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WELCOME TO OTTAWA PLAYBOOK. I'm your host, Nick Taylor-Vaisey. Welcome to Monday. We're a week away from a Speech from the Throne, a few days from a Three Amigos meeting in Washington, and smack-dab in the middle of a hiring spree in Ottawa. Also, Justin Trudeau is in Alberta to check off a big item on the post-election to-do list.

A BIG DEAL Ottawa and Alberta are poised to announce a child care agreement that marks an early win in JUSTIN TRUDEAU's third term. Ottawa Liberals and Alberta Conservatives seldom see things the same way (Exhibit A: pipelines). The feds sent a full complement on last night's flight to Edmonton. Deputy PM CHRYSTIA FREELAND and Families Minister KARINA GOULD will join the boss for the 10:30 MT announcement at a local YMCA.

Other attendees: Tourism Minister RANDY BOISSONNAULT and Calgary Skyview MP GEORGE CHAHAL (eyes emoji). On Alberta's side: JASON KENNEY and REBECCA SCHULZ, minister of childrens services.

All eyes on Ontario: The latest prairie buy-in leaves two provinces on the outside looking in on Ottawa's child care courtship. New Brunswick is one, and the biggest in the nation is the other. Your move, Queen's Park.

STAFFING BONANZA The sluggish return to Parliament, after an election the PM described as historic and pivotal, is the subject of some ridicule in Ottawa. Just get to work, say the critics. If everything was so urgent, why aren't parliamentary bums in seats already?

One reason: An exhausted political class needed a break. Nineteen months of pandemic governing and a hard-fought election was a recipe for chronic burnout.

Another reason: Everyone's staffing up. And it's a process. Chiefs of staff who do a lot of hiring are either staying put or shifting offices or being promoted or leaving government. A couple of rounds of internal updates have already landed in Liberal Inboxes. More are on the way.

It's a frenzy of HR in a hurry. Playbook asked a former Tory insider, DEREK VANSTONE, how it worked when he was STEPHEN HARPER's deputy chief of staff. "I can't even think of an appropriate analogy, because nothing like this happens in the private sector," he said. (One senior Liberal staffer compared the organizational chaos to a merger or acquisition.)

Key hires: Before he moved to the PMO in 2010, Vanstone served as then-finance minister JIM FLAHERTY's chief. He's seen both sides of that process, and says an effective chief is any minister's most important hire. (That's a widely shared opinion on the Hill.)

PMO's influence: Vanstone says the chief is a "two-key" hire bureaucratese jargon that means both the PMO and the minister have to agree on the right pick. How they come to an agreement depends on the minister's experience and their relationship with the prime minister. Some have preferred candidates who are rubber-stamped by the "center." Others might think their top pick deserves the gig, but the PMO disagrees.

"Many ministers want somebody who's been very close to them, say, a campaign manager or somebody that's helped them run their MP office," says Vanstone. "And PMO has to say, 'Well, look, we have a lot of respect for that person, but you're moving from a staff of five or 10, to a staff of 20. And this is a very different job.' Those are touchy conversations."

The roster: Vanstone says the PMO was a "clearinghouse" for qualified candidates who might have been squeezed out when their minister's portfolio shrunk or they lost an election outright. "You focus on good people and making sure that good people don't fall to the cracks," he says.

Was there a spreadsheet to track all the comings and goings? "There probably should've been," Vanstone jokes. But keen politicos do a lot of networking as senior folks sort things out: "I don't think anybody just sits at home and waits for the call."

The center is typically less involved with lower levels of the org chart. Most offices have four director-level positions: policy, parliamentary affairs, operations and communications. The PMO might offer input, or even strong suggestions, at that level. But the rest of the staff is up to the minister and the chief.

Oh, the instability: Vanstone remembers the Harper minority years when successive mandates were hard on recruitment of new faces. "It becomes increasingly hard to hire from outside because people aren't able to make multi-year plans," he says. A four-year term and a six-month guarantee make for vastly different job offers. "And that's a very different thing for someone to explain to spouses and kids and business partners in their hometown," he says.

No surprise that young staffers with the most flexible lives and schedules flock to the Hill when job postings go up. That trend is a consequence of the governing party losing absolute control over its own timelines and failing to win it back.

Liberal MP Sameer Zuberi, second from left, sits on a panel at the World Uyghur Congress in Prague | Photo courtesy of Sameer Zuberi

THE OTHER SUMMIT While most of the world's attention was on COP26 in Glasgow, Liberal MP SAMEER ZUBERI was on a plane to the Czech Republic, where the World Uyghur Congress was meeting in Prague. He says he was one of about a dozen Canadians in attendance over the weekend, including Bloc Qubcois MP ALEXIS BRUNELLE-DUCEPPE.

Playbook caught up with Zuberi, who co-chairs the Uyghur Parliamentary Friendship Group and championed the Commons motion that declared a genocide against the Uyghur people in China's Xinjiang region, on the gathering's last day.

What was your plan for your time in Prague?

A lot of learning. I'm exchanging notes in terms of how other countries are approaching this issue and what needs to be done next.

What were you hearing from delegates around the world?

It's quite similar in the sense that there's a lot of public education, a lot of advocacy, that's happening. There was a point in time, not more than two or three years ago, when many people didn't know who the Uyghur people were.

There is a similar focus in terms of ensuring there isn't forced Uyghur labor within our supply chains. There's also talk around immigration and asylum, refugee resettlement, and there's also certainly the call for immediate, unfettered and meaningful access to Xinjiang.

What have you heard from survivors of labor camps?

There are people who have told of how they have been put into camps arbitrarily without any process. And have been violated sexually. That is deeply, deeply disturbing. Anybody who learns about this situation can't stand idle.

What does Canada need to do next?

We have introduced measures around imports and exports, saying that supply chains must be free of forced labor from Xinjiang. I want to see these measures fully implemented, so that Canadians don't unwittingly consume forced labor products, products that are born out of oppression.

We need to consider a reverse onus where any product that originates or passes through Xinjiang is not consumed within Canada.

There are people in third countries, such as Turkey and Egypt and Afghanistan and Pakistan, who are at risk of being deported to China because of pressure upon those countries. So we can do our part and provide asylum.

Do you think China should be allowed to host the next Olympic Games?

If what we have identified as this very deep and serious oppression towards the Uyghur people continues, then the Olympics should not be happening at this point in time within China. I've signed a letter to that effect. I maintain that position.

12-year-old Wyatt Sharpe on the job, on the Hill | Photo courtesy of Wyatt Sharpe

THE NEXT GENERATION A select few journalists have secured a one-on-one interview with Ontario Premier DOUG FORD during the pandemic. Even fewer can claim to also have put questions to Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU. Then there's 12-year-old WYATT SHARPE. He hails from Orono, a village in Tory MP PHILIP LAWRENCE's Ontario riding of NorthumberlandPeterborough South. He edits his own YouTube videos. And he boldly asks world leaders for sit-down interviews.

Sharpe has amassed more than 4,000 Twitter followers in only a few months. His YouTube interviews don't break the internet, but they get attention and almost everybody says yes to him. He chatted with Conservative leader ERIN O'TOOLE and NDP leader JAGMEET SINGH and outgoing Green leader ANNAMIE PAUL. In the past 10 days alone, he posted conversations with Veterans Affairs Minister LAWRENCE MACAULAY, former NDP leader TOM MULCAIR and former Tory interim leader RONA AMBROSE.

Basically, he's putting the rest of us to shame.

Wyatt is in Ottawa with his parents, KERI and PAUL, for Lawrence's swearing-in ceremony later today. He met Playbook on the Hill (where else?) for an interview.

What got you interested in politics?

We did a student vote at our school. People could make up their mind about which party they wanted to vote for. That got a couple of kids in my class interested. I was the only one that actually stayed interested. From there, I started messaging MPs to start off to do interviews, and then it got to be ministers. And then I got to do Doug Ford. And then Justin Trudeau during the election, and Erin O'Toole. It's been pretty cool.

What fires you up about these interviews?

One thing that I find really exciting is if there's a really big thing happening, and I'm able to interview a minister or someone who's responsible for that big thing happening. I'm setting up an interview with Environment Minister STEVEN GUILBEAULT to talk about what happened at COP26.

You've spoken with major political players. Most pros don't get the chance.

It's kind of a disadvantage, because now I've hit the top. But it's an advantage because people take me more seriously. If a new prime minister were to come, then I would have somebody else to try to interview, or a new leader of a political party were to come then I would try to interview that person.

What's your ultimate goal?

keep on interviewing. Just trying to get more Canadians interested in it is one thing, but then also trying to build more connections with people is probably just the primary goal.

How do you fit this in with your schoolwork?

Generally, just after school. I try to post the interviews by 7 o'clock the same day. There's been a couple of times when I haven't done that. And then the interview is no good anymore, because the news cycle has changed.

Who do you want to interview most?

New Zealand Prime Minister JACINDA ARDERN.

ONTARIO IN DC Days away from the Three Amigos summit in Washington, Canada's largest province has no one running point south of the border on trade issues. IAN TODD's three-year term as Ontario's trade rep expired on Oct. 22.

REBECCA BOZZATO, a spokesperson for Ontario Economic Development Minister VIC FEDELI, said Todd didn't leave an empty office in his wake. "While the trade representative position is currently vacant, the province continues to have staff on the ground to monitor the situation in D.C. that continue to drive economic interests of Ontario, she said.

Before he headed to D.C., Todd was an experienced Progressive Conservative campaigner. He ran Premier DOUG FORD's tour operation on the 2018 campaign. Todd's salary made headlines at the time of his 218 appointment. His most recent disclosure listed a salary of C$348,802.22. Todd replaced MONIQUE SMITH, who was sent south by former premier KATHLEEN WYNNE. Smith earned $274,144.56 in the gig.

While Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU is in Edmonton, he'll also visit a vaccination clinic. Local MP and cabmin RANDY BOISSONNAULT will join him, as will former cabinet minister and brand-new mayor AMARJEET SOHI.

An interview with Trudeau will also air on Connect Edmonton 101.7 FM at 8 p.m. local time.

Did someone forward Ottawa Playbook to you today? Are you ready to be a forwarder, not a forwardee? Click here to sign up to this free newsletter.

This was not a column I particularly wanted to write, knowing the inevitable backlash it will bring, SHACHI KURL writes. It seems that identifying, condemning, and calling out misogyny and racism buys you little more than trouble and scorn in 2021.

The Front Burner podcast catches up on COP26 with Time's JUSTIN WORLAND.

POLITICO's EUGENE DANIELS and ALEX THOMPSON write: "President Joe Biden says he intends to run for reelection in 2024. But not all Democrats believe him. Nor are they convinced his No. 2 would be the clear heir if he did choose to opt out."

EMMA GRANEY reports that UCP hopeful BRIAN JEAN has apologized for social-media post aimed at Northern Alberta riding rival

JOHN PAUL TASKER sets up this weeks trilateral.

Over at The Hub, SEAN SPEER speaks with CHRIS RAGAN, the founding director of the Max Bell School of Public Policy at McGill University, about the Great Inflation Debate of 2021. Ragan's advice on the Bank of Canada's mandate: "Leave it alone."

Birthdays: HBD to Toronto-born JOHN ROBERTS, chief White House correspondent for Fox News. He's 65 today. J. GREG PETERS, the Usher of the Black Rod in the Senate, is 61. Alberta Finance Minister TRAVIS TOEWS is 57. Former Liberal MP FRANK BAYLIS is 59. Former NDP MP JONATHAN TREMBLAY is 37.

Spotted: COLIN BARKER, a senior trade commissioner at Canadas High Commission in the U.K., snapping a photo of MARK CARNEY at Canada House with RALPH GOODALE.

Movers and shakers: The Federation of Canadian Municipalities posted an Oct. 7 meeting with Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU. The voice for cities met six days later with Trudeau and Intergovernmental Affairs Minister DOMINIC LEBLANC. They also met with Housing Minister AHMED HUSSEN on his first day on the job and PMO intergovernmental affairs guy JOHN BRODHEAD.

Pharma giant Merck Canada also filed a spate of recent meetings with senior Health Canada and ISED bureaucrats. On their docket: HOWARD NJOO, the deputy chief public health officer.

Samuel Associates named Dr. JEFFREY COLLINS a strategic research associate.

Musical chairs: When TINA NAMIESNIOWSKI stepped down as president of the Public Health Agency of Canada in September 2020, her departure set off a reordering of senior bureaucrats that keeps on sending out aftershocks. IAIN STEWART, the president of the National Research Council, replaced Namiesniowski at PHAC that month. MITCH DAVIES, an assistant deputy minister at ISED who helped develop Canada's rapid-fire industrial response to the pandemic, filled Stewart's shoes at the NRC. Both appointments was supposed to last until next year.

Stewart made national headlines in the spring when his agency refused to disclose documents related to a pair of scientists who were fired from Canada's microbiology lab in Winnipeg. Stewart was publicly admonished by Speaker ANTHONY ROTA. An ensuing legal fight tested the supremacy of Parliament on the eve of the election. Last month, Stewart returned to his old digs at the NRC.

An eagle-eyed Playbook reader saw that press release, and noted that JUSTIN TRUDEAU thanked Davies for serving as "interim" president of the NRC but never made clear what was next for him. ISED told Playbook that Davies's job was filled in his absence. But he's not leaving the public service. "Mr. Davies has returned to ISED and will be proceeding soon with full-time language training pending his next role," said a spokesperson. "In the meantime, he is serving as a senior advisor on key departmental initiatives, reporting directly to the deputy minister."

Media mentions: DAVID COMMON was in the chair for CBC's The Sunday Magazine, giving PIYA CHATTOPADHYAY the chance to sleep in: "I could stay up to watch Taylor Swifts epic performance on SNL."

Birthdays or other social notices for the Playbook community? Send them our way.

If you are a Pro subscriber, catch our Canada PM newsletter: Deux Amis: What Joly told Blinken.

In other news for Pros: 10 ways the Build Back Better agenda tackles climate change. Dont call it a summit: Biden-Xi meeting brings low expectations. The last-minute coal demand that almost sunk the Glasgow climate deal. COP26 climate deal too late for vulnerable countries but too much for others. Samantha Powers celebrity draws spotlight to USAID and questions about her future.

Fridays answer: JUSTIN TRUDEAU presented MALALA YOUSAFZAI with her honorary Canadian citizenship. Bonus marks: STEPHEN HARPER was behind the motion that made that happen.

Props to BRAM ABRAMSON, HARRY MCKLONE, GANGA WIGNARAJAH, LEIGH LAMPERT and BOB GORDON.

Todays question: To whom was BRUCE HUTCHISON referring when he wrote, He was a more familiar figure in Ottawa than many politicians and, I fancy, knew a great deal more.

Send your answers to [emailprotected]

Playbook wouldnt happen without Luiza Ch. Savage, editor Sue Allan, Zi-Ann Lum and Andy Blatchford.

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