ALSO TODAY: Singh hits the hustings in Ottawa Centre — Freeland to UK for global media confab

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau should be prepared to defend his recent decision to re-approve the proposed Trans Mountain pipeline extension when he hits the stage in Montreal this evening to formally nominate one of Quebec’s most high-profile environmentalists — and outspoken pipeline opponent — Steven Guilbeault as the party’s candidate of record in the New Democrat-held riding of Laurier-Sainte-Marie.

In an interview with CBC News last month, Guilbeault reaffirmed his opposition to the project — “I disagree with the pipeline” — but noted that, when he “looks at everything that the Liberal government has done over the past four years, in terms of fighting climate change … there’s so much for me to rally around that … I’ve decided to go ahead.”

He also offered a preview of what, as CBC notes, is likely to be the party’s key message to “progressive swing voters” on the campaign trail this fall.

“I do fear that the Conservatives could win the next election and, if they do, everything we’ve worked for in those past four years will be gone and we will be back to what was happening under the Harper years,” he warned.

“The only party that can stop the Conservatives … is the Liberal Party of Canada.”

Trudeau is expected to address the crowd — which, if recent history is any indication, may well include at least a few vocal anti-pipeline protesters — at the party-organized event at a local cabaret bar.

Also on the prime ministerial agenda today: A late afternoon meet-up with “community stakeholders” at Hochelaga’s Chic Resto Pop.

Back in the capital, New Democrat MP Jagmeet Singh hits the pre-campaign hustings in Ottawa Centre, where he’s set to join area candidate Emilie Taman for an evening canvassing session that will kick off at a local playground.

Taman, who previously ran for the party in Ottawa Vanier, will take on Environment Minister Catherine McKenna in the upcoming battle for the ballot box.

Also out and about in Ottawa today: Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains drops by the downtown headquarters of CBN Nano Technologies — a division of Canadian Bank Note Co., which is currently on contract to print currency for the Bank of Canada — to unveil what the Ottawa Citizen reports will be a $40 million investment to support “advanced manufacturing innovation.”

Earlier in the day, Bains will join the welcoming party at the Canadian Space Agency as Canadian astronaut David Saint-Jacques returns to his post following his extended stint on the International Space Station.

On the western ministerial circuit: Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau heads to the Calgary Stampede with fresh federal cash to “build a stronger beef industry,” while Natural Resources Minister Amarjeet Sohi outlines his government’s “vision for the future of Canada’s natural resources” during a lunch event hosted by the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce.

Also out and about in Alberta today: People’s Party Leader Maxime Bernier spends the day in Grande Prairie, where he’s scheduled to attend a lunch with local officials before joining supporters at an evening rally where his advance team may want to keep tabs on the lineup for photos with the leader after pictures of a beaming Bernier posing alongside members of the Northern Guard during his weekend visit to Calgary surfaced on Facebook.

As the Star Edmonton reports, the Canadian Anti-Hate Network has described the Northern Guard as a “militant anti-Muslim hate group with Neo-Nazi ties.”

Finally, Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland heads to London, where, alongside her UK counterpart, Jeremy Hunt, she’ll co-host the Global Conference for Media Freedom.

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