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Thursday, January 31, 2008 (No. 41)

Questions

The complete list of questions on the Order Paper is available for consultation at the Table in the Chamber and on the Internet. Those questions not appearing in the list have been answered, withdrawn or made into orders for return.

Q-1 — October 17, 2007 — — With regard to RCMP officers: (a) when will the 2500 new RCMP officers be hired; (b) how many additional RCMP officers will there be by the end of 2007; (c) how many additional RCMP officers will there be in 2008; (d) where will the additional RCMP officers be sent; (e) what is the proposed budget allocation for fiscal year 2007-2008 and 2008-2009; and (f) how many C-division detachments have been reopened since January 2006?

Q-2 — October 17, 2007 — — With regard to the arming of Canadian border officers: (a) how many officers will be armed by the end of 2007; (b) how many officers will be armed in 2008; (c) how many years will it take to train and arm all officers; (d) what dollar amount is being spent per officer; (e) what dollar amount will be spent in total to train all officers; and (f) how does the government justify disregarding the results of the ModuSpec job hazards analysis?

Q-64 — October 18, 2007 — — With regard to the fishing organizations or groups of fishing licence holders who, excluding fees for commercial fishing licenses as set under the regulation, provide monies, fish quotas or allocations to fund Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) activities on an annual basis for the years 2005, 2006 and 2007: (a) in each year, what fishing organizations or groups of license holders have paid for science, DFO administration, enforcement or other departmental activities by an allocation of quota from their fishery; (b) in each year, what fishing organizations or groups of license holders paid for science, DFO administration, enforcement or other departmental activities by way of a cash contribution to the department or its contractor; (c) in each year, what is the total value by fishing organization or groups of license holders of the cash contributions or quota allocations aforementioned; (d) what science, administration, enforcement or other departmental activities carried out in 2005 and 2006 and not paid directly from the department’s ‘A’ base budget will be undertaken and paid for by an allocation from the department’s ‘A’ base budget for 2007; (e) how much did each fishing organization or groups of license holders pay DFO, by way of an allocation of quota or cash contribution, for activities such as science, administration, enforcement or other departmental activities for 2005 and 2006; (f) which fishing organizations or groups of license holders has the department agreed to reimburse wholly or in part for their cash contribution or quota allocations to cover the department’s science administration, enforcement costs or other activities from previous years, indicate how much or what portion of what was collected by year will be returned to the fishing organization or groups of licence holders; (g) did the department indicate that it would need to curtail fishing opportunities unless fishermen agreed to contribute money or fishing quota to fund departmental activities and, if so, what are the nature of the fishing opportunities at issue and the fishermen or fishing organization involved; (h) were the amounts raised from fishermen and their organizations reported and accounted for in the department’s spending estimates submitted to Parliament in each of these years, if so, indicate where and in what manner and form, and, if not, why; and (i) has the Auditor General ever reported on or advised the department on its method of collecting funds from fishermen or their organizations or with respect to the use of fish quotas or allocations to fund departmental activities, if so, when and what actions were taken to implement the Auditor General’s advice?

Q-65 — October 18, 2007 — — With respect to the British Columbia coastline: (a) what, if any, voluntary or mandatory restrictions exist for oil and gas tankers traveling north and south between Alaska and the west coast of the United States; (b) what, if any, voluntary or mandatory restrictions exist for oil and gas tankers traveling east and west, to or from Canadian ports; (c) what is the legal status of the 1972 moratorium on oil and natural gas exploration off the Pacific Coast; (d) what is the official position of the government on the 1972 moratorium on oil and natural gas exploration off the Pacific Coast; (e) what, if any, changes to this policy have occurred since 1972; (f) what is the official position of the government on imposing a formal federal moratorium on the passage of all oil and gas tanker ships in the Dixon Entrance, Hecate Strait and Queen Charlotte Sound; (g) what is the official position of the government on the passage of oil and gas tankers in all directions (north, south, east, and west) from Alaska to points such as East Asia and the west coast of the United States; (h) what, if any, plans does the government have to formalize an overall moratorium of oil and natural gas exploration off the British Columbia coast; (i) what is the government’s plan to deal with oil spills or tankers in distress off the coast of British Columbia; (j) what, if any, studies have been done to determine the risk and potential damage to the waters and coast of British Columbia in case of an accident or spill; and (k) what plans, if any, does the government have to increase Canada’s oil and gas exports, and what impacts on the British Columbia coastline and its waters does the government anticipate as a result of those plans?

Q-87 — October 24, 2007 — — With respect to the Summer Career Placement Program for 2005 and 2006 and to Canada Summer Jobs for 2007, in the riding of North Vancouver, what was the total: (a) number of applicants; (b) number of successful applicants; (c) dollar amount of grants awarded to successful applicants; and (d) number of student jobs created?

Q-98 — October 30, 2007 — — What instructions did Canadian negotiators receive for the fourth session of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Further Commitments for Annex I Parties under the Kyoto Protocol of the Framework Convention on Climate Change, held in Vienna, Austria, from August 27 to 31, 2007; on what information were their presentations and negotiations based; and what positions did the Canadian negotiators defend?

Q-134 — November 16, 2007 — — With regard to the tracking mechanism put in place by Canada Post in calendar year 2007 to accurately determine the cost and usage of the Library Book Rate Program, based on the data available to date: (a) what is the total cost of the program for libraries; (b) what is the total cost of the program for Canada Post; (c) what are the financial losses and revenues of the program for Canada Post; (d) how many libraries are participating in the program; and (e) what were the actual and estimated costs of the program for each fiscal year from 2002-2003 to 2006-2007?

Q-159 — December 5, 2007 — — With regard to National Roundtables on Corporate Social Responsibility and the Canadian Extractive Industry in Developing Countries: (a) what was the total government expenditure, tallied for all government departments including all costs associated with all Advisory Group and Steering Committee meetings, the four Roundtable sessions, additional government staffing requirements, support for civil society and industry participation in the process, facilitation and research; (b) when will the government publicly respond to the Advisory Group report of March 29, 2007; (c) was there any correspondence between the various ministers involved in the Roundtables and private sector companies in the oil and gas or mining sectors and, if so, between which ministers and when; and (d) did private meetings occur between the various ministers involved in the Roundtables and private sector companies in the oil and gas or mining sectors and, if so, with whom and when?

Q-160 — December 10, 2007 — — With respect to Old Age Security, what are the government's policies and procedures concerning the case of a person born in Canada with no government records available to support the birth, in terms of recognizing that birth to approve pension payments and the recognition of residency for a person who was born in Canada and has lived in Canada their entire life but there are no records available?

Q-161 — December 10, 2007 — — With respect to allegations of administrative error and erroneous advice under section 66(4) of the Canada Pension Plan, what are the statistics for the years 2004, 2005 and 2006 concerning: (a) the total number of allegations made; (b) the total number allowed in the client's favour; (c) the total number still pending; (d) the total number not allowed; and (e) the total number of clients who proceeded to Federal Court?

Q-165 — December 12, 2007 — — With respect to non-posted Canada Pension Plan contributions, and the project undertaken in or around 2000, where contributions dating back to 1966 were matched to contributor accounts: (a) what was the total number of contributors who had contributions matched to their accounts; (b) what was the total number of underpayments and the dollar value of those underpayments; (c) what was the total number of frozen underpayments and the dollar value that may be owed but which has not been paid as the contributors are now deceased; (d) what is the number of contributors who are now deceased, where the estate would now qualify for a Death Benefit as a result of this project as they now have the required contributions; (e) how was the Canadian public informed that they now qualify for a benefit that they did not previously receive as a result of not meeting the contributor requirements; and (f) what is the number of valid contributions that have not yet been posted to a contributor's accounts and what is the dollar value of those contributions?

Q-166 — December 12, 2007 — — With respect to Disability applications under the Canada Pension Plan for the years 2004 to 2006, inclusive: (a) what was the total number of applications received by the end of each respective year; (b) what were the total numbers of both granted and denied benefits on initial application; (c) what was the total number of denied clients who requested a level 81 reconsideration; (d) what were the total numbers of both granted and denied applications at the reconsideration level; (e) what was the total number of clients who appealed to level 82 (Review Tribunal); (f) what was the number of clients who were granted a benefit prior to a hearing (Review Tribunal); and (g) what were the total numbers of granted and denied applications at the level 82 (review Tribunal)?

Q-167² — January 24, 2008 — — For each of the years 1997 to 2007, how many dollars has the National Capital Commission spent purchasing poinsettias and other Christmas gifts for Members of Parliament, Senators, Ontario Members of the Provincial Parliament, Quebec Members of the National Assembly, elected municipal officials, and unelected officials broken down by category of recipient, and on shipping and delivering these gifts?

Q-168² — January 24, 2008 — — With regard to the Temporary Resident Permits issued by the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration during the 39th Parliament up until and including November 30, 2007, how many requests were received by the Minister according to federal electoral district, indicating whether or not the permit was granted?

Q-169² — January 24, 2008 — — With regard to contracts and investments under the Industrial Regional Benefits (IRB) Policy: (a) which contracts have been awarded by the government since January 1, 2006 that require the prime contractor to make sub-contracts and investments; (b) what were the names of the prime contractor and the clients; (c) what was the description of the contract; (d) what was the contract period; and (e) what were the details of any and all sub-contracts and investments agreed to under the IRB policy, including (i) the name and location of the companies receiving the sub-contracts or investments, (ii) the description, (iii) the value, (iv) the time period, (v) the Canadian content value for each?

Q-170² — January 24, 2008 — — With regard to the report entitled “National Roundtables on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and the Canadian Extractive Industry in Developing Countries” published by the Advisory Group of the National Roundtables on CSR and the Canadian Extractive Industry on March 29, 2007: (a) does the government intend to promptly respond to the Roundtable members; (b) will the government act quickly on all the recommendations presented; and (c) what is the government’s official position on implementing the recommendations resulting from this process?

Q-171 — January 24, 2008 — — What is the total amount of government funding in 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007 to Batchewana First Nation and to Garden River First Nation in the constituency of , with each initiative and amount?

Q-172 — January 24, 2008 — — What funds, grants, loans and loan guarantees has the government issued in the constituency of from February 6, 2006 up to today for all departments and agencies that have electronic capacity to search for and sort financial information?

Q-173² — January 24, 2008 — — With regard to Bill C-26, An Act to amend the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act and to make consequential amendments to other Acts, and the government's anti-drug strategy: (a) what stakeholders were consulted in forming this strategy and what documents or studies relating to drug trends were analyzed; (b) what were the departmental recommendations regarding harm reduction; and (c) what documents were commissioned externally by government that contributed to the strategy?

Q-174 — January 24, 2008 — — With regard to services to airports provided by the Canadian Border Services Agency in 2006 and 2007: (a) what was the average amount charged to airports for non-core hour service fees; (b) what was the amount charged to the Charlottetown Airport Authority; (c) what was the amount charged to the Greater Moncton International Airport Authority; (d) what was the amount charged to the Halifax International Airport Authority; and (e) what was the amount charged to the Val-d’Or Regional Airport?

Q-175¹ — January 24, 2008 — — With respect to equalization, what is the estimated annual cost to remove the cap on equalization payments while maintaining the current formula?

Q-176¹ — January 24, 2008 — — With respect to Canada's international development commitments, what is the estimated annual cost to increase Canada’s international aid expenditures by 10% instead of the 8% currently that is currently committed by the present government?

Q-177¹ — January 24, 2008 — — With regard to government initiatives affecting seniors, what is the estimated annual cost: (a) to end the 10 year residency requirement for Old Age Security; and (b) to expand the full benefits of the Veteran’s Independence Program to widows who currently do not qualify for the program?

Q-178 — January 24, 2008 — — With respect to Canada's tax system, what is the estimated annual cost to create an “Angel Investor Tax Credit” along the lines recommended by the Conference Board of Canada’s Leaders Roundtable on Commercialization?

Q-179 — January 28, 2008 — — With regard to all permits requested of and issued by the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration in 2006 and 2007: (a) how many applications were received; (b) how many permits have been issued; (c) what was the distribution of the permits issued by federal electoral riding; and (d) what was the distribution of the applications denied by federal electoral riding?

Q-180² — January 29, 2008 — — With regards to sport infrastructure eligibility in the Building Canada program: (a) how has the government advertised and solicited applications for sport infrastructure projects; (b) how many applications have been received and where eligible; (c) what have been the infrastructure requests in the applications; (d) what is the total amount of funds dispersed for sport infrastructure under the Building Canada program; and (e) what applications have been accepted?

Q-181 — January 29, 2008 — — With regard to the Universal Child Care Benefit (UCCB), how many Canadian families are above the Low Income Cut-Offs with the UCCB in place that would have otherwise remained below the threshold?

Q-182² — January 29, 2008 — — With regard to the tendering process used for deciding the in-service support contract for the Victoria-class submarines: (a) what policy on industrial and regional benefits was used as a methodology by the government in the evaluation of bids in the procurement process for the in-service support contract to maintain the Victoria-class submarines; (b) when did the government decide not to award the contract for the in-service support contract of the Victoria-class submarines as a major Crown project and did any department formally object to this decision; (c) has the government calculated the loss of employment and other economic opportunities to Atlantic Canada as a result of the decision to award the in-service support contract to another region; (d) with regard to (c), what is the estimated loss, in dollars, to Atlantic Canadian companies as a result of the awarding of the in-service support contract; and (e) what is the cost to the taxpayer, for the transit of a Halifax-based Victoria–class submarine to the West Coast of Canada for extended docking work?


¹ Requires Oral Answer ² Response requested within 45 days