REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK — RECHIE VALDEZ is learning that a Cabinet minister’s schedule is a different beast. Playbook followed Valdez around for some mainstreeting in her home riding of Mississauga-Streetsville last week, seven days after she was sworn in as Canada's new small business minister. We learned at the outset that, like the PM, Valdez doesn't drink coffee. Instead she relies on tea and juice to fuel her day. Here are a few other notes from the field: — She brings keener energy: STÉPHANE DION famously went straight from Rideau Hall to ministerial briefings when he was appointed in 1996. Valdez did the same. She said she wanted to “hit the ground running” quickly after the pomp and ceremony. “As soon as that was finished, I went straight to ISED.” — Behind that viral moment? Overwhelm: Valdez’s parents met in the Philippines and moved to Zambia where she and her brother were born before they immigrated to Canada. She is the first Filipina woman to be elected federally in 2021 — and the first to be appointed to Cabinet. Her parents were on her mind when her name was called to take the oaths of office. With her husband and two children seated behind her, clips of Valdez being visibly overwhelmed with emotion made national news. “Since I was second last, I was watching the process that everyone else was going through. And then in my head, I'm like, ‘Oh my goodness, I have to stand up.’ And then, ‘Oh, my goodness, and there's video cameras and photographers.’ But behind the camera is my mum and dad watching on a couch at home and then my family right behind me … all their hard work led up to this moment. And I knew how proud that they would be. And I knew what it meant for the Filipino community who are probably tuning in at the same time … I felt everybody’s hopes.” — First priorities: TBD. “I'm certainly waiting for the mandate letter,” Valdez said. (Join the club.) The first junket will take her to Atlantic Canada to learn regional nuances facing small businesses. — New schedule realities: Valdez’s 11-hour itinerary last Wednesday started at 9:30 a.m. with 25 minutes of “media prep” meeting in her constituency office. On the official schedule: 10 a.m. Visit to Supermoon bakery to meet staff who make fluffy Japanese-style cheesecakes. Actual arrival: 10:08 a.m. Valdez, a former commercial baker and former small business owner, held a piping bag for the first time in years and casually aced filling a cheese tart on her first go. 10:15 a.m. A stop at Streetsville Florist where owners put out madeleines and refreshments. Actual arrival: 10:37 a.m. Her staff joked that in this riding, where half the population are immigrants, refusing snacks and refreshments without offending constituents is part of the job. 10:30 a.m. The Tea Room to check on the small business and to pick up a hot drink. Actual arrival was 10:58 a.m. 1:30 p.m. Attend local citizenship ceremony at the Citizenship and Immigration Canada office in Mississauga (where parking in lots at the front and back of the building isn’t free). Valdez welcomed 93 new Canadians with Immigration Minister MARC MILLER. — Perks of being a new Cabmin: People gave her flowers. Others interrupted her between the bites of the pork belly liempo she ate for lunch to say hello. There were many hugs. — Downsides: Spontaneity doesn’t mix with Cabmin scheduling. On her way out from a tea shop inside a heritage house, Valdez looked up a flight of stairs toward the entrance of an independent bookstore on the second floor. She asked her four-person team (three Ottawa staffers on loan from Minister MARY NG’s office) if she had time to say “hi.” The answer: No. They had to boot it to a coffee meeting with a local business leader. Her first trial by fire will be handling calls for Ottawa to extend repayment deadlines on Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA) pandemic loans. Small and medium-sized businesses make up 98 percent of businesses in Canada. Some sectors are also calling for full CEBA loan forgiveness ahead of a Dec. 31 repayment deadline, 4.5 months away. “Right now, it's being open to explore all the different options, because the impact is massive,” Valdez said over lunch at Carinderia By DFlores, a Filipino restaurant. | 
