Questions and responses 42nd Parliament, 1st session December 3, 2015, to September 11, 2019

With regard to the United States of America's Department of Commerce and Bureau of Industry and Security’s Section 232 Investigation on the Effects of Imports of Steel on U.S. National Security: what has the government done to push for the exemption of Canadian-made, produced, manufactured, or processed steel?

With regard to analysis that the government has conducted on the economic implications of the recent U.S. elections: (a) what information does the government have about the anticipated impact on Canada's (i) energy costs, taxes, and regulatory competitiveness, (ii) ability to attract foreign investment, (iii) export access and supply chain integration with the U.S., (iv) ability to access U.S. federally-funded infrastructure projects, (v) development of the oil sands; and (b) what information does the government have about higher interest rates and their effect on Canada’s housing market and public debt charges for federal and provincial governments?

With regard to the NEXUS program, since January 27, 2017: (a) how many NEXUS card revocations have there been for (i) Canadian citizens, (ii) Canadian permanent residents, (iii) in total for Canadian citizens and permanent residents; (b) how many revocation decisions were made by the (i) Canadian government, (ii) United States government; (c) what were the reasons for each revocation in (a); (d) for dual Canadian citizens who have had their NEXUS card revoked, what is the breakdown of their other country of citizenship; and (e) for Canadian permanent residents who have had their NEXUS card revoked, what is the breakdown of their country of citizenship?

With respect to the Immigration Information Sharing Treaty: (a) what departments and agencies send information to the United States; (b) what departments and agencies receive information from the United States; (c) what Memorandums of Understanding or procedures exist to share data received from the United States with other government departments; (d) what are the data retention and deletion policies for information received from the United States; (e) what databases contain information received from the United States; and (f) if a decision has been rendered on a matter requiring the receipt of data from the United States prior to its receipt, how is the data handled?

With regard to the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (GLWQA) signed between Canada and the United States: (a) what is the list of all organizations that have received funding from the government related to this agreement; (b) what is the list of programs that are funded by the related funding; (c) what is the total of all funding, broken down by fiscal year, from the government under the GLWQA; (d) what is the total of all future approved funding for this fiscal year under Budget 2017; and (e) how does the Government of Canada's funding compare to that of the United States Government over the same period of time?

With regard to the exchange of information between Canada and the United States (US) under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA): (a) how many individuals were reported, in total and broken down by (i) Canadian citizens, (ii) permanent residents of Canada, (iii) temporary residents of Canada; (b) how many individuals were reported, broken down by (i) individuals with Canadian addresses, (ii) individuals with US addresses, (iii) individuals with addresses in other countries; (c) how many accounts were reported, in total and broken down by (i) bank accounts, (ii) credit union accounts, (iii) investment accounts, (iv) insurance accounts, (v) other types of accounts; (d) with respect to (c)(iii), what types of insurance accounts were reported; (e) with respect to (c)(v), what other types of accounts were reported; (f) of the accounts reported, how many were (i) under $50,000 US, (ii) between $50,000 and $1,000,000 US, (iii) over $1,000,000 US; (g) of the accounts reported, how many were (i) Registered Retirement Savings Account accounts, (ii) Registered Education Savings Account accounts, (iii) Registered Disability Savings Account accounts, (iv) Tax Free Savings Account accounts; (h) of the accounts reported, how many were held jointly with one or more non US persons, broken down by type of account and indicating the type of relationship between the joint account holder and the US person, if it is known; (i) how many accounts of organizations were reported to the IRS because a US person had signing authority, interest in, or other connection to the organization; (j) of the accounts that were reported, how many were (i) business accounts, (ii) professional accounts, (iii) charitable or non-profit organization accounts, (iv) connected to other organizations, broken down by type of organization; (k) what agency, organization, and individuals was the information provided to; (l) what measures were taken to ensure this information will not be provided to any other agency, organization, and individuals; (m) what measures were taken to ensure that information transmitted will not be subject to identity theft, fraud, other criminal activities, or breach of privacy; (n) how many records did Canada receive from the US, in total and broken down by (i) individuals who live in Canada, (ii) individuals who live in the US, (iii) individuals who live in other countries, broken down by country; (o) how many accounts did Canada receive information about; (p) what type of information was in the records Canada received; (q) did Canada receive information regarding (i) income from the accounts, (ii) total assets in accounts, (iii) account balances, (iv) transactions, deposits and withdrawals, (v) account numbers, (vi) names of account holders, (vii) Social Insurance Numbers, (viii) other related information; (r) what type of information did Canada receive that was not provided by the US prior to the FATCA Intergovernmental Agreement; and (s) when did Canada receive the information?

With regard to softwood lumber negotiations and Table 6 “Horizontal Items (dollars) – Funding to support the management of the Canada-U.S. softwood lumber initiative, including negotiations towards a new agreement, ongoing monitoring of exports, and legal preparations for possible trade remedies action” in Supplementary Estimates (A), 2016-17, used before negotiations officially resumed on February 5, 2017: (a) what was the allotment used for legal fees, and related to this allotment, (i) how much was spent on a retainer for legal counsel, (ii) how many of these lawyers worked directly on the softwood lumber initiative; (b) which departments provided the funding, broken down by the amount spent by each department; (c) what expenses were claimed by the lawyers who were retained, broken down by individual lawyer and their claimed (i) travel expenses, (ii) accommodation expenses, (iii) meal expenses, (iv) incidental expenses, (v) per diems; (d) how many government employees or full-time equivalents were assigned to provide legal advice on this matter; (e) how many outside lawyers were retained; (f) how many hours per month did each of the lawyers in (d) and (e) spend working on the softwood lumber initiative; and (g) how many meetings were held relating to the softwood lumber initiative, and who was present at each of meeting, broken down by meeting?

With regard to the Minister of International Trade and her negotiations with the United States on softwood lumber: (a) when did formal negotiations on a new Softwood Lumber Agreement commence; (b) how many negotiating sessions have been held to date; and (c) who were the participants of those negotiations in Canada, the United States or elsewhere?

With regard to the Enhanced Representation Initiative (ERI) run by Global Affairs Canada and its predecessors DFAIT and DFATD, since January 1, 2015: (a) what was the total cost of the ERI in 2015 and 2016; (b) what is the total cost of running each new consulate and consulate general implemented by the ERI, broken down by (i) year, (ii) type of cost, including, but not limited to, salaries and rent; (c) what is the total cost of employing each of the 20 honorary consuls taken on by the ERI, including housing and relocation costs, broken down by (i) year, (ii) city where each honorary consul is located; (d) what is the total number of formal meetings with United States officials, and business, trade, and foreign relations stakeholders held with each consulate, consulate general, and honorary consul, broken down by year; and (e) for all states and cities where a new consulate was opened, an existing consulate upgraded, and a honorary consul appointed, what has been the total economic effect for Canada as a result of implementing the ERI, including, but not limited to, economic benefit through trade and cooperation due to increased diplomatic presence, broken down by year?

With regard to cooperation between the Canadian military and the United States (US) military and intelligence agencies in Afghanistan and Iraq and to findings of the Canadian military Board of Inquiry report of May 4, 2010, on the subject of the “14 June 2006 Afghan Detainee Incident”: (a) when did Canada decide to no longer transfer persons in the care, custody, or control of members of the Canadian military to members of the US military; (b) were there any omissions or exclusions from the scope of this decision at the receiving end, such as US intelligence agencies like the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) or did the decision apply to transfers to any agent or actor acting on behalf of the US government; (c) at the transferring end, did this decision apply to all members of the Canadian military, including special forces and intelligence officials, and if not, to whom did it not apply; (d) for what reasons was this decision taken; (e) was this decision taken after legal advice had been received on whether it would be lawful to continue to transfer to the US and if so, was the government advised that it would be unlawful to continue the transfers; (f) what was the date of the last transfer before the decision came into effect; (g) did this decision apply to persons who would or could be characterized as Persons Under Control (PUC) by the US Army, units within the US Army, or the CIA, considering that this is a term that the Canadian military Board of Inquiry report of May 4, 2010, referred to as an “American Army Term”; (h) were there any instances of this decision not being implemented, and thus of persons being transferred to the US military or another US agency in situations in which members of the Canadian military themselves characterized a person as a PUC, considering that the same Canadian military Board of Inquiry report of May 4, 2010, observed that the term PUC was in “widespread use” within the Canadian military in Afghanistan; (i) is the government aware of any instances in which persons who were determined not to be “detainees” were transferred on the battlefield or elsewhere to Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) personnel, including the Afghan National Police, the Afghan National Army, the National Directorate of Security, and any paramilitary or like organizations working for or alongside the foregoing, to then learn that the person was re-transferred by ANSF personnel to members of the US military, CIA, or private US actors cooperating with the US Army or CIA; (j) is the government aware of any instances in which persons treated by Canada as “detainees” were transferred to ANSF personnel and then re-transferred by ANSF personnel to members of the US military, CIA, etc., especially before the 2007 Transfer Arrangement between Canada and Afghanistan took effect; (k) was this decision conveyed to the US government and if so, what reasons were provided and how did the US government respond; and (l) was this decision ever reversed or revised and if so, on what terms, when, and for what reasons?

With regard to the threat of a missile attack from North Korea: will the government join the Ballistic Missile Defense System and, if not, why not?

With respect to the September 2015 announcement of the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) that it would effectuate a transfer of information to the United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS): (a) how many records has the CRA transferred to the IRS to date; (b) on what dates did information transfer occur and how many records were transferred on each date; (c) how many records of individuals have been transferred in total; (d) by what means were the records transferred; (e) how much did it cost the CRA to compile the records for transfer; (f) how much did it cost the CRA to complete the transfer; (g) how were the costs in (e) and (f) calculated and what is the breakdown of those costs; (h) who made the decision to transfer the records; (i) when was the decision made to transfer records; (j) when did the CRA become aware that the U.S. Treasury had extended the deadline for such transfer; (k) how was the CRA made aware that the U.S. Treasury had extended the deadline; (l) what steps were taken to assess and respond to the notice of deadline extension in (j); (m) what was the policy reason for transferring records despite the deadline extension; (n) when is the next transfer of records scheduled to take place; (o) what analysis was conducted to assess whether the transfer of records during the writ period for the 42nd General Election complied with the "Guidelines on the Conduct of Ministers, Ministers of State, Exempt Staff and Public Servants During an Election"; (p) what records exist with respect to any analysis conducted in relation to (o); (q) was information concerning the transfer of records from the CRA to the IRS included in any transition materials prepared for a potential change in government or the Ministers responsible for CRA and Foreign Affairs; (r) what documents exist in relation to (q) and what are their file numbers; (s) has the new Minister responsible for CRA been informed of information transfers to the IRS and, if so, (i) when, (ii) how, (iii) by whom, (iv) with what documents produced or prepared for this purpose; (t) has the new Minister of Justice been informed of the information transfer and been provided with any analysis of its legal implications and, if so, (i) when, (ii) how, (iii) by whom, (iv) with what documents produced or prepared for this purpose; (u) have Canadians who will be affected by the transfer been informed of the transfer of their records; (v) what plans exist with regard to informing Canadians about the transfer of their records; (w) has any proposal to inform Canadians of the transfer of their information to the IRS been evaluated by the government and, if so, with what conclusions; (x) what documents exist in relation to (w) and what are their file numbers; (y) what legal challenges does the government anticipate with respect to information transfer, and how is it preparing to respond; (z) what measures are in place to ensure the security of record transfers to the IRS; and (aa) has the Privacy Commissioner been consulted or involved in any way in the preparation or planning of record transfer to ensure conformity with applicable laws regarding the exchange of Canadians' personal information and, if so, to what extent?