Questions and responses 41st Parliament, 1st session June 2, 2011, to September 13, 2013

With regard to hydraulic fracking: (a) what chemicals have been approved for use as hydraulic fracking fluids; (b) what chemicals are being used as hydraulic fracking fluids in Canadian projects; (c) what are the titles of the studies or reports done or in progress, by or on behalf of the government, that cover, in whole or in part, the subject of (i) the environmental impacts of hydraulic fracking, (ii) the long term impacts of hydraulic fracking on aquifers and fresh water supplies, (iii) the health impacts of hydraulic fracking; (d) what sites in Canada are being monitored for contamination or excessive pollution as a result of fracking; (e) what is the total number of cubic meters of water that have been permitted to be used in hydraulic fracking, (i) per day, (ii) by project; (f) how many instances of contaminated water have been linked to fracking since 2000, broken down by (i) year, (ii) project; (g) what impacts do working in hydraulic fracking projects have on the health of citizens living within close proximity to hydraulic fracking projects; (h) what are the cancer rates for citizens living in communities that are in close proximity to hydraulic fracking projects; (i) what events linked to hydraulic fracking have caused (i) property damage, (ii) illness, (iii) death to humans and animals; (j) what companies have been registered in Canada to conduct hydraulic fracking; (k) what is the complete list of federal regulations to which hydraulic fracking operations are subject, and is the government planning new regulation for hydraulic fracking operations; and (l) what consultations has the government undertaken, formally or informally, on the subject of hydraulic fracking?

With regard to the funding of enterprises and projects by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA): (a) how many entities have received funding from CIDA while being under legal protection from creditors since 2006; and (b) in such cases, does CIDA have a policy to take action to ensure that these entities meet their financial obligations to creditors, sub-contractors, employees and stakeholders?

With respect to financial assistance issued by Export Development Canada (EDC): (a) for the fiscal years 2009-2010 and 2010-2011, what is the total value of general corporate purpose loans; (b) what is the due diligence procedure regarding general corporate purposes loans; (c) what standards are used to assess the potential adverse environmental, social and human rights impacts associated with corporate activities that are funded through general corporate purpose loans; (d) what sources of information are used in order to assess the compliance standards referenced in subquestion (c); (e) what is EDC’s process for monitoring ongoing compliance by its clients with the standards referenced in subquestion (c), and what steps are taken in the event of non-compliance; (f) for all debt relief initiatives designed to reduce sovereign debt for each of the fiscal years from 1999-2000 to 2010-2011, (i) how many payments were received from the Government of Canada, (ii) what is the amount of payment, (iii) what countries received debt relief; (g) what is the total value of loans, lines of credit, guarantees and insurance provided by EDC to companies incorporated in tax havens as defined by the OECD in 2009, 2010 and 2011; (h) for all loans, lines of credit, guarantees and insurance to companies for exploration, extraction, transportation and processing of oil, gas and coal, for the fiscal years 2009-2010 and 2010-2011, (i) what is the name of the client for each transaction, (ii) what is the value of each transaction, (iii) what is the country of operation for each transaction; and (i) for all credit facilities and loans to Talisman Energy Inc. since 2006, (i) what is the dollar amount of each transaction, (ii) what is the description of each transaction, (iii) what is the country of investment for each transaction, (iv) are any applications currently being assessed?

With respect to any repayable portion of contributions made under the Economic Action Plan in 2009-2010 and 2010-2011: (a) what businesses received funding; (b) when did they receive the funding; (c) how much repayable funding did they receive; (d) how much of the repayable funding has been repaid as of March 27, 2013; and (e) how much of the repayable contribution is expected to never be repaid?

With regard to the response provided by the Minister of International Cooperation to written question Q-972 on the Order Paper in which the Minister states that: “The Financial Risk Assessment Unit uses a risk-based approach to monitor the financial viability of entities in receipt of CIDA funding prior to entering into an agreement and during the life-cycle of the CIDA project. Mitigation actions are immediately put in place if a recipient is under legal protection from creditors.”: (a) what are all the “mitigation actions” referred to in the response; and (b) were the “mitigation actions” put in place when the entity referred to Minister's response to Q-972 was under legal protection and, if so, what were all the “mitigation actions” taken by the Canadian International Development Agency in specific cases involving the entity referred to in the Minister's response to Q-972?

With regard to the response provided by the Minister of International Cooperation to written question Q-972 on the Order Paper, in which the Minister states: “Since 2006, there has been (1) entity in receipt of CIDA funding while being under legal protection from creditors; however, this entity continues to meet its contractual obligations and is delivering results through its programming”: (a) what is the name of the entity referred to in this response; (b) what are all the projects for which this entity is receiving or has received funding from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) while under legal protection from creditors; (c) what is the amount of funding that this entity is receiving or has received from CIDA while under legal protection from creditors; (d) what are the beginning and end dates for any projects this entity has undertaken with the assistance of CIDA funding while under legal protection from creditors; (e) what is the specific date on which this entity obtained legal protection from creditors; (f) what were the recommendations by CIDA to the Minister of International Cooperation with regard to any projects that this entity sought to undertake with funding from CIDA since 2006; and (g) what are all the decisions rendered by the Minister of International Cooperation with regard to any projects that this entity sought to undertake with funding from CIDA since 2006?

With regard to the funding of enterprises and projects by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA): (a) which enterprises or which projects that received direct or indirect funding from CIDA for fiscal years 2009, 2010 and 2011 have declared bankruptcy; (b) of these enterprises, which ones have not paid their Canadian employees or subcontractors; and (c) is the department continuing to fund enterprises that have declared bankruptcy, knowing that they have not paid their employees or subcontractors following their bankruptcy?

With regard to the schedule of the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development since his appointment in January, 2013: (a) how many meetings has the Minister had with Aboriginal nations, (i) with whom has he met, (ii) when did the meetings occur, (iii) where did these meetings occur, (iv) what were the agendas of said meetings, (v) how much has the department spent on travel for these meetings; (b) how many meeting requests from Aboriginal nations and groups has the Minister received, (i) how many received a “yes” to their meeting requests, (ii) how many received a “no” to their meeting requests; (c) how many meeting requests from private businesses, corporations and other similar organisations has the Minister received, (i) how many received a “yes” to their meeting requests, (ii) how many received a “no” to their meeting requests; and (d) how many meeting requests from provincial and municipal governments has the Minister received, (i) how many received a “yes” to their meeting requests, (ii) how many received a “no” to their meeting requests?