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

With regard to the Fighting and Managing Wildfires in a Changing Climate Program's training fund, since October 1, 2021: (a) how many community-based firefighters have been successfully trained by the federal government, broken down by (i) province or territory, (ii) year; and (b) in what jurisdictions have the trained community-based firefighters in (a) been used to fight and manage wildfires, broken down by (i) province or territory, (ii) year?

With regard to federal investments in Canada’s grocery sector since January 1, 2023: how much federal funding has been provided to (i) Loblaws, (ii) Metro, (iii) Empire, (iv) Walmart, (v) Sobeys, (vi) Costco, broken down by company, year and type of funding?

With regard to Canada’s border security, since February 1, 2006, broken down by province and year: how many federal ports of entry or border crossings have been (i) permanently closed down due to funding cuts, (ii) closed down temporarily due to staffing shortages, broken down by the duration and the reason for the shutdown?

With regard to the government’s refocused spending initiative, broken down by department or agency, program and year: how much funding has been refocused away from initiatives that support Canada’s domestic fishing industry, broken down by (i) commercial fishing and aquaculture, (ii) fish processing and distribution, (iii) Indigenous fisheries?

With regard to the government’s refocused spending initiative, broken down by department or agency, program and year: how much funding has been refocused away from policing-based initiatives, broken down by (i) crime prevention, (ii) crime response, (iii) community outreach?

With regard to the Canada Emergency Business Account, broken down by province or territory and city: how many small and medium businesses which were classified as grocery or convenience stores filed for bankruptcy after January 1, 2024?

With regard to the Grocery Task Force’s mandate, since the task force’s inception: (a) in what ways does the Grocery Task Force promote information to consumers so they are aware of their rights and empowered to make informed marketplace choices; and (b) what are the details of all efforts to communicate with consumers in (a), including the (i) type of communication, (ii) budget for the communication, (iii) message being communicated?

With regard to the Indigenous Agriculture and Food Systems Initiative (IAFSI), broken down by fiscal year since the program’s inception: (a) what is the total amount of funding available through the IAFSI; (b) what is the total amount of funding delivered, broken down by province and territory; (c) how much funding has been delivered to (i) Indigenous communities and governments, (ii) Indigenous for-profit corporations, (iii) Indigenous not-for-profit corporations, associations, cooperatives, and institutions, (iv) Indigenous businesses, partnerships and joint ventures; and (c) what is the total amount of lapsed spending?

With regard to the Pacheedaht First Nation’s request for funding for a community school, since October 23, 2016: (a) what are the details of all actions undertaken by the Department of Indigenous Services concerning the school’s completion, including the (i) titles of reports or feasibility studies, (ii) date of the report or feasibility study, (iii) recommendations of the reports or feasibility studies; (b) what is the total value of funding provided to the Pacheedaht First Nation regarding the completion of the community school; (c) what funding decisions have been made by (i) the Department of Indigenous Services, (ii) the Office of Infrastructure of Canada; and (d) what are the justifications for each funding decision in (c)?

With regard to federal housing investments for Vancouver Island, since February 1, 2006, broken down by year: (a) how much federal funding was provided to support the construction of non-profit or community housing and how many units were developed; (b) how much federal funding was provided to support the construction of cooperative housing and how many units were developed; and (c) how much federal funding was provided to support the construction of purpose-built rental housing and how many units were developed?

With regard to government contracts for veterinary services provided by veterinarians in all federal departments, 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 veterinarians 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 veterinarians directly?

With regard to federal funding for the Stornoway residence, since January 1, 2016: how much federal funding has been provided to pay for food expenses for the Leader of the Official Opposition, broken down by year and use of funding?

With regard to federal investments in Canada’s grocery sector since January 1, 2006: how much federal funding has been provided to (i) Loblaws, (ii) Metro, (iii) Walmart, (iv) Sobeys, (v) Costco, broken down by company, year, and type of funding?

With regard to the mandate and responsibilities of the Grocery Task Force, broken down by month since its inception: (a) what is the total number of investigations initiated by the Grocery Task Force into practices that hurt consumers; (b) of the investigations in (a), how many investigations concluded that consumers were being harmed; and (c) what are the details of all investigations into practices that hurt consumers that have been initiated by the Task Force in (a), including, the (i) name of the grocer being investigated, (ii) conduct being investigated, (iii) date that the investigation began, (iv) date that the investigation concluded?

With regard to the mandate and responsibilities of the Grocery Task Force, broken down by month since its inception: (a) what are the details of all engagements with governments and consumer advocacy stakeholders, including the (i) date of the engagement, (ii) purpose of the engagement, (iii) name of the organization or government being engaged, (iv) activities being coordinated; (b) what are the details of all engagements with external partners, experts, and industry representatives to undertake analysis, including the (i) date of the engagement, (ii) purpose of the engagement, (iii) partner, expert, or representative being engaged; (c) what work has been done with consumer groups to report findings to Canadians, including the (i) date that work was initiated, (ii) consumer group with which work was done, (iii) details of the findings that resulted in work, (iv) date on which those findings were reported to Canadians; and (d) what grocery-related information has the task force shared with Canadians to help them make informed marketplace choices?

With regard to lobbying conducted by Canada’s grocery sector, between February 1, 2006, and October 1, 2015: (a) how many meetings did the federal government have with Canada’s major grocery companies (Loblaws, Metro, Walmart, Sobeys, and Costco) to request federal funding, by (i) year, (ii) company; and (b) how many meetings did the federal government have with those major grocery companies (Loblaws, Metro, Walmart, Sobeys, and Costco) to request federal subsidies, by (i) year, (ii) company?

With regard to federal support to Canada’s grocery sector, between November 1, 2015, to January 1, 2024: (a) how much federal funding was provided to Canada’s major grocery companies (Loblaws, Metro, Walmart, Sobeys, and Costco) to support business development, by (i) year, (ii) dollar amount, (iii) company; (b) how much federal subsidies were provided to those major grocery companies (Loblaws, Metro, Walmart, Sobeys, and Costco) to support business development, by (i) year, (ii) dollar amount, (iii) company; and (c) what programs were responsible for managing federal funding and subsidies to Canada’s grocery sector, by federal department or agency?

With regard to federal support for Canada’s grocery sector, between February 1, 2006, and October 1, 2015: (a) how much federal funding was provided to Canada’s major grocery companies (Loblaws, Metro, Walmart, Sobeys, and Costco) to support business development, by (i) year, (ii) dollar amount, (iii) company; (b) how many federal subsidies were provided to those major grocery companies (Loblaws, Metro, Walmart, Sobeys, and Costco) to support business development, by (i) year, (ii) dollar amount, (iii) company; and (c) what programs were responsible for managing federal funding and subsidies to Canada’s grocery sector, by federal department or agency?

With regard to federal funding investments in infrastructure, programs, and services in the Cowichan-Malahat-Langford riding: what are the total monetary investments in that will come into effect as a result of the adoption, on December 7, 2023, of Supplementary Estimates (B), 2023-24 for (i) a new school in Port Renfrew on the traditional unceded territory of the Pacheedaht First Nation, (ii) a new marine safety centre in Port Renfrew on the traditional unceded territory of the Pacheedaht First nation, (iii) all housing initiatives in the riding, (iv) all childcare initiatives in the riding, (v) the wine producing sector in the Cowichan Valley?

With regard to the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry’s statement on October 5, 2023, that “I can tell you I’ve been looking at some flyers this morning, and you already see action in terms of different grocers adjusting ahead obviously of Thanksgiving”: (a) to which flyers was the minister referring; and (b) what were the actions in the flyers in (a) which are directly related to government consultation with grocery retailers, broken down by (i) discounts on food products, (ii) price freezes, (iii) price matching campaigns?