KENNEY, who timed his resignation as a member of the Alberta legislature for approximately one hour after Premier DANIELLE SMITH introduced the Alberta sovereignty act as her first bill.

Who’s down: Former Ottawa mayor JIM WATSON, former city manager STEVE KANELLAKOS and former OC Transpo general manager JOHN MANCONI, who all managed to have left their jobs before the damning LRT inquiry report landed Wednesday.

— A group representing psychiatrists says Canada needs to take more time before expanding medical assistance in dying to people with mental disorders, CAMILLE BAINS reports for the Canadian Press.

— Top of Newswatch via CP's JIM BRONSKILL:Liberals to consult public on merits of a foreign agent registry, Mendicino says.

— The three elected members of the Parti Québécois were barred from Quebec’s National Assembly on Thursday after refusing to swear allegiance to the King, the Canadian Press reports.

— GEOFFREY SIGALET and JESSE HARTERYwrite of Alberta’s sovereignty act: “While the debate surrounding the merits of the policy will now begin in earnest, it appears to be constitutionally compliant based on existing law.”

— For her part, Alberta Premier DANIELLE SMITH has suggested she's open to amendments.

— As $10 a day daycare rolls out in Nunavut, three communities remain left out, MERAL JAMALreports in the Nunatsiaq News.

— “I'm not a token Indigenous judge,” the Supreme Court’s MICHELLE O’BONSAWIN says during a Q+A with Maclean’s.

— JAMES B. FOLEY, who served as U.S. ambassador to Haiti and Croatia, writes for POLITICO: “I’ve seen military intervention in Haiti up close. We can’t repeat the same mistakes.”

For POLITICO Pro subscribers, here’s our latest policy newsletter fromZI-ANN LUM: 10 to go.

In other news for Pro readers:
— Wilkinson: U.S. is ‘biggest barrier’ in the way of LNG exports to Europe.
— Freight rail strike averted, after frenzied negotiations.
— White House National Security Council economics lead steps down.
— German Bundestag votes to ratify CETA.
— Congressional Democrats: Not a chance of reopening climate law.

Birthdays: HBD to Inuk activist SHEILA WATT-CLOUTIER, former premiers DAVID ALWARD (New Brunswick) and DARRELL PASLOSKI (Yukon) and Edmonton MLA JON CARSON. Conservative HQ communications adviser KEITH SHEPPARD also celebrates today.

Celebrating Saturday: Munk School prof MEL CAPPE and MP ANITA VANDENBELD.

Celebrating Sunday: Bon anniversaire to Sen. CLAUDE CARIGNAN, former Liberal MP WILL AMOS and the ever stellar ROBERTA BONDAR. 

Send birthdays to [email protected].

Movers and shakers: MAIREAD LAVERY has been reappointed president and chief executive officer of Export Development Canada until Feb. 4, 2025. She has held those roles since Feb. 5, 2019.

JENNIFER OADES and SYLVIE BLANCHET have been reappointed to second terms as the chairperson and executive vice-chairperson of the Parole Board of Canada.

NATHAN CARR is leaving Crestview Strategy after four years, with “more to come on the plans for the future.”

Meanwhile, DALE PALMETER, previously principal secretary to former Nova Scotia premier IAIN RANKIN, has joined Crestview as a senior consultant in Halifax.

Spotted:BILL FOX, at his Order of Canada investiture ceremony … JULIE SAVARD-SHAW, former deputy chief of staff to Public Safety Minister MARCO MENDICINO, “officially incorporated.”

— Find the latest House committee meetings here.

— Keep track of Senate committees here.

1 p.m. Environment Minister STEVEN GUILBEAULT will be at the House environment committee to take questions about Bill S-5.

1 p.m. Nine department officials join Fisheries and Oceans Minister JOYCE MURRAY at the House fisheries and oceans committee to review Supplementary Estimates (B).

1 p.m.The House citizenship and immigration committee meets to study the conditions faced by asylum seekers.

1 p.m. The House heritage committee meets to go through clause-by-clause consideration of Bill C-18, the government’s Online News Act.

1 p.m. Assistant Auditor General MARTIN DOMPIERRE drops by the House public accounts committee, along with department officials from environment and natural resources. The topic: the auditor general’s audit of hydrogen’s potential to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Also on the witness list: Natural Resources Deputy Minister JOHN HANNAFORD and Environment Deputy Minister CHRISTINE HOGAN. 

Behind closed doors: The House international trade committee meets to review a draft report of MPs’ study of the potential impacts of the ArriveCAN app; the special joint committee on medical assistance in dying meets to receive report-drafting instructions; the House foreign affairs committee’s subcommittee on human rights will discuss its report on the situation in Haiti.

Thursday’s answer: Conservative MP DAN ALBASowned a martial arts studio before winning a seat in the House.

Props to BRENDAN HALEY, NANCI WAUGH, ROBERT MCDOUGALL, GREGORY THOMAS, BRAM ABRAMSON, JEFF LABINE and JOE BOUGHNER.

Friday’s question: On this day in Canadian history, who declared, “I'm just ready to roar.”

Send your answer to [email protected]

Playbook wouldn’t happen: Without Luiza Ch. Savage and Sue Allan.

Want to grab the attention of movers and shakers on Parliament Hill? Want your brand in front of a key audience of Ottawa influencers? Playbook can help. Contact Jesse Shapiro to find out how: [email protected]