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

With regard to the Jordan’s Principle External Expert Review Committee: (a) what is the total number of proposals to review appeals and issue recommendations received in July, August, or September 2024; and (b) what are the details of all approved proposals in (a), including the (i) name of the organization, company, or institution, (ii) value of any contracts or grants tendered in relation to the proposal, (iii) services offered, (iv) date for which the services will be rendered?

With regard to applications to the Veterans Independence Program, broken down by province or territory, by official language, and by fiscal year since 2015: (a) how many applications received were from (i) male, (ii) female, (iii) Indigenous, (iv) black, (v) 2SLGBTQIA+, veterans; and (b) for each demographic in (a)(i) through (a)(v), how many applications were (i) received, (ii) denied, (iii) approved, (iv) withdrawn, suspended, or rejected, (v) connected to a disability benefit for a physical injury, (vi) connected to a disability benefit for a mental health injury, (vii) connected to a disability benefit for both a physical and mental health injury?

With regard to the government’s response to the 20th report of the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates, entitled “Changeover of the Public Service Health Care Plan from Sun Life to Canada Life”: (a) what work is being done to increase transparency as a mandatory requirement for future requests for proposals and government contracts; (b) following the four in-person outreach events cited in the government’s response, what (i) feedback was received from these events, (ii) changes have been implemented as a direct result of these events; and (c) what specifics have been raised with bargaining agents and retiree organizations concerning improved physiotherapy for high-need individuals?

With regard to the transition of the Public Service Health Care Plan (PSHCP) to Canada Life: (a) does the government acknowledge that the existing provisions for compensation do not cover PSHCP members affected by the transition for issues such as deterioration of health, incurred debt or additional costs, experience of pain and suffering, or psychological distress; (b) has the government undertaken a legal analysis to determine the liability risk for not including affected members in existing compensation processes; (c) have any investigations been conducted into how transition problems affected employees and their dependents who are members of protected groups; and (d) were affected employees accommodated to the point of undue hardship for any adverse or discriminatory effects of the PSHCP transition?

With regard to the Pain and Suffering Compensation benefit and the Additional Pain and Suffering Compensation benefit awarded by Veterans Affairs Canada, broken down by fiscal year since 2008-09: (a) how many applications were received; (b) how many applications were (i) approved, (ii) denied; (c) how many applications were from veterans suffering from cancer related to their service in the (i) Royal Canadian Navy, (ii) Canadian Army, (iii) Royal Canadian Air Force; and (d) how many of the applications in (a) were from veterans who identified as women?

With regard to the Pain and Suffering Compensation benefit and the Additional Pain and Suffering Compensation benefit awarded by Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC): (a) on what criteria does VAC determine the grade-level assigned to veterans with a barrier that affects their life after service; (b) what is the (i) maximum amount, (ii) minimum amount, of this benefit at each grade-level assigned in (a); and (c) what other criteria does the department use to determine benefit amounts in (b)?

With regard to Veterans Affairs Canada, broken down by fiscal year since 2015-16: (a) what are the available funding streams that (i) support Indigenous veterans’ mental health, (ii) support Indigenous Veterans in finding employment after service; (b) of the funding streams in (a), what is the total amount of funding that remained unspent, uncommitted, or undelivered; and (c) what criteria or justifications were used to evaluate and reject the Burns Way Program which has been established to improve mental health services for Indigenous, non-Indigenous and minority veterans and their family members?

With regard to the administration of benefits to veterans: (a) how does Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) distinguish between Wartime service (WS), Special Duty Area service (SDA), and Special Duty Operation service (SDO); (b) in what ways does VAC deliver to disability or pension benefits differently to veterans based on their classification in (a); and (c) what are the details of all consultations undertaken by the Minister of Veterans Affairs and the Minister of National Defence since January 1, 2023, regarding the reclassification of WS, SDA, or SDO, including the (i) date of consultation, (ii) group or organization consulted, (iii) geographic area of service?

With regard to funding programs managed by Veterans Affairs Canada, broken down by fiscal year since 2015-16: (a) what are the details of each funding program, broken down by the (i) name of the program, service, fund, or initiative, (ii) amount of funding allocated; (b) which of the funding programs in (a) are expected to have their funding reduced by the department as a response to the budget 2023 commitment to refocus government spending; and (c) what is the total amount of funding reduction that each program or grant in (b) will experience?

With regard to the administration of the Veteran and Family Well-Being Fund, broken down by fiscal year since 2015-16: (a) what are the details of all subject matter experts who assess applications for impact and innovation, including the (i) total number employed by Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC), (ii) total number of experts on contract with VAC, (iii) number of experts in each area of expertise; (b) how many applications were approved, denied, or passed to program staff for decision without an assessment being done by a subject matter expert; (c) for each application in (b), what was the area in which a subject matter expert was not available; and (d) what is the total number of applications, broken down by subject area, that were not considered due to a subject matter expert not being available to conduct an assessment?

With regard to the Department of National Defence (DND) and existing contracts with IMP Aerospace & Defence (IMP) since fiscal year 2018-19: (a) what are the details of all contracts between the DND and IMP concerning servicing and maintaining search and rescue aircraft, including the (i) contract number, (ii) date of the contract, (iii) contract value, (iv) location of work being done, (v) date by which the contracted work will be completed, (vi) conditions on labour including sick leave requirements; (b) of the contracts in (a), which contracts include (i) minimum pay standards, (ii) minimum staffing requirements, (iii) policies regarding staff mobility, including moving expenses, (iv) limits on overtime hours worked; (c) what reporting requirements exist for IMP to ensure compliance with the contracts in (a); (d) what mechanisms does the DND have to ensure compliance with the contracts in (a); and (e) has the DND used any of the mechanisms in (d) to enforce compliance?

With regard to government funding in the federal electoral district of North Island—Powell River, broken down by fiscal year since 2006-07: (a) what is the total amount of funding provided to rights-holding First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples; and (b) what is the total amount of funding provided to non-rights-holding First Nations, Inuit and Métis organizations?

With regard to Veterans Affairs Canada and disability benefit decisions, broken down by fiscal year since 2015-16: (a) what is the total number of disability benefit claims received by the department; (b) how many of the claims in (a) were denied by the department; and (c) how many of the claims in (b) were denied due to (i) insufficient evidence being provided by the claimant, (ii) incomplete paperwork being submitted, (iii) incorrect paperwork being submitted, (iv) ineligibility of the claimant?

With regard to the RCMP’s response to the Final Report on the Implementation of the Merlo Davidson Settlement Agreement: (a) for each of the 16 recommendation categories, what steps has the RCMP taken to complete each recommendation; (b) for each recommendation in (a), what working groups, committees or other bodies have been created to oversee the completion of the recommendation; (c) what are the details of each group, organization or other body in (b), including the (i) number of staff, (ii) rank or job title of the individual responsible for that group, (iii) number of meetings held; (d) what is the total number of recommendations that the RCMP considers (i) completed, (ii) nearing completion, (iii) in progress, (iv) not started; and (e) by what date does the RCMP believe it will complete all recommendations of this report?

With regard to the calculations of Old Age Security (OAS) and Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) base payments, broken down by province and territory and fiscal year since 2015-16: (a) what types of payments to seniors made by provincial or territorial governments are included in the eligibility requirements for maximum annual income; (b) how are lump sum payments provided to seniors by provincial or territorial government organizations calculated in terms of eligibility requirements for maximum annual income; (c) what is the total number of seniors who have (i) been disqualified from these benefits, (ii) had their OAS or GIS benefits clawed back, because they received compensation for a workplace injury; and (d) what is the total number of people who have (i) been disqualified for an Allowance for the Spouse, (ii) had their Allowance for the Spouse clawed back, because their spouse received compensation for a workplace injury?

With regard to the administration of the Veteran and Family Well-Being Fund: (a) how does Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) ensure that the goals of a program are met, including through the (i) inclusion of Veterans’ consideration in the allocation of funds, (ii) use of exit surveys for Veterans benefiting from projects; (b) how does VAC capture lessons learned, both good and bad, from projects after their completion; (c) how does VAC ensure that funds are not disproportionately allocated, including to (i) particular racial or ethnic groups, (ii) a particular gender, (iii) a particular age cohort, (iv) particular provinces or territories, (v) urban rather than rural areas; (d) how does VAC coordinate between this fund and other funding streams to ensure that there is no unnecessary overlap; (e) how does VAC decide whether to renew funding for a given project; (f) how are organizations notified when they are not chosen to receive funding; (g) is there a maximum number of times that funding recipients can be awarded funding by VAC through this program; and (h) how does VAC ensure that Veterans are safe to participate in the programs offered by funding recipients?

With regard to the Veteran and Family Well-Being Fund, broken down by fiscal year since 2015-16 and by province or territory: (a) what are the details of each funding recipient’s projects, including (i) overview, (ii) project goals, (iii) project activities, (iv) project results; (b) how are the project details of (a) collected and verified by Veterans Affairs Canada; (c) what are the criteria by which organizations are selected to receive funding; and (d) of the organizations in (a), reflected as a number and a percentage, how many organizations have been denied funding in subsequent applications?

With regard to Veterans Affairs Canada: what was the amount and percentage of all lapsed spending in the department, broken down by fiscal year since 2012-13 to present?

With regard to sexual misconduct complaints within the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) for calendar years 2022 and 2023: (a) what is the current total number of complaints received by the (i) chain of command, (ii) Military Police, (iii) Military Police Complaints Commission; (b) of the complaints received in (a), what specific administrative actions were taken, including the (i) initial counselling, (ii) recorded warning, (iii) counselling and probation, (iv) release from the CAF; (c) how many complaints are before a military tribunal; (d) broken down by province or territory, what is the total number of cases that have been transferred to (i) the RCMP, (ii) provincial police forces, (iii) municipal police forces; (e) what is the total number of cases that have been declined or sent back to the military; and (f) of the cases in (d) and (e), what is the average number of days for the relevant jurisdiction to accept or reject the case?

With regard to the design selection of the National Monument to Canada’s Mission in Afghanistan: (a) what surveys did the government conduct to solicit feedback on the monument’s design that were conducted (i) online, (ii) in-person, (iii) by mail; (b) on what date was each survey in (a) conducted; (c) how many respondents to surveys in (a) were (i) veterans of Canada’s mission in Afghanistan, (ii) Canadian veterans, (iii) active service members in the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF), (iv) family members of CAF members or veterans, (v) family members of veterans who served in Canada’s mission in Afghanistan, (vi) members of the general public; (d) how was each survey in (a) communicated with potential respondents, especially with veterans of Canada’s Mission in Afghanistan, their families, and current CAF members; (e) what were the costs associated with each survey in (a), broken down by survey; and (f) what was the reason given by the government as to why survey results would be used to select the monument over the advice of the commemorative advisory committee?