Not a great start to the Biden-Trudeau relationship Did someone forward you this newsletter? Sign up here to get it delivered weekday mornings. Much has been written about the sigh of relief that will come from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau this Wednesday, when Joe Biden is officially inaugurated as president of the United States. But there has always been one caveat: Biden has repeatedly indicated he wants to kill the Keystone XL pipeline as part of his bold climate agenda. Last night, news broke that nixing the controversial oil pipeline could indeed be on Biden's to-do list—for as early as Day 1. According to sources familiar with the presidential transition, the phrase "Rescind Keystone XL pipeline permit" is on list of executive actions allegedly scheduled for Biden's first day on the job. Among the first Canadian politicians to comment was Alberta Premier Jason Kenney, who tweeted a lengthy statement reiterating the usual talking points in debates like these: that Canadian oil is preferable to Saudi oil, and that Keystone creates jobs in both the U.S. and Canada. Federal Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole echoed those sentiments, calling on Trudeau to reach out to Biden immediately. Meanwhile, federal Green Leader Annamie Paul took the opportunity to juxtapose Biden's decision with recent news of the Canadian government greenlighting three new offshore drilling projects. No, you're more American! Fallout from the flare-up at the U.S. Capitol has, as American politics so often do, inspired Canadians to turn to each other and ask, "Could that happen here?" To answer "yes" would require Erin O'Toole to be similar in tone, style and temperment to Donald Trump, which he frankly is not. But Liberals would like you to believe that the connections run deeper, bringing up a photo of Tory MP Candice Bergen in a MAGA hat, how the Conservative Party once implied Trudeau "rigged" the recent election and how O'Toole has used the slogan "Take Back Canada". O'Toole's comms director, Melanie Paradis , in a clever comeback, is swinging the ball back at the PM, calling him out for lobbing "American-style" attacks. O'Toole released a statement yesterday stating there is "no place for the far right" in his party. How long can this go before we realize, collectively as a nation, that we're all more like Americans than we want to believe? One more American parallel. Dr. Anthony Fauci appeared on CTV's Question Period yesterday to give some context for Canada's vaccine rollout. Fauci confirmed that the U.S. is facing the same timeline, and expects normalcy to return around fall or winter of 2021. This, despite Canada having vaccinated only 1.3 per cent of the population, compared to 3.4 per cent of Americans. Ontario Premier Doug Ford is hoping vaccinations will move faster than that. While the feds have stuck by their September deadline for getting Canadians vaccinated, Ford's vaccine rollout chief, retired general Rick Hillier, told CBC News he'd like to see Ontario "done by the end of July or early August." An optimistic goal—one that someone on Reddit gleefully debunked by crunching all available numbers. (TL;DR: Ontario needs to administer about 87,000 doses per day, starting yesterday, to vaccinate everyone by early August. Ontario's current daily average is a hair over 11,000.) Another pandemic election: The ruling Liberal party of Newfoundland and Labrador may be next in line to secure a majority in the COVID era. Premier Andrew Furey, who controls a minority Liberal government in the province, called an election for Feb. 13. The Liberals currently have 19 seats in legislature, compared to 15 for the Progressive Conservatives, three for the NDP and three independents. The Liberals need to add just two more to reach 21 seats, the threshold for a majority. In today's news, Trudeau has only two items on his agenda: attending a cabinet retreat and speaking with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on the phone. The contents of their discussion have not been revealed as of last night, but some safe bets include U.S. politics, climate change and COVID-19. Parliamentarians are entering their final week before the House of Commons resumes on Jan. 25. A couple cabinet ministers are taking this opportunity to pack in some spending deals, including Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau, who, this morning, is announcing a cash injection into an insects-as-animal-food manufacturing company called Enterra, under the banner of building a sustainable economy. In Quebec, Economic Development Minister Mélanie Joly, Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault and Revenue Minister Diane Lebouthillier will be revealing financial support for local tourism operators, which have, of course, been hit hard by the pandemic. When not in Rome, don't act like Roman. On Friday, a Conservative MPP representing York Centre in Ontario, Roman Baber, was swiftly booted from Doug Ford's caucus for penning an open letter requesting the premier ease up on lockdowns. Ford accused Baber of "spreading misinformation" and "ignoring public health advice." In response, Baber downplayed the severity of Ontario's hospital capacity and claimed that "lockdowns are deadlier than Covid," which, honestly, seems to further prove Ford's points. —Michael Fraiman | 