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

With regard to the operations of the Canadian Employment Insurance Financing Board (CEIFB): (a) what are the total costs incurred in each of the years 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011, broken down by (i) operating costs, (ii) expenses incurred by Board members and Board staff, including expenses related to BlackBerries, mobile phones, and other forms of communication devices, (iii) costs of travel, including airfare, trains, mileage reimbursements, ground transport, including taxis and limousines used by Board members and staff, etc.; (b) what is the cost of holding board meetings; (c) how many staff are employed by the Board, and what are the salary scales for each position; (d) when and where have meetings of the Board been held since the CEIFB was established; and (e) what are the details of any correspondence between the CEIFB and the Privy Council Office, the Department of Finance, the Canada Revenue Agency and Human Resources and Skills Development Canada on the matter of employment insurance rate setting and on matters related to setting policy?

With regard to possible tax evasion in Switzerland: (a) how many Canadians have been identified as having undeclared bank accounts in Switzerland; (b) what action, if any, has been taken by Canadian officials to recover unpaid taxes associated with Canadians' undeclared bank accounts in Switzerland; (c) how many identified Canadians have availed themselves of the Voluntary Disclosure Program (VDP) with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA); (d) how many identified Canadian accounts have settled with the CRA; (e) how much money has the CRA assessed as a result of investigating these secret banks accounts in Switzerland (i) in unpaid taxes, (ii) in interest, (iii) in fines, (iv) in penalties; (f) how much of the money in (e) has been collected; (g) how many of the cases are under appeal; (h) how many cases remain open; (i) how many more cases does the CRA anticipate will be opened; (j) how many cases have been closed (i.e., the full amount of taxes, interest, fines and penalties have been collected); (k) how much money in (j) has been collected (i) in unpaid taxes, (ii) in interest, (iii) in fines, (iv) in penalties; (l) how many account holders in the cases have made partial payment; (m) of the partial payments made, what was the (i) largest amount, (ii) smallest amount, (iii) average amount; (n) how much does the CRA anticipate it has yet to collect in (i) taxes, (ii) interest, (iii) fines, (iv) penalties; (o) of the amounts of money contained in the Switzerland accounts declared or discovered by CRA, what was the (i) largest amount, (ii) smallest amount, (iii) average amount; (p) on what date was the CRA first made aware of the names of Canadians with accounts in Switzerland; (q) on what date did the CRA begin its investigation; (r) on what date did the first audit of an individual account holder begin; (s) how many of the identified Canadians with bank accounts in Switzerland (i) have had their account or accounts audited, (ii) have had their account or accounts reassessed, (iii) have been the subject of a compliance action; (t) how many of the identified Canadians with bank accounts in Switzerland (i) have not had their account or accounts audited, (ii) have not had their account or accounts reassessed, (iii) have not been the subject of a compliance action; (u) how many tax evasion charges were laid; and (v) has the government made any changes to the VDP in the past 24 months?

With regard to advertising by the Department of Labour or its agencies: (a) what was the total amount of money spent by the department and each of its agencies since January 1, 2009, in multi-cultural targeted print, radio, television and web-based media; (b) what was the exact placement of each ad purchase; and (c) what was the target demographic of each advertisement?

With regard to advertising by the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency or its agencies: (a) what was the total amount of money spent by the department and each of its agencies since January 1, 2009, in multi-cultural targeted print, radio, television and web-based media; (b) what was the exact placement of each ad purchase; and (c) what was the target demographic of each advertisement?

With regard to advertising by International Trade Canada or its agencies: (a) what was the total amount of money spent by the department and each of its agencies since January 1, 2009, in multi-cultural targeted print, radio, television and web-based media; (b) what was the exact placement of each ad purchase; and (c) what was the target demographic of each advertisement?

With regard to advertising by Health Canada or its agencies: (a) what was the total amount of money spent by the department and each of its agencies since January 1, 2009, in multi-cultural targeted print, radio, television and web-based media; (b) what was the exact placement of each ad purchase; and (c) what was the target demographic of each advertisement?

With regard to transportation costs for ministers and their exempt staff, since February 2006, broken down by month and year, what is the total cost incurred for ground transportation for all domestic and international travel, including, but not limited to, limousines, taxis or car service for the following ministerial portfolios: (a) Minister of State and Chief Government Whip; (b) Finance; (c) Transport, Infrastructure and Communities; (d) Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA); (e) Citizenship and Immigration; (f) President of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada and Minister for Intergovernmental Affairs; (g) National Revenue (Canada Revenue Agengy); (h) Human Resources and Skills Development; (i) Industry; (j) Canadian Heritage; (k) Environment; (l) Natural Resources; (m) Labour; (n) Fisheries and Oceans; (o) Minister of State (Sport); and (p) International Trade?

With respect to the Enabling Accessibility Fund and the $45 million announced in Budget 2010, since February 2010 to the present: (a) how many applications were successful and received funding under this program; (b) how many and which projects were rejected; (c) for each successful application, what was the location and value of each project, broken down by province and federal electoral district; (d) what is the total cost of administering the program; (e) how much funding is left; (f) how many major projects under this program expanded or will expand existing centres; (g) what is the value of the successful applications for major projects that went towards (i) the construction of new centres, (ii) the expansion of existing centres; (h) how many of the successful funding applications for mid-sized projects went towards (i) renovating buildings, (ii) modifying vehicles, (iii) making information and communications more accessible; and (i) what is the value of the successful funding applications for small projects that went towards (i) renovating buildings, (ii) modifying vehicles, (iii) making information and communication accessible?

With respect to the Enabling Accessibility Fund: (a) what is the current construction status of the Abilities Centre Durham and the North East Centre of Community Society, two projects announced in September 2008 in the amount of 15 million dollars; (b) when did the construction of the centres in (a) begin; (c) what is the construction or modification status of all projects approved from April 2008 to the present, including completion dates; (d) which projects included funding from provincial or municipal governments; and (e) what are the amounts provided by those provincial and municipal partners?

With regard to securities purchased from banks as part of the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation securities purchase program announced in the fall of 2008 and spring of 2009: (a) how much and what type of securities were purchased; (b) out of those mortgage securities, (i) how many defaulted, (ii) in what regions were the defaults most and least prevalent, (iii) what is the dollar value of the defaults; (c) how long does the government plan on holding these securities; (d) how much securities were purchased from each bank or entity, and for how much; (e) were any securities purchased from foreign banks or entities and, if so, (i) what is the percentage, based on the total of securities purchased, (ii) from which foreign banks or entities, indicating the total amount of securities purchased for each; (f) did any of the money to purchase the securities come from the Bank of Canada and, if so, how much; and (g) what are the names of those who sold their Bank of Canada stock to the government?

With respect to the Department of Human Resources and Skills Development, for all contracts under $10,000 signed between December 1, 2008 and October 19, 2009, what is: (a) the vendor name; (b) the contract reference number; (c) the contract date; (d) the description of work, (e) the delivery date; (f) the original contract value; and (g) the final contract value if different from the original contract value?

With regard to government advertising, how much money did the government spend on television and radio advertising between March 1 and 31, 2007 inclusive, giving particulars of (i) how much each department or agency of government spent on such advertising, (ii) the subject and nature of each advertisement, (iii) the broadcast outlet on which each ad was broadcast, giving the name and location of the station, (iv) the dates on which the advertisements aired?

With regard to government advertising, how much money did the government spend on television and radio advertising between February 1 and 28, 2007 inclusive, giving particulars of (i) how much each department or agency of government spent on such advertising, (ii) the subject and nature of each advertisement, (iii) the broadcast outlet on which each ad was broadcast, giving the name and location of the station, (iv) the dates on which the advertisements aired?

With regard to Employment Insurance: (a) how many part-time staff have been hired since June 2008, by month; (b) how many full-time staff have been hired since June 2008, by month; (c) how many part-time and full-time staff have been hired in each region since June 2008, by month; and (d) how many service telephone lines are working in each region and how many of these telephone lines are staffed at one time?

With regard to the employment insurance program, what are the monthly statistical breakdowns for waiting periods for processing employment claims for each processing centre for the months of December 2008, January 2009 and February 2009?

With respect to the Enabling Accessibility Fund: (a) how many applications were successful and received funding under this program, and how many were rejected; (b) with respect to successful applications, what was the location and value of each project, broken down by province and federal electoral district; (c) what is the total cost of administering the program thus far; (d) how much funding is left; (e) how many major projects under this program will or went to expand existing centres; (f) what is the value of the successful major projects applications that went towards (i) the construction of new centres, (ii) the expanding of existing centres; (g) how many of the successful Small Projects Enabling Accessibility Funding applications went towards (i) renovating buildings, (ii) modifying vehicles, (iii) making information and communications more accessible; and (h) what is the value of the successful Small Projects Enabling Accessibility Funding applications that went towards (i) renovating buildings, (ii) modifying vehicles, (iii) making information and communication more accessible?

With regard to the employment insurance program: (a) what written advice have the departments obtained from and given to the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development on (i) reducing the two week waiting period for employment insurance, (ii) reducing or changing qualifying hours to a uniform national standard; and (b) what are the monthly statistical breakdown for waiting periods (times) for processing employment claims for the years 2006, 2007 and 2008?

With regard to the Canada Student Loans Program, for each year that the debt reduction and interest relief programs have been operating: (a) how many students have applied for assistance under each program; (b) how many of those applications have been approved; (c) from the applications that were denied, how many applications have been appealed, and how many of these appeals have subsequently been approved; (d) what are the three most common reasons for the decline of a debt reduction or interest relief application or for an appeal; and (e) how many students who have been previously declined for debt reduction or interest relief reapply at a later date?

With regard to the Canada Student Loans Program, for each year for the 5 fiscal years starting with 2002-2003, up to and including 2006-2007: (a) what were the total number of direct loan borrowers in repayment status; (b) what was the total amount of interest revenue generated by those direct loan borrowers; (c) what were the total administrative costs for the program; (d) how many direct loans were written off; and (e) what was the total dollar value of those written off direct loans?

With regard to the recent decision to discontinue the Millennium Scholarship Foundation when it expires: (a) what is the reasoning behind this decision; (b) who was consulted internally within the Deparment of Human Resources and Social Development, within other federal departments and agencies, in addition to any stakeholders, regarding this decision; (c) how does the government intend to reconcile the issue of compatibility between the Quebec student assistance program, that is based on need, and the new federal grant program, that is based on income; (d) how will this impact on the government of Quebec's practice of opting out with full compensation; (e) was this issue of compatibility contemplated prior to the announcement of the 2008 federal budget and, if so, how; and (f) on what exact date did the government decide not to renew the Millennium Scholarship Foundation?