MASSIVE OR INCONSEQUENTIAL — The pre-shuffle speculation that obsessed the fishbowl for most of Tuesday now feels like a fever dream. Almost no minister was spared. Unnamed sources had both MARC MILLER and PABLO RODRIGUEZ headed to the transport ministry. Only one could. Who would it be? The suspense only grew. The shuffle was said to be enormous. A total reset. Out with the old, in with the new, rookies promoted, has-beens demoted — a truly epic thing. — Did it live up to the hype? It's hard to argue with raw numbers. Cabinet stood pat at 38-strong, excluding the prime minister. But only 12 members of the team had the same jobs Wednesday that they fell asleep with Tuesday. Eighteen others were shuffled. Seven newbie backbenchers were sworn-in. Every move affects real people and produces endless to-do lists. Ministers' families reorient their lives around a new calendar ("You have to travel where next week?"). Staff enter an anxious period. They'll end up following the old boss, helping a new boss or taking a severance package. Bureaucrats polish off transition binders. — Business as usual: Take a closer look, and you'll find a lot of status quo. CHRYSTIA FREELAND is still the deputy PM and finance minister. Also in the same office: FRANÇOIS-PHILIPPE CHAMPAGNE at industry, MÉLANIE JOLY at foreign affairs, MARY NG at international trade, STEVEN GUILBEAULT at environment, JONATHAN WILKINSON at natural resources, PATTY HAJDU at Indigenous services, MARCI IEN at women and gender equality, GUDIE HUTCHINGS at rural economic development, SEAMUS O'REGAN at labor, FILOMENA TASSI at southern Ontario economic development and DAN VANDAL in northern affairs. — Consequential or nah? Opinions are split, natch. → All sound and fury, signifying nothing: "The optics is a big shuffle," ROBERT ASSELIN, senior VP of policy at the Business Council of Canada, tells Playbook. "But the government will stay the course on the main direction it has taken, which is not to be overly concerned about economic policy and continue to spend a lot of money." → In with the old, in with the new: "We're seeing a fortification of the core economic team," said STEVIE O'BRIEN, a senior adviser at McMillan Vantage and former chief of staff to two Cabmins. "A combination of stable hands and continuity in Freeland and Champagne, but also adding some real high performers to key economic portfolios." Case in point: O'Brien's old boss, ANITA ANAND, at the Treasury Board; MARC MILLER at immigration; SEAN FRASER at housing and infrastructure; and JEAN-YVES DUCLOS at public services and procurement. — Intrigue watch: The fishbowl whisperers are wondering if Treasury Board and procurement are really, truly economic portfolios. Ask anyone for a list of Ministers Responsible for Part of the Economy. They'd likely note the buffet of economic development ministries before this twosome. Tory MP MICHELLE REMPEL GARNER thinks Anand is being punished for something. MRG isn't alone. There's a truism about the Treasury Board presidency: It's a crucial job that approves funding that powers government priorities. It's also where high-profile ministers fade into the background. — Tinkering with titles: Ng used to be minister for international trade, small business and export promotion. She lost the small business file to newcomer RECHIE VALDEZ, and export promotion leapfrogged trade in Ng's formal title. Wilkinson adds "energy" to his title. A single word, perhaps, but DAKOTA KOCHIE calls it a smart signal to industry, provinces and allies about a government priority. Kochie is director of government and external relations at the Nuclear Waste Management Organization and a former chief of staff at the Assembly of First Nations. Right on cue: Newfoundland and Labrador Premier ANDREW FUREY gave his thumb's up. — Spin and reality: It’s a shuffle to zhuzh up communications, they said. A makeover to position the Liberals as speedy policy couriers, they said, the kind worthy of re-election. That was the PMO’s narrative. Then it was revealed HARJIT SAJJAN would front emergency preparedness, a minister whose penchant for deniability has sprouted headlines giving him a reputation as someone who doesn't read his emails. — Another but: BILL BLAIR would succeed Anand as national defense minister. The promotion will put his, as the Globe and Mail’s SHANNON PROUDFOOT once put it, “excellent communication and elegant obfuscation” skills out on display. Blair’s sometimes TMI tendencies will be put to the test in a job where saying less is more in fear of giving away sensitive operational details. — In related reading: Here's KYLE DUGGAN on the changes at defense. | 
