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

With regard to government funding: what is the total amount allocated for fiscal year 2013-2014 within the constituency of Nickel Belt, specifying each department, agency, initiative and amount?

With regard to the Ring of Fire mining project in the far north of Ontario: (a) what departments and officials sit on the inter-department secretariat for the project; (b) what are the federal responsibilities for this project; (c) what is the federal funding to date for the project's activities; (d) how many First Nations members are currently or projected to receive training in mining related activity to work on the project, (i) from which communities do individuals currently being trained originate, (ii) in what trades, (iii) which federal programs are being accessed for this training, (iv) what is the forecast of skilled workers who will be required; and (e) what meetings have taken place between any officials of the Government of Canada and the Government of Ontario on this project, (i) what are the names of the participants, (ii) on what dates were the meetings held, (iii) what was included in the agenda for each meeting?

With regard to government funding, what is the total amount allocated for fiscal year 2012-2013 within the constituency of Nickel Belt, specifying each department, agency, initiative and amount?

With regard to the Canadian Home Insulation Program: (a) how many buildings were insulated under this program, and, of these, how many were insulated with Zonolite; (b) is there a database containing the addresses of these buildings; and (c) has the government notified the occupants of these buildings of the possible presence of Zonolite in their building?

With regard to the Canadian Home Insulation Program: (a) how many buildings were insulated under this program, and, of these, how many were insulated with Zonolite; (b) is there a database containing the addresses of these buildings; and (c) has the government notified the occupants of these buildings of the possible presence of Zonolite in their building?

With regard to the 2011-2012 budget for FedNor, the regional development organization for Northern Ontario, what is (i) the amount of the total budget, (ii) the amount actually spent, with a figure for each FedNor program, (iii) the amount of the total budget not spent, and in which programs?

With regard to health effects of Northern Alberta oil sands: (a) what are the cancer rates for citizens living in communities that are in close proximity to the Northern Alberta oil sands and its tailings ponds; (b) what impact does living in close proximity to the Northern Alberta oil sands and its tailings ponds have on the health of those Canadians; (c) what are the cancer rates for citizens working in the Northern Alberta oil sands; (d) what impact does working in the Northern Alberta oil sands have on the health of those citizens; (e) what are the titles of the studies or reports done by or on behalf of the government on the subject of the health effects of living in close proximity to the Northern Alberta oil sands and its tailings ponds; (f) what are the titles of the studies or reports done by or on behalf of the government that cover, in whole or in part, the subject of the effects of oil sands extraction and tailings ponds on wildlife in close proximity to the Northern Alberta oil sands and its tailings ponds; (g) what information does the government have about the risk or incidences of tailing ponds leakage into the Athabasca river; (h) how much tailing ponds leakage into the Athabasca river has been reported to the government, recorded by year; (i) what are the effects of tailing ponds leakage into the Athabasca river on communities downstream; (j) what are the effects of tailing ponds leakage into the Athabasca river on fish in the river and surrounding wildlife; (k) what steps has the government taken to ensure tailing ponds leakage into the Athabasca river has been mitigated; (l) for those living in close proximity of the Northern Alberta oil sands, what is the anticipated impact of future developments on (i) health, (ii) economic development, (iii) environment, (iv) water supplies, (v) the Athabasca River, (vi) infrastructure; and (m) what are the titles of the studies or reports done by or on behalf of the government that cover, in whole or in part, the subject of anticipated impact of future developments of the Northern Alberta oil sands?

With regard to abandoned oil wells: (a) what is the government's position on the reclamation of abandoned oil wells in Canada; (b) how many abandoned oil wells exist in Canada and where are they located; (c) how many abandoned oil wells have been reclaimed since 2000 by year, broken down by location, date of reclamation and cost of reclamation per well; (d) what is the estimated cost to secure and reclaim all outstanding abandoned oil wells; (e) what oversights are in place to ensure Canadians are not negatively impacted by these abandoned oil wells; (f) what are the titles of the studies or reports done by or on behalf of the government that cover, in whole or in part, the subject of abandoned oil wells in Canada; and (g) which federal or provincial agencies are responsible for covering the costs of well reclamation?

With regard to Canadian mining companies: (a) what is the government's position on the use of leach mining in Canada and internationally; (b) have the impacts of leach mining on adjacent communities been studied and, if so, what are the titles of the documents of these studies; (c) what is the government's position on the use of private security firms by Canadian mining companies internationally; (d) what countries has the government, directly or through foreign representation, been actively lobbying or encouraging to lower royalties and taxes on foreign mining companies; (e) has the government been tracking what companies have outstanding taxes or debts owed to foreign countries and, if so, how much do these companies owe foreign countries by company, country, type of debt, amount of debt; (f) what is the government's position on conflicts between Canadian mining companies and indigenous peoples in Canada and internationally; (g) what is the government's position on the displacement of indigenous peoples and Canadian mining companies internationally; (h) what is the government's position on the contamination of water supplies by Canadian mining companies internationally; and (i) what is the government's position on making the corporate social responsibility framework for mining companies mandatory instead of voluntary?

With regard to asbestos removal in federally-owned buildings: (a) what is the total amount spent on removal by (i) year, (ii) department or agency, (iii) building or site, (iv) province; (b) what is the total amount of asbestos removed by (i) year, (ii) department or agency, (iii) building or site, (iv) province; (c) what current asbestos removal projects are underway; (d) what are the expected removals for the next ten years by (i) year, (ii) department or agency, (iii) building or site, (iv) province; (e) which department is the lead for asbestos projects; and (f) what are the remaining federal buildings with asbestos by (i) building or site, (ii) province?

With regard to the death of two workers at Vale’s Stobie Mine in Sudbury: (a) what actions has the government undertaken to investigate the deaths; (b) which department led the investigation of the accident in the mine; (c) what are the preliminary results of that investigation; (d) what corrective measures have been recommended to prevent the recurrence of such an accident; (e) what sanctions, if any, does the federal government intend to impose against Vale; and (f) when was the last federal safety inspection conducted at the Vale mine in Sudbury and what were the conclusions of this inspection?

With regard to the operating budget freeze at federal economic development agencies: (a) what measures were taken to limit spending in the last fiscal year; (b) how many full-time and part-time employees were lost to attrition; (c) how many full-time or part-time employees were laid off as of April 1, 2011; (d) how many full-time and part-time employees have been hired since April 1, 2011; and (e) what programs will be subject to funding cuts as of April 1, 2011?

With regard to grants and contributions applications to federal economic development agencies since April 1, 2010, what funding applications were approved by departmental officials but rejected by the Minister's office?

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 Nickel Belt, specifying each (i) department or agency, (ii) initiative, (iii) amount?

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

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 Nickel Belt, specifying each (i) department or agency, (ii) initiative, (iii) amount?

With respect to federal regional economic development agencies: (a) what new programs and initiatives does each agency plan to introduce after Canada's Economic Action Plan (EAP) initiatives sunset on March 31, 2011; (b) what are the expected cuts for each federal agency once the EAP's initiatives sunset; and (c) how many jobs are created by each agency as a result of implementation of EAP initiatives.

With respect to FedNor: (a) how many new programs will be introduced for the Northern Ontario region in the fiscal year 2011-2012; (b) how many programs will sunset on March 31, 2011; and (c) how many major projects will be launched in 2011-2012 in cooperation with each municipality and local community?

With regard to the Caregiver Tax Credit for each calendar year between 2004 and 2010: (a) how many people applied for it; (b) how many people qualified to receive it; and (c) what was the total amount granted in tax credit?

With regard to the Employment Insurance Compassionate Care benefit: (a) how many people applied to use the benefit for each calendar year between 2004 and 2010; (b) how many people received the benefit for each calendar year between 2004 and 2010; (c) what was the total cost of these benefits to the Employment Insurance fund for each calendar year between 2004 and 2010; (d) how many full-time equivalents (FTE) are assigned to the management of the benefit; (e) are there any evaluations of the performance of the benefit and, if so, what are titles of these evaluations; (f) has there been any compilation and/or analysis of complaints regarding the benefits and, if so, what were the major complaints regarding the benefit; (g) have any recommendations been made to improve the benefit and, if so, what were these recommendations; (h) have any of these recommendations been implemented and, if so, which ones?