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

With regard to the Canadian Drug Agency (CDA), formerly called the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technology in Health (CADTH), since September 1, 2013: (a) what are the details of all grants and contributions given to the CDA or the CADTH for the purposes of carrying out its mandate to provide Canada’s health system leaders with independent evidence and advice, including the (i) date of the grant or contribution, (ii) amount of the grant or contribution; (b) what efforts has the federal government undertaken to ensure that the CDA can remain fully-resourced and adequately staffed to continue providing independent evidence and advice; and (c) is the government concerned about layoffs at the CDA in recent months threatening the objectivity and reliability of health technology assessments?

With regard to the Black Class Action Lawsuit (Nicholas Marcus Thompson et al. v. His Majesty the King (T‑1458‑20)), broken down by department: (a) what is the total amount spent to date by the government on this lawsuit; and (b) what is the total amount paid to Fasken, the law firm representing the Crown in this case?

With regard to the Canadian Dental Care Plan, broken down by federal electoral district since the program’s inception: (a) what is the total number of applications (i) received, (ii) approved; and (b) how many people have been enrolled in the Canadian Dental Care Plan, broken down by age group and by Disability tax credit certificate status?

With regard to the implementation and enforcement of the Canada Labour Code’s Workplace Harassment and Violence Prevention Regulations, broken down by year and by individual department, agency, Crown corporation, including Canada Post, and federally regulated business: (a) how many notices of occurrence have been reported, and what is the breakdown of the notices by gender, ethnicity, and age; (b) how many assurances of compliance have been reported; (c) what is the number and individual value of fines that have been issued by Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) for failure to comply with the Workplace Harassment and Violence Prevention Regulations; and (d) what are the criteria used by ESDC to determine when to issue a fine for non-compliance?

With regard to federal spending in the constituency of Hamilton Centre, in each fiscal year between 2019-20 and 2023-24, inclusively: what are the details of all grants and contributions and all loans to any organization, group, business or municipality, broken down by the (i) name of the recipient, (ii) municipality in which the recipient is located, (iii) date the funding was received, (iv) amount received, (v) department or agency that provided the funding, (vi) program under which the grant, contribution or loan was made, (vii) nature or purpose?

With regard to the Canada Dental Care Plan, broken down by federal electoral district since the program’s inception: (a) what is the total number of applications (i) received, (ii) approved; and (b) how many people have benefitted from the Canada Dental Care Plan, broken down by age group and by Disability Tax Credit Certificate status?

With regard to the Canada Dental Benefit, broken down by benefit period and federal electoral district since the program’s inception: (a) what is the total number of approved applications; and (b) how many children have been helped by the program?

With regard to the Public Service Pension Plan, as of January 1, 2024: (a) what is the number of (i) public sector employees, (ii) retirees, (iii) former employees, in Group 1 of the Public Service Pension Plan; (b) what is the number of (i) public sector employees, (ii) retirees, (iii) former employees, in Group 2 of the Public Service Pension Plan; (c) what is the projected surplus in the Public Service Pension Plan; (d) what percentage of the plan is funded; and (e) what plans, if any, does the government have to distribute funds over the permissible surplus level?

With regard to the Canada Dental Benefit, broken down by federal electoral district since the program's inception: (a) what is the total number of applications (i) received, (ii) approved; (b) what is the total dollar value of payments delivered to eligible applicants; and (c) how many children, in total, have been helped by the program?

With regard to any polling data obtained by the Privy Council Office concerning artificial intelligence, since January 1, 2023: (a) what are the details of all polling conducted, including (i) who conducted the poll, (ii) the start and end dates of when the poll was conducted, (iii) the number of participants, (iv) the questions asked, (v) the results of the poll, (v) the value of the contract related to the poll?

With regard to audits done by the Canada Revenue Agency, since 2015 and broken down by year, number of audits and size of audit: how many audits were either paused or cancelled following contact from an individual representing a company worth over $1 million annually?

With regard to the usage of replacement workers in federally regulated industries and workplaces, since January 1, 2006: (a) how many replacement workers have been hired by the federal government, broken down by (i) province and territory, (ii) year; and (b) how much federal funding has been used to compensate and recruit replacement workers, broken down by (i) province and territory, (ii) year?

With regard to contract work performed for the Canadian Border Services Agency, since November 2015, and broken down by fiscal year: (a) what is the total number of contracts awarded to (i) GCStrategies, (ii) Dalian Enterprises Inc., (iii) Coradix Technology Consulting, (iv) Moravej Inc., (v) 10583308 Canada Inc.; (b) what are the details of all contracts in (a), including the (i) date the contract was awarded, (ii) value of the contract, (iii) number of amendments to the initial contract; and (c) what is the total number of government employees who reviewed, processed and approved each contract in (a)?

With regard to the government’s Directive on Automated Decision-Making, since March 4, 2019, broken down by department or agency: (a) did the department conduct any algorithmic impact assessments; (b) what was the conclusion of each assessment in (a), including the (i) information technology or automated decision system assessed, (ii) date the assessment was completed, (iii) impact assessment level results; (c) does the department currently license, subscribe to, or otherwise procure services from an entity that provides artificial intelligence or automated decision-making services; (d) what are the details of all procurement contracts in (c), including the (i) name of the company contracted, (ii) name of the product provided, (iii) amount paid by the department or agency; (e) was the department or any individuals within the department found in non-compliance with the directive; and (f) what consequences were applied for each instance in (e)?

With regard to federal spending in the constituency of Hamilton Centre, in each fiscal year since 2015-16, inclusively: what are the details of all grants and contributions and all loans to any organization, group, business or municipality, broken down by the (i) name of the recipient, (ii) municipality in which the recipient is located, (iii) date the funding was received, (iv) amount received, (v) department or agency that provided the funding, (vi) program under which the grant, contribution or loan was made, (vii) nature or purpose?

With regard to the handling of cases and claims pursuant to the Black Class Action Lawsuit launched in December 2020: how much has been spent by the Department of Justice and the Attorney General in legal fees and court fees in their requests to dismiss the lawsuit?

With regard to the $3.7 million in budget 2022 allocated for the implementation of a Mental Health Fund for Black federal public servants: (a) how much of the funding allocated for fiscal year 2022-23 remains unspent; (b) how many full-time equivalent employees are working on the implementation of the fund; (c) what tools and programs have been created since the implementation began; (d) how many employees have accessed support through the fund; and (e) what are the details of all reports or briefings regarding the status of ongoing initiatives through this funding, including the (i) title of the report, (ii) author, (iii) target audience, (iv) recommendations or conclusions arrived at?

With regard to hiring processes within the government, broken down by department or agency since fiscal year 2015-16: (a) what is the data storage policy regarding pre-recorded video interviews, especially concerning the (i) access to videos, (ii) disposal of videos, for successful and unsuccessful candidates; (b) what is the total number of pre-recorded video interviews collected; (c) what is the total number of positions that required a pre-recorded interview as part of the candidate search process; (d) what compensation was offered to prospective candidates for the purpose of a pre-recorded interview, including the reimbursement of (i) camera equipment, (ii) lighting equipment, (iii) video editing software, (iv) space rental, (v) time; and (e) are there any artificial intelligence programs used to evaluate the content of pre-recorded video interviews, and, if so, what content do the programs evaluate?

With regard to hiring decisions in departments, broken down by department and month that the policy came into effect: (a) how many departments have put in place a policy to freeze or limit staffing actions since January 2022; (b) what is the department’s current policy on staff actions for the departments in (a); and (c) how many departments in (a) were the result of directives or orders issued by a minister or deputy minister?

With regard to the government’s remote work policy, broken down by department and agency: (a) what is the total number of employees who are currently working (i) entirely from home, (ii) in a hybrid format; (b) what is the total number of employees under a formal remote work arrangement; (c) what is the total number of remote work arrangements (i) requested, (ii) approved, (iii) denied; (d) what is the total number of employees fully working in their regular workplace, broken down by classification and level; (e) what is the total number of employees using formal flexible work arrangements, such as flexible hours, compressed hours, or variable hours; and (f) what is the total number of flexible work arrangements (i) requested, (ii) approved, (iii) declined?