Questions and responses 45th Parliament, 1st session May 26, 2025, to present

With regard to consultations on Jordan’s Principle and the Inuit Child First Initiative by the Minister of Indigenous Services, since the minister was sworn in, broken down by month: (a) what are the details of all meetings, including, for each, the (i) date, (ii) name of the organization or individual, (iii) duration, (iv) location, (v) number of attendees, (vi) number of Indigenous Services Canada staff attending; and (b) what are the names of the Inuit partners who attended these consultations?

With regard to the implementation and processing of claims under Inuit Child First Initiative, for each fiscal year since its implementation: (a) broken down by regional focal point, what is the (i) number of urgent requests received, (ii) total number of requests received, (iii) number of urgent requests approved, (iv) total number of requests approved, (v) number of urgent requests denied, (vi) total number of requests denied, (vii) total amount of funding requested, (viii) total amount of funding approved; (b) broken down by regional focal point, what is the total number of staff available to process requests who are (i) full-time equivalent, (ii) part-time equivalent, (iii) on temporary contracts; (c) what was the total number of requests made which were (i) approved, (ii) denied; and (d) how many requests were reimbursed within (i) 15 days, (ii) 30 days, (iii) 60 days, (iv) 90 days, (v) more than 90 days?

With regard to the implementation and processing of claims under Jordan’s Principle, for each fiscal year since its implementation: (a) broken down by regional focal point, what is the (i) number of urgent requests received, (ii) total number of requests received, (iii) number of urgent requests approved, (iv) total number of requests approved, (v) number of urgent requests denied, (vi) total number of requests denied, (vii) total amount of funding requested, (viii) total amount of funding approved; (b) broken down by regional focal point, what is the total number of staff available to process requests who are (i) full-time equivalent, (ii) part-time equivalent, (iii) on temporary contracts; (c) what was the total number of requests made which were (i) approved, (ii) denied; and (d) how many requests were reimbursed within (i) 15 days, (ii) 30 days, (iii) 60 days, (iv) 90 days, (v) more than 90 days?

With regard to the government's development of proposed regulations governing the treat-and-release of oil sands process-affected water into the Athabasca River: (a) as part of the consultation process, will free, prior, and informed consent be sought on any regulation governing the management of tailings in the oil sands region; (b) is a decision-making matrix being developed to clearly articulate how feedback from rights holders and other stakeholders is being considered in the finalization of a regulatory framework for tailings management; (c) what assessments have been completed since January 2021 regarding the potential human health, ecological risks and cumulative environmental effects associated with the release of treated tailings into the Athabasca River, and, what are the details, including (i) the number and type of risk assessments commissioned, (ii) the cumulative effects scenarios modelled and what contaminants were analyzed, (iii) whether these assessments incorporated Indigenous knowledge, Indigenous-identified receptors, or community-identified health concerns; (d) what companies or industry associations have engaged directly with Environment and Climate Change Canada on the proposed treatment and release of tailings, and has a formalized process been established between industry and the government to discuss tailings management issues, and, if so, how many meetings have taken place, and when did these start; (e) how does the government ensure that the development of treat-and-release regulations complies with federal commitments to address environmental racism, including (i) which provisions of the National Strategy to Address Environmental Racism and Environmental Justice have been applied, (ii) how disproportionate impacts on downstream First Nations have been evaluated, (iii) how the results of these evaluations will influence regulatory design; (f) how will the development of a regulatory framework align with the government’s obligations under the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, specifically regarding (i) the right to free, prior, and informed consent, (ii) Indigenous peoples’ rights to traditional lands and waters, (iii) protection from discriminatory environmental decision-making; and (g) broken down by operator, what tailings ponds or process-affected water facilities are being considered for possible treat-and-release under the proposed regulation, and, for each facility, (i) what volumes of process-affected water are projected for potential release, (ii) what contaminants of concern and associated levels are expected to remain post-treatment, (iii) how have long-term cumulative loadings to the Peace, Athabasca, and Slave watersheds been assessed and characterized?

With regard to the Hamlet Food Voucher Program funded through the Inuit Child First Initiative and delivered by Indigenous Services Canada: (a) broken down by hamlet and fiscal year since 2019, what is (i) the number of Inuit children or families served by the program, (ii) total amount of funding allocated to the program; and (b) what indicators does Indigenous Services Canada use to demonstrate that the health care needs of Inuit children will either decrease or increase in the next three fiscal years?

With regard to measures taken by the government to prevent the import of alcohol and drugs into Nunavut, broken down by community and by fiscal year since 2020-21: (a) what specific measures are in place to ensure that mail and other packages entering Nunavut via Canada Post do not contain alcohol or drugs; (b) if screening facilities are used for this purpose, where are the screening facilities located; and (c) what percentage of mail and packages was checked for alcohol and drugs, in total and broken down by processing location and by method used to check the packages (scanning, manual search, etc.)?

With regard to the continuing designation of the United States of America as a safe third country under section 102 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act: (a) how many reports have been produced to date pursuant to the directives for ensuring a continuing review of factors set out in subsection 102(2) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act with respect to countries designated under paragraph 102(1)(a) of that Act; (b) for each such report, what is the (i) date of production, (ii) authoring department or agency, (iii) title or identifying reference number, (iv) date the report was provided to the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship or any other Minister; (c) has the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship or any other Minister ever made a determination that the United States of America may no longer meet one or more of the conditions required under subsection 102(2) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, and, if so, when and what action, if any, was taken; (d) have any Charter compliance assessments, legal risk analyses, or litigation-driven reviews concluded that the United States of America may not meet the requirements of paragraph 102(2)(a), (b), or (c) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act since 2015, and, if so, what were the conclusions and who received them; (e) when is the next review of the United States of America's safe third country designation scheduled to take place, and what are the timelines and procedures for its completion; (f) were any of these reports shared with the United States of America government or its agencies, and, if so, which ones and on what dates; and (g) will the government table in the House unredacted copies or summaries of all reports produced to date under these directives?

With regard to the Black Class Action Lawsuit (Nicholas Marcus Thompson et al. v. His Majesty the King (T-1458-20)), broken down by department: (a) what is the total amount spent to date by the government on this lawsuit; and (b) what is the total amount paid to Fasken, the law firm representing the Crown in this case?