FINA'S FIRST MEETING — The first order of business at the Commons finance committee's inaugural meeting was picking a chair. Liberal MP PETER FONSECA, the Olympian-turned-politician who once served in DALTON MCGUINTY's Cabinet, drew the short straw that comes with a C$12,700 pay bump. — Big shoes to fill: Longtime Liberal WAYNE EASTER chaired FINA for six years. Fonseca told Playbook his predecessor was on his mind. "I have to say I wondered a number of times during today’s first meeting as chair what the ‘Master of Malpeque’ would do," he said. "With his wily smile and good humor, Wayne was always able to make magic happen on committee." It's a short straw because shepherding the work of a parliamentary committee can devolve into the purest form of drudgery. No job that involves sub-amendments to amendments on motions should ever be described as fun. — The members: First, a rundown of who was sitting around the table. The Liberals sent TERRY BEECH, Freeland's parliamentary secretary; JULIE DZEROWICZ, a Toronto MP who won a squeaker and has championed a universal basic income; HEATH MACDONALD, a rookie who once served as P.E.I.'s finance minister; SOPHIE CHATEL, a tax expert whose previous job at the OECD included negotiating a global deal on minimum corporate tax paid by multinationals; and YVAN BAKER, a former Queen's Park Liberal who was parlsec to finance minister CHARLES SOUSA. The Tory side includes PIERRE POILIEVRE, far and away his party's most popular attack dog; GREG MCLEAN, a Calgary MP left out of ERIN O'TOOLE's shadow cabinet who was elected committee vice-chair; ADAM CHAMBERS , a rookie MP who once worked for finance minister JIM FLAHERTY; JAKE STEWART, another rookie whose last job was in BLAINE HIGGS' provincial Cabinet, where he served as Aboriginal affairs minister. The Bloc Québécois is repped by GABRIEL STE-MARIE , a key player in early Covid relief negotiations who returns as committee vice-chair. The NDP's man is DANIEL BLAIKIE, an expert in procedure — something of a tradition among New Democrats — whose popular dad, BILL BLAIKIE, was once dean of the House of Commons. Which brings us to FINA's job for the day: Inviting CHRYSTIA FREELAND to committee to defend her Covid relief bill. — The asks: For two long hours, FINA debated the terms of their request that Freeland appear tout de suite to defend C-2's legislative innards. Liberals on the committee insisted time is of the essence. The new Covid benefits were too urgent not to approve, they said. (This from the party that waited two months after an election to recall the House.) We'll spare you all the gory details, but here are the big takeaways: → Blaikie moved that Freeland should appear in the flesh. But it's not clear current House rules even allow her to appear in-person. The House's hybrid setup mandates all witnesses appear virtually, even if they're ministers. For the record, the committee still expressed a preference that she join them IRL. → The Tories and Blaikie wanted to question Freeland for four hours. Liberals and Ste-Marie teamed up to limit her appearance to two hours. When? ASAP. FINA is scheduled to gather twice today with "Senior Officials" listed as witnesses on the meeting notices. → Ste-Marie also wanted to hear from Heritage Minister PABLO RODRIGUEZ on the parts of the bill he can answer for. The committee asked him for an hour. — What's at stake: C-2 extends certain benefits and creates new ones for the hardest-hit sectors. Whatever Omicron unleashes (or doesn't) on Canada, the renewed anxiety is a reminder that the age of lockdowns is only over until it isn't. PROC TALK — Today's a big day for BARDISH CHAGGER, the new chair of the procedure and House affairs committee that is rushing to fill every other committee seat before everyone packs up for the holidays. The fun starts at 11 o'clock. — Vice-chairs: They were also elected Friday. Tory MP MICHAEL BARRETT nominated ERIC DUNCAN, the party's caucus secretary. Liberal MP GREG FERGUS nominated Bloc MP ALAIN THERRIEN. Both got the unanimous thumbs' up. The Liberal deputy House leader, SHERRY ROMANADO, is also at the table. — The agenda: The committee pledged Friday to send the lists to the House no later than Thursday. Keep an eye on Playbook for another hefty list of BOLD AND UPPER CASE highlights. DAYS WITH NO DOCS: 42 — More than a month has passed since Cabinet was sworn in, and still the Prime Minister's Office has made no mention of new mandate letters for ministers. Playbook is counting the days. We'll stop when the documents flow. JOB DONE — Canada's top diplomat in China formally tendered his resignation Monday, a move first reported via a Toronto Star exclusive interview with the man himself hours before he made it official. DOMINIC BARTON told the Star that his "core mission" was securing the release of MICHAEL KOVRIG and MICHAEL SPAVOR, and that he never intended a second act as a "career diplomat." — Family matters: Barton said his wife, GERALDINE BUCKINGHAM, is a big part of his "personal decision" to quit. “She wants to get back to her career,” he told the paper. “And I can’t tell you how wonderful it’s been to have her in Beijing, but she wants to get moving.” — High praise: Foreign Minister MÉLANIE JOLY predicted Barton "will be remembered throughout history as one of Canada’s great diplomats," a compliment that had some eyes rolling in the world of global affairs (oh, to be a fly on the wall among the diplomatic corps at HQ on Sussex Drive). For his part, O'Toole hoped the Liberals would replace Barton with “a professional, experienced diplomat” — “not a friend of the Liberal Party.” BLUNT TALK ON BOYCOTTS — ERIN O'TOOLE repeated calls Monday for a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Games, a position that gained steam as U.S. President JOE BIDEN formally endorsed the idea. “I think that’s the best thing we can do alongside our allies to show pressure, but not to make the athletes pay the price for the conduct in Beijing,” O'Toole told reporters. Sport Minister PASCAL ST-ONGE remained non-committal. POLITICO's ANDY BLATCHFORD got former International Olympic Committee vice-president DICK POUND on the phone. He asked Pound, who's still an OIC member, if keeping the political delegation at home would make a difference. “That’s a way that governments can signal their disapproval of whatever the particular Chinese policies may be — whether it makes any difference to the Chinese is anybody's guess. I would say, basically, no,” he said. “Kind of by default, everyone's backing into a position that the athletes will go, the games will go on and the relationships with China will take their course.” Read the full story here. | 
