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

With regard to the sexual violence perpetrated by the Canadian-designated terrorist organization, Hamas: (a) how is Canada working to support the survivors of the October 7 Hamas attack; (b) what is the government doing to bring legal action and justice to the victims and the families of the victims who experienced sexual violence on October 7; (c) how is Canada working to bring the Israeli hostages home now; and (d) how many individuals working for Hamas, including its affiliates, have been sanctioned by the Government of Canada since October 7, 2023?

With regard to the passage of Bill C-5, An Act to amend the Criminal Code and the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, which mandates judges to consider community-based bail supervision programs: (a) can the government update this House on the progress being made to ensure the nationwide availability of these programs; (b) how many communities currently have such programs in place; and (c) what plans does the government have to expand availability through initiatives like startup funding?

With regard to the deadline of November 17, 2024, for the criminal record sequestration which is legally required with the passage of Bill C-5, An Act to amend the Criminal Code and the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, back in 2022: (a) can the government update this House and confirm if the criminal records of Canadians for personal possession are now sequestered in accordance with the law, and, if not, why not; and (b) what plans does the government have to inform the more than 250,000 Canadians with records for simple possession that these records will no longer show up in criminal records checks?

With regard to federal departments and agencies and the public services which they provide to Canadians, broken down by department or agency and fiscal year since January 1, 2006: which government-owned or rented buildings have been closed due to federal budget reductions or reallocations, and what services or programs were impacted by these closures?

With regard to government contracts with healthcare agencies to serve inmate populations in all federal penitentiaries at Correctional Service Canada, broken down by fiscal year, since 2017-18: (a) what is the total number of contracts signed; (b) what are the details of all contracts signed, including the (i) agency contracted, (ii) value of the contract, (iii) number of healthcare practitioners provided, (iv) duration of the contract; and (c) what is the total amount of extra costs incurred as a result of relying on contracted services instead of employing healthcare practitioners directly?

With regard to the electoral district of Esquimalt—Saanich—Sooke, between the fiscal year 2015-16 and the current year: (a) what are all the federal infrastructure investments, including direct transfers to municipalities, regional district associations or First Nations, national parks, highways, etc., broken down by (i) fiscal year, (ii) total expenditure, (iii) project; and (b) what funding is allocated to highways, broken down by (i) fiscal year, (ii) total expenditure, (iii) project?

With regard to federal funding to non-governmental organizations, broken down by department and agency and fiscal year since January 1, 2006: (a) has (i) Campaign Life Coalition, (ii) LifeCanada, (iii) Alliance for Life Ontario, (iv) Alberta Pro-Choice Coalition, (v) Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada, (vi) Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights, (vii) National Abortion Federation, (viii) Ontario Coalition for Abortion Clinics, received federal funding; and (b) how much federal funding, if any, was received by each organization listed in (a)?

With regard to the government’s purchase of GeneXpert Systems for rapid diagnostic testing acquired to facilitate access to rapid testing for SARS-CoV-2: (a) how many GeneXpert Systems are owned by Health Canada and, of those, how many are currently being operated; (b) what kinds of testing are the machines currently being used for; (c) is the government planning on using the full range of testing capabilities of the GeneXpert Systems to test for other infectious diseases such as HIV and Hepatitis C; and (d) is there a plan for the use of the GeneXpert systems to help counter increasing rates of new HIV and Hepatitis C cases, and, if so, (i) how will new locations be chosen and will community-based organizations be prioritized, (ii) will this plan include provisions for training operators to ensure proper use and accurate results, (iii) will this plan have provisions to ensure the financial sustainability to guarantee ongoing operations?

With regard to the two-year deadline for sequestration of criminal records for personal possession as required by the passage of Bill C-5, An Act to amend the Criminal Code and the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, which received Royal Assent on November 17, 2022: (a) can the Government of Canada provide a status update on how this work is proceeding and whether the two-year deadline will be met by November 17, 2024; and (b) what the process will be for Canadians to be notified that their criminal records for personal possession have been sequestered?

With regard to suicide among trans and gender-diverse Canadians: (a) are there any data collection efforts to measure the rate of suicide and suicide attempts among these Canadians; and (b) are there any policy initiatives to address the issue of suicide among these Canadians?

With regard to gender-affirming care: what actions is the Government of Canada taking to improve coverage of, and access to, gender-affirming care?

With regard to police-reported hate crime data and the reporting of transphobic hate crimes: (a) what measures are being taken by the Government of Canada to create a specific category for reporting transphobic hate crimes rather than the current practice of grouping these hate crimes with those targeting sexual orientation or biological sex and gender; and (b) what other methods of collecting data on anti-trans hate and violence are used to supplement police hate crime data?

With regard to the Enhanced Defence Agreement between Canada and the Republic of the Philippines announced in May 2023: (a) what is the status of the Enhanced Defence Agreement and has it been signed by both countries; (b) what examinations of the human rights situation in the Philippines were conducted before the Enhanced Defence Agreement was negotiated; (c) will ongoing human rights monitoring be included in this agreement and will it be a condition of Canada’s continued participation; (d) if human rights monitoring is included in the agreement, how will that be accomplished; (e) will the agreement be subject to periodic review, conducted by a parliamentary body such as the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs or the Standing Committee on National Defence, to hear from witnesses on the ongoing human rights conditions in the Philippines; and (f) when will the terms of the agreement be made public?

With regard to Canada’s trade relationship with China and the activities of Canadian companies involved in development projects in China, specifically those that have been involved with mining, hydroelectricity, and rail, including, but not limited to, Bombardier Inc., SNC Lavalin, Nortel, Eldorado Gold Corp., Power Corp., RailPartners, Continental Minerals, GobiMin, MinCo Capital Corp., Sterling Group, Inter-Citic Minerals, Tri-River Ventures, China Gold International Resources, and Roctest LTD between 2000 and 2020 in the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) and Tibetan areas in Gansu, Qinghai, Sichuan, and Yunnan: (a) has Canada ever facilitated contact or participated in the meetings between Chinese companies and Canadian companies involved with development projects, and, if so, what are the details, including, for each, (i) who participated, (ii) on which dates, (iii) at what locations; (b) has Canada ever provided funding for development projects in the TAR and Tibetan areas, such as those in Gansu, Qinghai, Sichuan, and Yunnan, and, if so, what are the details, including, for each, (i) for which projects, (ii) the amounts, (iii) the source of these funds; (c) was there a guide, guidelines, model, or other document that outlines what the government considered as good corporate governance and best practices for Canadian companies operating in the TAR and Tibetan areas of China; (d) what mechanisms exist in the case where there are complaints as a result of violations on the part of Canadian companies of the policies, norms or official guidelines delineated in (c); and (e) if such mechanisms exist, (i) what complaints have been made, (ii) how were these complaints addressed?

With regard to Canada’s trade relationship with China, the Tibetan Autonomous Region’s (TAR) recent GDP growth in the first quarter of 2023, and the general economic forecast of the region: (a) what role do Canada’s trade offices in China, the consulates and embassies that offer Trade Commissioner Services, or the embassy in Beijing, play in the relationships between Chinese and Canadian companies; (b) is there a guide, guidelines, model or other document that outlines what Canada considers as good governance and best practices, used in Canada’s trade, and, if so, have there been instances where good governance and best practices were found to be in violation of or against the spirit of the guide, guidelines, model or outline; (c) since 2020, has there been an increase in interest or communications at Canada’s trade offices in China from companies about exporting or importing goods or conducting business in the TAR, and, if so, from which companies; (d) are there plans for Canada to open a trade office in Lhasa, TAR, and, if not, under what circumstances would Canada make such plans; (e) have Canada’s trade offices in China promoted trade in the TAR; and (f) did Canada attend the one-day Tibet Development Forum held in Beijing on May 23, 2023, and, if so, (i) what was the program of the forum, (ii) what events did Canada attend, (iii) did Canada speak or raise questions at the forum, and, if so, what was said by Canada and who were the guests present?

With regard to the Mutual Benefit Agreements (MBA) between First Nations and the Trans Mountain Expansion Project: (a) what is the legal obligation for the Government of Canada to fulfill the MBAs between First Nations and the Trans Mountain Expansion Project; (b) when will funding or resources contained within those MBAs be available to the T’souke, Sc’ianew, and Esquimalt First Nations; (c) what work has been done to fulfill the MBAs of the T’souke, Sc’ianew, and Esquimalt First Nations; and (d) how can funding or resources within these MBAs be accessed by the T’souke, Sc’ianew, and Esquimalt First Nations?

With regard to the civilian firefighters working for the Department of National Defence (DND) and the Phoenix pay system issues: (a) what is the current annual cost to manually administer payments for DND firefighters; (b) what is the annual cost to manually administer payments for the DND firefighters since the implementation of the Phoenix Pay System; and (c) what is the average number of (i) overtime hours, (ii) paternity and maternity leave days, (iii) acting pay hours, (iv) long-service pay hours and statutory holiday pay hours, claimed per full-time civilian firefighter every year from 2015 to 2021?

With regard to Canada’s guidelines on supporting human rights defenders and the human rights violations happening inside the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) and Tibetan areas in China such as Sichuan, Qinghai, Yunnan, and Gansu: (a) has Canada encouraged China to ratify the United Nations’ International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; (b) has Canada encouraged China to sign the Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance; (c) since 2017, has Canada called upon the Chinese government to accept country missions which would visit the TAR and Tibetan areas in China by international human rights organizations; (d) since 2017, has Canada called upon the Chinese government to accept country missions which would visit the TAR and Tibetan areas of China by the United Nations (UN) Working Group on Enforced Disappearance, the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, and other relevant UN entities; (e) since 2018, how many requests has the Canadian government made for permission for Canadian officials and diplomats to visit the TAR, and (i) how many were approved and denied, (ii) were there any limits and restrictions placed on their travel, activities, and interaction with people; (f) since 2017, has Global Affairs Canada (GAC) requested that Chinese officials provide evidence of the whereabouts and well-being of Gendhun Choekyi Nyima the 11th Panchen Lama, and, if so, (i) when and where was this done, (ii) who was this addressed to; and (g) has GAC called upon the Chinese government to release information about the whereabouts and wellbeing of the leader of the search committee for the 11th Panchen Lama, Chadrel Rinpoche, and the rest of his team?

With regard to Canada’s trade relationship with China and human rights violations in the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) and Tibetan areas of China, such as Sichuan, Qinghai, Yunnan, and Gansu: (a) has Canada raised concerns over human rights violations during its possible Canada-China Free Trade agreement (FTA) exploratory discussions; (b) has Canada consulted with Tibetan human rights advocacy groups during its public consultations on a possible Canada-China FTA, and, if so, (i) how many were consulted and what were their names, (ii) what was the full report of their concerns and recommendations; (c) does Canada and China’s joint feasibility study examining the potential economic benefits of a FTA for both countries include considerations of human rights violations; (d) how does Canada ensure that the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and the United Nations Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights are upheld within its Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement with China; (e) has the Canadian government prohibited the importation of goods from Chinese companies violating the Customs Tariff section 132(1)(m)(i.1) which prohibits the importation of goods that are produced wholly or in part by forced labour, and, if so, (i) how many companies were banned, (ii) when was this done, (iii) what are their names; and (f) has Global Affairs Canada conducted any investigation into recent reports stating that an estimated 500,000 Tibetans have been placed into labour camps similar to the ones in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region?

With regard to the effects of climate change in Tibet, the Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development (1992), and the United Nations’ (UN) Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reports: (a) has the government ever raised (i) concerns regarding the detrimental effects of climate change and Chinese development policies on Tibet’s fragile ecosystem, and, if so, when, where, and with whom have these concerns been raised, (ii) environmental concerns relating to Tibet during UN climate change conferences, or other global climate change conferences; (b) has the government called for an external investigation of alleged violations of the human rights of environmental activists inside Tibet, and, specifically, has the government raised concerns about the imprisonment of the Tibetan nomad environmental activist A-Nya Sengdra who was imprisoned for his activism in 2019; (c) has the government called for an external investigation of human rights violations in Tibet concerning the mass removal of nomadic pastoralists; and (d) has the government raised with China the issue of expansive damn-building in Tibet, its impacts on Tibet’s fragile ecosystem, and whether there has been consultation with local Tibetan communities?