CHIEFS OF STAFF — You want ’em, we got ’em. Everyone in Playbookland keeps asking who will crack the top of the food chain in ministers' offices. For your reading pleasure, here's the (long) list of so-far confirmed chiefs. Ctrl-F to your heart's content. First up, brand-new ministers: — MARK HOLLAND, Government House Leader: RHEAL LEWIS — HELENA JACZEK, Southern Ontario economic development: ANNE DAWSON — PASCAL ST-ONGE, sport: KELLY WILHELM — RANDY BOISSONNAULT, tourism: ELLIOTT LOCKINGTON Next, returning ministers with new gigs: — MÉLANIE JOLY, foreign affairs: SANDRA AUBÉ — JONATHAN WILKINSON, natural resources: CLAIRE SEABORN — MONA FORTIER, Treasury Board: ELIZABETH CHEESBROUGH — MARC MILLER, Crown-Indigenous relations: MIKE BURTON — PATTY HAJDU, Indigenous services: KATHARINE HEUS (acting chief: OLIVIER CULLEN) — FILOMENA TASSI, procurement: STEVIE O’BRIEN — AHMED HUSSEN, housing: HURSH JASWAL — KARINA GOULD , families and children: FRÉDÉRIQUE TSAI-KLASSEN — CAROLYN BENNETT, mental health and addictions: SARAH WELCH — JOYCE MURRAY, fisheries: CYNDI JENKINS — SEAMUS O'REGAN, labor: PAUL MOEN — GINETTE PETITPAS TAYLOR, official languages: GUY GALLANT Finally, unshuffled ministers: — FRANÇOIS-PHILIPPE CHAMPAGNE, innovation: SARAH HUSSAINI — MARY NG, international trade and economic development: JASON EASTON — DAVID LAMETTI , justice and attorney general: ALEX STEINHOUSE — PABLO RODRIGUEZ, heritage: JOHN MATHESON (Rodriguez has a different chief for his role as Quebec lieutenant: GENEVIÈVE HINSE.) — OMAR ALGHABRA, transport: MIKE MAKA — DIANE LEBOUTHILLIER, national revenue: FAIZEL GULAMHUSSEIN — MARIE-CLAUDE BIBEAU, agriculture: ALISON PORTER — CARLA QUALTROUGH, employment: TARAS ZALUSKY — LAWRENCE MACAULAY, veterans affairs: PATRICIA BEH Playbook is confident more names will drop later this week. We still don't know who'll head up a dozen ministers' offices: ANITA ANAND, DOMINIC LEBLANC, JEAN-YVES DUCLOS, HARJIT SAJJAN, BILL BLAIR, STEVEN GUILBEAULT, MARCO MENDICINO, DAN VANDAL, SEAN FRASER, GUDIE HUTCHINGS, MARCI IEN and KAMAL KHERA. Oh, and one more cabmin: CHRYSTIA FREELAND. Stay tuned. UNDER PROMISE, THEN DELIVER — President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping telegraphed low expectations for their non-summit Monday night, and in that they delivered, POLITICO's PHELIM KINE reports. — From Kine's overnight report: "The three and a half hour virtual meeting was a step forward in what has become a tense relationship between superpowers. The two leaders balanced predictable disagreements over Taiwan and human rights with 'respectful, straightforward and open' discussion aimed to pave the way to future talks, according to a senior administration official. — Concrete deliverables: The meeting produced none, Kine writes, "but allowed both leaders to underscore their resolve to prevent it from veering into unexpected military conflict." Read Kine's report here. DONE DEAL — It wasn't JUSTIN TRUDEAU or JASON KENNEY who opened the show when Ottawa and Alberta formalized a five-year childcare agreement worth C$3.8 billion in federal funding. It was Deputy PM CHRYSTIA FREELAND, a daughter of the province — born in Peace River — who had a couple of women on her mind as she took to the lectern. Freeland is known for her poise and strict adherence to message discipline. But she allowed herself some visible emotion as she announced a deal that "has special personal meaning" because of those two women. She said her mother HELENA, a self-proclaimed feminist, fought for child care in the province. Freeland also name-checked a 32-year-old agronomist and mother of two in rural Alberta, JOSEPHINE , who told the then-intergovernmental affairs minister at a 2019 roundtable conversation that she was desperate for daycare. Freeland called her Monday morning. — The details: The fed-prov accord could create 42,500 new licensed spaces by March 2026. The infusion of funds will cut the cost of daycare in half by the end of next year. The overall goal is to reach C$10-a-day fees in five years. — The spin: Families and Childcare Minister KARINA GOULD heralded the federal investment as a "generational game changer." But one woman's federal investment is another man's return on investment. Kenney characterized the spending as "tax dollars paid by Albertans to Ottawa" coming "back to Albertans to address a key priority for so many families." Liberals typically emphasize the non-profit spaces carved out in these deals. But Alberta Children's Services Minister REBECCA SCHULZ hammered home that the "made-in-Alberta" deal was all about parents' choice. "Our mixed market here in Alberta works," said Schulz. "I've heard loud and clear that ambitious space-creation targets need the collaboration, creativity and innovation of private and non-profit providers." — Eight down: Two provinces to go. Trudeau called on Ontario and New Brunswick — not by name, mind you — to "step up" and "come onboard." Gauntlet thrown. FUNDRAISING PRIORITIES — The Liberals' national director, AZAM ISHMAEL , signed a note to the party's supporters in a bid for more donations. Ishmael previewed the government's end-of-2021 legislative rush to act on election priorities. — The plan: "Together, we’re tackling important platform commitments like finishing the fight against COVID-19, accelerating the fight against climate change and committing Canada to Net-Zero emissions by 2050, investing in affordable housing and affordable child care spaces across Canada, and so much more." Of course, these were also Liberal priorities before the election that interrupted the work of parliamentarians for all those months. CPC TURMOIL — Even in its wildest dreams, the PMO might not have cooked up the internecine warfare plaguing Conservatives in Ottawa. In an alternate reality, most of the headlines would dwell on the two-month gap between an election result and a return to Parliament. But along came DENISE BATTERS, the Tory senator, the latest ERIN O'TOOLE critics to guarantee several more days of press about her own party's disunity. — The bomb: Batters launched a petition to call for a leadership review of O'Toole within six months. She explained why in a take-no-prisoners video. — The argument: "Since the election, O'Toole has not learned any lessons from this devastating loss. It's business as usual. His strategy failed and he refuses to change it. He is surrounded by the same old team with the same old ideas. His polling numbers keep dropping. His flip-flops and weakness mean that he can never regain the trust from the Canadian people that he lost in the election. Because he refuses to learn from his mistakes, he can’t win." Batters isn't out on a limb. She's carved out a relatively high profile in the party — a former Progressive Conservative who doesn't live on the fringe. O'Toole detractors knew this was coming. BERT CHEN, a national council member from Ontario, was suspended by the party after he launched his own petition to recall O'Toole the day after the election. Chen attracted 5,500 members — and counting — to his cause. One MP anonymously hinted at the extent of the revolt in an interview with Global News. “There are significant number of caucus members as well as both past and current riding presidents, and riding officials across the country as well as former national councillors that are engaged in this,” they said. — The threshold: Batters is hoping for a referendum of members. The party constitution says she'll need to convince 5 percent of members in at least five provinces to take her side. She has 90 days, and the clock started ticking Monday. The Conservative caucus voted in October to empower itself to call a leadership review. MPs have chosen not to do so. Batters must sense — or hope — that party members are more disgruntled than the elected few. — Calls for unity: Calgary MP MICHELLE REMPEL GARNER was first in line to oppose Batters's move. "I'm so profoundly disappointed in this. Every Canadian will be focused on this for the next month instead of anything we do in the House," she tweeted. "I ask my colleague to withdraw this petition, have it out in caucus instead, and for the good of Canada let us MPs get back to work." Rempel Garner even made an open appeal to Batters on Facebook. — What's next: The Tory caucus meets this week. Expect, uh, opinions. Party president ROBERT BATHERSON told Batters in writing that her petition doesn't adhere to the party's constitution. Batters didn't relent. One party operative worried the whole mess will end up in court. Liberals couldn't have written a better script. | 
