Questions and responses All Sessions January 17, 1994, to present

With respect to electronic records and messages including, in particular, text messages, short message service (SMS), and BlackBerry Messenger (BBM), broken-down by government departments, institutions and agencies: (a) what are the departmental policies for storage and retention of these records and messages, broken-down by record type; (b) if these records and messages are stored and retained, what are the storage and retention periods; (c) is there any policy in place to protect records or messages that are of business value; and (d) are there any planned changes to these policies, and if so, what will be proposed?

With regard to the government and the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB): (a) the 2011-12 Annual Report states that expenses were “offset by $177.3 million in government reimbursements”, what is meant by this statement; (b) what expenses were the reimbursements made for; (c) what government reimbursements were made in fiscal years 2012-2013 and 2013-2014; (d) what total government revenues were paid to the CWB in each fiscal year and crop year between 2011 and 2014; (e) what was the objective of these government revenues; (f) on which dates and in which amounts were the $349 million, pledged by the Minister of Agriculture in June 2012, transferred to the CWB; (g) what studies were conducted by the Department of Agriculture and Agri-Food regarding the future of the CWB; (h) what public and private consultations were undertaken regarding the privatization of the CWB in 2012, 2013, and 2014, (i) who were those consultations with, (ii) on what dates; (i) what is the total outstanding amount owed to the government for credit sales undertaken by the CWB; (j) what foreign customers have outstanding credit sales; (k) what is the status of interest owed on outstanding credit sales; and (l) which body or government agency will receive the interest paid on credit sales?

With regard to all payments made by the government to Campaign Research in the last five years, has the government, including the Prime Minister’s Office, all government departments and agencies, minister’s offices and crown corporations, made such payments, and, if yes: (a) what was the total amount paid in each of the last five years; (b) what was the amount paid by each department, agency and crown corporation in each of the last five years; and (c) for each payment, (i) who made the payment (e.g., the Prime Minister’s Office, a department or agency, a minister’s office, a crown corporation, etc.), (ii) on what date was the payment made, (iii) what services were procured through the payment?

With regard to all payments made by the government to Responsive Marketing Group Inc. in the last five years, has the government, including the Prime Minister’s Office, all government departments and agencies, minister’s offices and crown corporations, made such payments, and, if yes: (a) what was the total amount paid in each the last five years; (b) what was the amount paid by each department, agency and crown corporation in each of the last five years; and (c) for each payment, (i) who made the payment (e.g. the Prime Minister’s Office, a department or agency, a minister’s office, a crown corporation, etc.), (ii) on what date was the payment made, (iii) what services were procured through the payment?

With regard to all payments made by the government to RackNine Inc. and Matt Meier in the last five years, has the government, including the Prime Minister’s Office, all government departments and agencies, minister’s offices and crown corporations, made such payments, and, if yes: (a) what was the total amount paid in each of the last five years; (b) what was the amount paid by each department, agency and crown corporation in each of the last five years; and (c) for each payment, (i) who made the payment (e.g., the Prime Minister’s Office, a department or agency, a minister’s office, a crown corporation, etc.), (ii) on what date was the payment made, (iii) what services were procured through the payment?

What is the total amount of government funding, since fiscal year 2006-2007 up to and including the current fiscal year, allocated within the constituency of Winnipeg Centre, specifying each department or agency, initiative and amount?

With regard to federal funding under the Canada Economic Action Plan in the riding of Winnipeg Centre for fiscal year 2008-2009 to date: (a) how many and what projects received funding from a department or an agency over this period; and (b) what was the value of the projects that received funding from a department or an agency over this period?

Since 2006, what grants, contributions, contracts or loan guarantees were applied for either through a crown corporation, department or agency of the government by the holdings of the "blind trust" of Rahim Jaffer, or businesses owned or partially owned by Mr. Jaffer, including (i) the source and dollar amount, (ii) date made, (iii) reason(s) for providing or denying the funding, (iv) present status of the grant, contribution or loan guarantee (whether repaid, partially repaid, or unpaid, including the value of the repayment), (v) in the case of contracts, whether the contract is fulfilled, whether it was tendered and any reason for limiting the tender?

With regard to all government advertising to promote the Government of Canada and budget initiatives, such as Canada’s Economic Action plan, from January 1, 2006 to March 30, 2010: (a) how much has been spent on an annual basis on combined advertising, by department and budgetary initiative; (b) by how much did the government’s overall advertising budget increase or decrease during that period; (c) was any completed advertising audited or rejected for not adhering to Treasury Board rules and, if so, (i) what advertising, (ii) what was the total value of rejected or audited advertising; (d) what advertising was related to tax relief and what was its total cost by year; (e) what companies received contracts to complete this advertising work and what is the total cost, by department and budgetary initiative, on an annual basis; (f) how much has been spent per province on an annual basis; and (g) what contracts were awarded without tender and what is the total amount, by department and budgetary initiative, on an annual basis?

With regards to the $500 million for Recreational Infrastructure Canada-RInC: (a) how much of the original amount has been spent to date; (b) which projects have been funded and what is the (i) name, (ii) location, (iii) timeline, (iv) result of each project; (c) what is the expected spending of the fund by the end of this fiscal year; and (d) what are the partners for each project, and what have they contributed to each project?

What is the total amount of government funding, since fiscal year 2004-2005 up to and including the current fiscal year, allocated within the constituency of Winnipeg Centre, listing each department or agency, initiative, and amount?

With respect to the government appointment of chairpersons at the Employment Insurance Board of Referees: (a) how many chairperson positions are there in Canada; (b) how many of those positions are currently vacant, why are they vacant, and what is the length of time of each vacancy; (c) what cities are the vacant positions located in; (d) what is the average waiting time for an appeal hearing before a board of referees when there is an appointed chairperson, and what is the waiting time for an appeal hearing when there is no chairperson and someone has to fill the vacant chair position from another district; (e) what is the government's current policy on filling vacancies on the board of referees; (f) when does the government plan on filling vacant board of referee chairperson positions across Canada; (g) what is the renumeration package afforded each chairperson; (h) who pays the travel and expenses for a chairperson to travel from another district; and (i) how much has the government spent in the past year on travel for chairpersons from one district to another, and how much did they pay the year before last?

With respect to the study convened on November 13 and 14, 2007, chaired by Trevor Ogden, by Health Canada on the dangers of asbestos: (a) what are the mandate or guiding principles of this study; (b) why was this study initiated; (c) who has been assigned responsibility to ensure this study is completed; (d) how much funding has been allocated to this study; (e) what resources have been made available to this study; (f) what consultations will be taken by this study; (g) who will this study consult with or be receiving contributions from; (h) what compensation will the participants in consultations for this study receive; (i) what new research will be used in this study; (k) will a review of Canadian consumer products containing asbestos be included in this study; (j) is it the intention of the government to change its policy on asbestos as a result of this study; (l) what is the expected time frame for this study; and (m) when will this study be made public?

With respect to aircraft used by Transport Canada for departmental use: (a) how many aircraft are owned, leased or under contract by the department; (b) when were they bought, rented or leased; (c) at what cost were they bought, rented or leased; (d) from whom were they bought, rented or leased; (e) what were the terms under which each aircraft was bought, rented or leased; (f) what are the total operational costs associated with these aircraft on an annual and monthly basis for the last year; (g) what are the costs associated with each aircraft, broken down on a yearly and monthly basis; (h) what are the costs of these aircraft according to province; (i) what section(s) or division(s) of the Department has the responsibility for these aircraft; (j) under whose authority is use of the aircraft granted; and (k) what is the home airport of each aircraft?

With regard to soldiers affected by Order in Council 1946-3264: (a) how many soldiers were affected by this Order in Council; (b) how many of these soldiers are still alive; (c) how much money did the government save by deeming these soldiers never to have served in the Canadian Forces; (d) how much would it cost for the government to rescind Order in Council 1946-3264 and extend veteran's benefits to those affected; and (e) has the government received requests from individual soldiers, or their respective families, to overturn this Order in Council and/or have their record changed to reflect their service in the Canadian Forces and, therefore, their eligibility for veterans' benefits and, if so, how many requests of this nature has the government received since August 14, 1946?

Was there a recusal process for the Prime Minister by the Ethics Counsellor put into place on December 12, 2003, and, if so, with respect to the current activities of Canada Steamship Lines and its holdings, in what specific matters involving which companies and holdings is the Prime Minister required to recuse himself to prevent a perceived or actual conflict of interest as outlined in the Conflict of Interest and Post-Employment Code for Public Office Holders?

With regard to the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs’ initiative entitled “Communities First: First Nations Governance”, can the government provide: (a) the type and location of each consultation, discussion group, think tank and/or meeting held; (b) the number of attendants at each session; (c) an itemised report of expenditures relating to the First Nations Governance initiative; and (d) a report of planned expenditures?

Following the 1999 Supreme Court ruling that businesses may deduct fines, levies or penalties as a business expense on their income tax if such penalties were incurred for activities undertaken for the purposes of earning income: (a) which, if any, Canadian businesses deducted fines, levies or penalties from their taxes in each of the years 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000; (b) what were the penalties and dollar figures each of those companies claimed as a deduction for said penalties; and (c) which, if any, Canadian companies have deducted a fine or penalty or levy incurred for activities in another country?

With regards to efforts by the federal government to improve the literacy of Canadians over the last five years: (a) what investments and expenditures were made on literacy and numeracy initiatives; (b) what is the breakdown of these expenditures and investments for each federal department, and specifically for agencies such as the Literacy Secretariat (NLS) at Human Resources Development Canada and Correctional Service Canada; (c) what is the amount of funding which has been directed to each of the provinces and territories; (d) what is the amount of funding which went to each province or territory through Labour Market Training for literacy and education initiatives before the government devolved responsibilities; (e) have any efforts been made to direct such programs for the benefit of the aboriginal peoples of Canada and if so: (i) in what manner; (ii) what amounts have been so dedicated; and (iii) what specific financial programs have been put in place to attain such an objective; and (f) what level of literacy and numeracy is considered necessary to function in today's economy, and similarly, what is the base level needed to obtain and maintain a job?