By Nick Taylor-Vaisey and Mickey Djuric

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Thanks for reading the Ottawa Playbook. Let’s get to it.

In today's edition:

→ Can-Am influencers pack the National Gallery in pre-Trump mode.

→ Behind the scenes of the reno on Parliament Hill.

BEGIN AGAIN — It's not a lot of rooms where you'll find FRANÇOIS-PHILIPPE CHAMPAGNE, GOLDY HYDER and STEVE VERHEUL trading notes over canapés.

The industry minister, corporate lobby honcho and longtime trade negotiator chatted Monday evening in the National Gallery's iconic atrium. Welcome to the Canadian American Business Council's annual cross-border love-in.

Two months and two days before DONALD TRUMP's inauguration, the CABC shindig collected a coterie of ministers, business leaders and lobbyists for a post-election check-in on the state of the Canada-U.S. relationship.

Oh, the networking. Oh, the anxiety about [insert Trump appointment].

— Shake it off: Conservative Deputy Leader MELISSA LANTSMAN spoke for a time with Hyder, the head of the same Business Council of Canada that just two days earlier was dismissed by PIERRE POILIEVRE as "worse than useless" and "money-sucking."

One of the biggest brains in Poilievre's fold, JENNI BYRNE, made an appearance. So did BRIAN CLOW, the longtime PMO point-man on the cross-border file. DAVID PATERSON, Ontario Premier DOUG FORD's rep in Washington, worked the room. Auto parts hype man FLAVIO VOLPE made the rounds.

— Don't blame me: This wasn't a night of rip-roaring toasts to a bold future ahead for North American neighbors whose best times are yet to come. The evening's headline ambassadors raised their glasses in warm, tempered tones. Their closing words:

→ KIRSTEN HILLMAN: "To what lies ahead and the opportunities we can find."

→ DAVID COHEN: "To a future of continued collaboration and success."

— Fortnight: Top talking point of the evening went to TAYLOR SWIFT's Canadian mini-tour, obviously. Anybody with tickets to this week's Toronto shows was happy to talk about it.

— Delicate: A whole lot of minglers didn't get the memo and expected a sit-down dinner before an early-week wine indulgence. (Don't sleep on bison meatballs in a pinch.)

— Long live: CABC CEO BETH BURKE teased a mystery guest in the days leading up to the gala — a dose of levity in a complicated time.

Turns out she booked Hamiltonian comedy legend MARTIN SHORT, who only heard boos from the polite Ottawa crowd when he revealed an allegiance to the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Props to Playbook reader MELISSA COTTON, CN's director of government affairs, for somehow predicting Short's appearance.

— Ministers mingling: ANITA ANAND, MARY NG, MÉLANIE JOLY, JONATHAN WILKINSON, STEVEN MACKINNON, AHMED HUSSEN and GUDIE HUTCHINGS.

— Parliamentarians in the room: We spotted GEORGE CHAHAL, VANCE BADAWEY, FRANCESCO SORBARA, RANDY HOBACK, ADAM CHAMBERS, LUC BERTHOLD, PIERRE PAUL-HUS, STEPHANIE KUSIE, MATT JENEROUX, LIANNE ROOD, GREG MCLEAN, RODGER CUZNER and PAULA SIMONS.

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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum at the G20 Summit on Monday. | AP

— Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU will hold a media availability at the G20 in Rio de Janeiro. He’ll attend a G20 farewell lunch hosted by Brazilian President LUIZ INÁCIO LULA DA SILVA.

— Deputy PM CHRYSTIA FREELAND will chair a meeting of the Cabinet committee on Canada-U.S. relations at 10 a.m. At 1 p.m., she will hold her weekly economic update. Public Services Minister JEAN-YVES DUCLOS will join. The DPM will also meet with business leaders and representatives from the aluminum sector in response to the U.S. election.

— Conservative Leader PIERRE POILIEVRE, Bloc Québécois Leader YVES-FRANÇOIS BLANCHET and NDP Leader JAGMEET SINGH have not released public itineraries.

— Green Leader ELIZABETH MAY will deliver a speech at the Future Voters Summit Conference in Brampton.

— Labour Minister STEVEN MACKINNON, Minister of Indigenous Services PATTY HAJDU and Minister of National Revenue MARIE-CLAUDE BIBEAU have dates with different parliamentary committees. Details below.

New Brunswick's Liberal government will deliver its first throne speech.

8:30 a.m. Statistics Canada will release its October consumer price index report.

6:30 p.m. Industry Minister FRANÇOIS-PHILIPPE CHAMPAGNE and Families Minister JENNA SUDDS attend a party fundraiser at The Brookstreet Hotel in Kanata.

The lame duck session could reshape major policies before year's end. Get Inside Congress delivered daily to follow the final sprint of dealmaking on defense funding, AI regulation and disaster aid. Subscribe now.

The scene on Parliament Hill as the restoration of Centre Block continues. | Mickey Djuric, POLITICO Canada

WORK IN PROGRESS — Centre Block on Parliament Hill has been gutted and is undergoing a C$4.5 billion revamp that is touted to be the largest heritage building project in Canada’s history.

Project leaders insist the work is on budget and on time — tracking toward completion in 2031. (Hill procurement skeptics scoff at the claim.)

— Behind the scenes: Hill reporters recently scored a glimpse inside on a three-hour tour.

Your Playbook host donned a hard hat, safety vest and steel-toed boots. Some notes from our tour ought to tide you over until doors open many years from now.

— The goal: Modernize the iconic heritage building to serve Parliament for the next century while maintaining and restoring original details.

Public Services and Procurement Canada officials say construction has been smooth. They report no surprises — skeletons or dead bodies, for example — though trinkets like bottle caps have been found and stored.

Officials also said no rats have been found in the walls ( see: 24 Sussex). However, insect and mice droppings rained down on the House of Commons when its linen ceiling was removed.

— Front doors: A new welcome center is being designed to accommodate 700,000 visitors a year, up from the 350,000 who now visit.

The building has been stripped to its bones and workers have dug a three-story basement. Visitors will arrive through an entrance located underground, wrapped around the base of the Peace Tower.

— Planning for 400-plus MPs: The current plan is to seat 343 MPs by the time the project is complete — up from 338 when the building closed. There’s a 50-year plan to accommodate a growing number of MPs — to a point. If the need for seats ever exceeds 400, it will be a problem for the next generation to solve.

— More MPs, more problems: Figuring out House of Commons seating is a puzzle. Project workers are sorting through seating mockups and an MP advisory group is also at work on the problem. If you’re an MP who sits on it, let us know. 

— Vibe shift: There is talk of bringing in benches, akin to the British Parliament at Westminster; assigned seating is likely to be eliminated based on input from advisory groups.

— Public seating: House of Commons galleries are also likely to feature benches. Prior to construction, seating areas accommodated up to 580 people. That capacity is expected to drop to 440 seats. (West Block currently seats about 350.)

— Speaker’s Dining Room: It’s one of 50 heritage rooms being restored to its original form. When workers stripped the walls of green fabric put up in the 1960s, they uncovered hand-painted stencils in green and gold. Those will be kept. The white ceiling will return to its original gold color.

— Senate Chamber: Heritage pieces like wood, copper and portraits are being rehabilitated at the Canadian War Museum. There will eventually be a competition to design art for 12 window panes in the Senate. The chamber will feature a glass enclosure where the south-facing gallery is. It will be kind of like looking into an aquarium — the public will be able to follow proceedings without interrupting senators.

After years of digging and hauling, work is about to ramp up. Expect to see three more cranes in the skyline in the coming months.

A message from Wealthsimple:

— From RAHIM MOHAMED at the National Post: “Parliamentary Budget Officer YVES GIROUX said on Monday Ottawa is likely to lose money on its eventual sale of the Trans Mountain pipeline.”

— HOLLY CABRERA and DARREN MAJOR of CBC News report: Conservatives increase pressure on Boissonnault to resign.

— DAVID MARCHESE of The New York Times talked to ELLEN WIEBE, a MAID provider in British Columbia, in a bid to better understand why his mother chose to end her life with medical assistance. Listen to the interview here. 

— ANJA KARADEGLIJA of The Canadian Press reports that the House has condemned an alleged Iranian plot to assassinate former Liberal justice minister IRWIN COTLER.

— The Tyee features a Q&A with RACHEL GILMORE. “Some people will call me a TikToker or an influencer, and they mean it in a disparaging way,” she says. “It just means that I understand the future of communication.”

— “Climate-concerned Canadians should absolutely look past our borders. Focus on the developing world,” ARNO KOPECKY writes in The Walrus. “If you’re genuinely wondering how best to fight climate change, that’s where the answer lies.”

For Pro subscribers, our latest policy newsletter: Trump picks oil industry CEO for his Cabinet.

In other news for Pro readers:

— Explaining the trillion-dollar question that’s disrupting COP29.

— Trump’s DOE pick cements fossil fuel focus.

— New UN standards could boost faltering global carbon market.

— Here’s what Trump’s reg-slashing duo is planning.

— Throwback: Trump 2.0 is boosting some old economic ideas.

Policy change is coming—be the pro who saw it first. Access POLITICO Pro’s Issue Analysis series on what the transition means for agriculture, defense, health care, tech, and more. Strengthen your strategy.

Birthdays: HBD to former MPs JOE JORDAN and PETER LANG, as well as Crestview birthday twins ALEX BYRNE-KRZYCKI and LAILA HAWRYLYSHYN.

Got a document to share? A birthday coming up? Send it all our way.

Spotted: PM JUSTIN TRUDEAU, making a milkshake for #MilkShakeMonday.

WYATT SHARPE and SAMUEL MIELE, kicking off their Future Voters Summit in Brampton.
Spotted on day one: TONY CLEMENT, DAN MCTEAGUE, STEVEN DEL DUCA, JOHN TORY, JAGMEET SINGH (virtually), BEN MULRONEY, J.J.  MCCULLOUGH, DMYTRO BASMAT, MIKE SCHREINER and our pals at CIVIX.

B.C. Premier DAVE EBY, introducing a new Cabinet.

Noted: Final submissions from participants at the Foreign Interference Commission have been posted on its website, including reports from the Government of Canada, Conservative Party and New Democrats.

11 a.m. House of Commons officials will be at the House procedure committee to take questions on cyberattacks targeting MPs. The second hour is set aside to study Bill C-65.

11 a.m. The House health committee will look at Bill C-368.

11 a.m. Labour and Seniors’ Minister STEVE MACKINNON will be at the House human resources committee to discuss supplementary estimates.

11 a.m. Minister of Indigenous Services PATTY HAJDU will be at the House government operations committee to discuss Indigenous procurement. In the second hour of the meeting, the committee will return to studying New York real estate as it relates to Canada’s consul general there.

9 a.m. The Senate Indigenous peoples committee will be focused on Bill S-268.

9 a.m. Minister of National Revenue MARIE-CLAUDE BIBEAU will appear before the Senate national finance committee.

9 a.m. World Press Freedom Canada President HEATHER BAKKEN and KARIM BARDEESY of The Dais are among the witnesses at the Senate transport and communications committee as it discusses local services delivered by CBC/Radio Canada.

9:30 a.m. The Senate rules and procedure committee considers the role of non-affiliated senators.

11 a.m. The House official languages committee has the “minority-language education continuum” on its agenda.

3:30 p.m. Privacy Commissioner PHILIPPE DUFRESNE will be at the House information, privacy and ethics committee to discuss breaches at the Canada Revenue Agency.

3:30 p.m. Officials from Canadian National Railway Company and Canadian Pacific Kansas City will be at the House agriculture committee. 

3:30 p.m. The House national defense committee will discuss contaminated sites.

3:30 p.m. “Transnational repression in developing democracies” is on the agenda at the House subcommittee on international human rights. 

3:30 p.m. The House science and research committee will discuss the new capstone research funding organization announced in the 2024 budget.

6:30 p.m. The Senate agriculture committee returns to its study of wildfires.

6:30 p.m. Environmental watchdog JERRY DEMARCO will be at the Senate energy, the environment and natural resources committee.

6:30 p.m. TOM HEINTZMAN from CIBC Capital Markets will be at the Senate fisheries and oceans committee as it studies ocean carbon sequestration.

Behind closed doors: The House finance, transportation and foreign affairs committees will each gather in camera.

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Monday’s answer: MARGARET ATWOOD reacted to DONALD TRUMP's victory with this quote: “I invoked, ‘Oh God, let it be sun.’ But it was darkness all around."

Props to HEATHER CHIASSON, BARRIE FRIEL, SARAH ANSON-CARTWRIGHT, ATUL SHARMA, PENELOPE ANGELOPOULOS, ELLA D’SILVA, AMY SCANLON BOUGHNER, BRANDON WALLACE, GANGA WIGNARAJAH, BOB ERNEST, CAMERON RYAN, STEPHEN KAROL, ROBERT MCDOUGALL, DOUG RICE, SARA MAY, MAUREEN MACGILLIVRAY, TRACY SALMON, MAGGIE MORRIS, GORDON RANDALL, BILL GARVIN, BILL PRISTANSKI, RALPH LEVENSTEIN, JOANNA PLATER, DARREN MAJOR, RAY DEL BIANCO, KATE SCHNEIDER, JOHN DILLON, JOHN MERRIMAN, WILL SHELLING, DOUG SWEET, GARY ALLEN, PATRICK DION, ROSS LECLAIR, J. ROLLAND VAIVE, MARCEL MARCOTTE, JOHN ECKER, ROB MAGUIRE, JOHN DELACOURT, JANE DOULL, KATIE FEENAN, ADAM SMITH, DUANE BRATT and MALCOLM MCKAY.

Today’s question:  Who was the first federal politician in Canadian history to directly succeed his father as elected representative for the same constituency?

Answers to ottawaplaybook@politico.com .

Want to grab the attention of movers and shakers on Parliament Hill? Want your brand in front of a key audience of Ottawa influencers? Run a Playbook ad campaign. Contact Jesse Shapiro to find out how: jshapiro@politico.com.

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