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

With regard to the Department of Finance’s estimates relating to the impact of oil prices on government revenues: (a) what information is available on how these estimates are calculated; and (b) does the government make any projections using incremental price increases, and, if so, does the government use $2 increments from $2 to $160 per barrel?

With regard to government institutions subject to Access to Information requests, and as of April 22, 2016: (a) what is the budget for processing these requests, broken down by institution; (b) for each institution in (a), how many employees process these requests, broken down by full-time and part-time employees; and (c) for each institution in (a), what is the breakdown of employees and funds allocated to each (i) division, (ii) directorate, (iii) office, (iv) secretariat, (v) other organization that processes these requests?

With regard to the Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada: (a) what were the total costs incurred as a result of changing the department’s name; (b) what related costs were incurred to reflect the department’s new name, and specifically what was spent on (i) signage, (ii) stationary, (iii) business cards, (iv) promotional materials?

With regard to the government’s commitment to implement each one of the 94 recommendations prepared by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission: (a) which stakeholders does the government plan to meet with to discuss implementing the Calls to Action; (b) on which dates does the government plan to meet these stakeholders, broken down by stakeholder; (c) what travel costs will the government be covering, broken down by stakeholder; (d) what per diem costs will the government be covering, broken down by stakeholder; and (e) what accommodation costs will the government be covering, broken down by stakeholder?

With regard to gun control laws in effect between 1979 and 2001, the period when the Firearms Acquisition Certificate Program was in effect, and between 2001 and present, the period when the Possession and Acquisition Licence and Possession Only License Programs were in effect: (a) what was the average annual cost for administering federal firearms laws, regulations, policies, and programs; and (b) for each of these two periods, what are the statistics that show which period was most effective at (i) reducing violent crime, (ii) reducing homicides, (iii) reducing the number of armed crimes involving firearms?

With regard to the backdrops and podiums used by the government for the announcements from November 4, 2015, to present, for each backdrop purchased and for each podium purchased or rented: (a) what was the date of purchase or rental; (b) when was the tender issued for the backdrop or podium; (c) when was the contract signed; (d) when was the backdrop or podium delivered; (e) what was the cost of the backdrop or podium; (f) was there an announcement for which the backdrop or podium was used, if so, for which ones; (g) which department paid for the backdrop or podium; and (h) when were the backdrops or podiums used, broken down by event and date?

With regard to government’s projections on page 292 of Budget 2018, “Futures contracts currently suggest that the differential between WTI and the CEP will narrow to the US$15 range by the summer [...] and to remain at this level on average over the 2018-2022 forecast horizon”: (a) as of the date of this question, in which year does the government currently project the Trans Mountain Expansion Project, and the Keystone XL Project to become operational; (b) by how much will the differential between the price of West Texas Intermediate and the Canadian Effective price (the discount on Canadian crude oil) diminish if the Trans Mountain Expansion and Keystone XL Projects, respectively, become operational in the years in (a); (c) by how much will the discount on Canadian crude oil diminish if the Trans Mountain Expansion and Keystone XL Projects, respectively, become operational (i) one year after the respective years in (a), (ii) two years after respective years in (a), (iii) five years after the respective years in (a), (iv) ten years after the respective years in (a); (d) by how much will the discount on Canadian crude oil diminish or increase if the Trans Mountain Expansion and Keystone XL Projects, respectively, never become operational; (e) by how much will federal revenue derived from any source related to the extraction, transport, and sale of crude oil increase or decrease if (i) the Trans Mountain Expansion and Keystone XL Projects, respectively, become operational in the year in (a), (ii) become operational in one of the years in (c), (iii) never become operational; (f) how much, if any, of the projections in (e) has the government, in preparing Budget 2018, included in budgetary projections for (i) 2020, (ii) 2021, (iii) 2022, (iv) 2023; (g) how much, if any, of the projections in (e) will the government include in budgetary projections for the years in (f) in preparing Budget 2019; (h) by how much have the projections in (e) and their inclusion in the budgetary calculations in (f) and (g) increased or decreased since the government purchased Kinder Morgan’s existing Trans Mountain Pipeline assets and assumed responsibility for the Trans Mountain Expansion Project; (i) what is the discount on Canadian crude oil as of the date of this question; (j) if the value of the discount on Canadian crude oil in (i) persists between the date of this question and 2022, how much lower than the projections in Budget 2018 will actual revenue in (e) be; and (k) what budgetary contingency has the government put in place in case of (j)?

With regard to Public Services and Procurement Canada: (a) what were the total costs incurred as a result of changing the Department’s name; and (b) what related costs were incurred to reflect the Department’s new name, and specifically, what was spent on (i) signage, (ii) stationary, (iii) business cards, (iv) promotional materials?

With regard to the Kathryn Spirit, a derelict vessel in Beauharnois, Quebec: (a) what amounts have been spent per year by the government since 2011 for maintenance, related costs, abortive towing attempts or any other costs related to this vessel; (b) how many employees, broken down by department, have worked on this file since 2011, broken down by year; (c) what were the costs of the stabilization work during the summer of 2016, in general and including costs to deploy personnel, ground, naval and air assets of the various departments; (d) how many individuals, broken down by department, were deployed when the vessel listed heavily this summer and for how long; (e) what were the ground, air and naval assets used during this incident; and (f) what is the estimated reaction time between the moment a leak is detected near the Kathryn Spirit, the arrival of Coast Guard personnel and the deployment of all protection measures?

With regard to Global Affairs Canada: (a) what were the total costs incurred as a result of changing the department’s name; (b) what related costs were incurred to the reflect the department’s new name, and specifically what was spent on (i) signage, (ii) stationary, (iii) business cards, (iv) promotional materials?

With regard to Environment and Climate Change Canada: (a) what were the total costs incurred as a result of changing the department’s name; (b) what related costs were incurred to reflect the department’s new name, and specifically what was spent on (i) signage, (ii) stationary, (iii) business cards, (iv) promotional materials?

With regard to the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) tariffs, since January 1, 2016: what are the actual or anticipated costs that each department, agency, and crown corporation has or will pay on an annual basis in SOCAN tariffs for (i) background music, (ii) telephone music on hold, as set out in Tariff Number 15 in Volume 15, Number 26 of the Canada Gazette published on June 25, 2016?

With regard to studies conducted by the government about the impact a carbon tax will have on food and grocery prices, since November 4, 2015: (a) have any studies been conducted regarding the increase in food and grocery prices as a result of a carbon tax; and (b) what are the specific details for all studies in (a), including (i) date of completion, (ii) title, (iii) file number, (iv) summary of conclusions?

With regard to the videos posted on the Prime Minister's YouTube channel and linked to and from the Prime Minister's website: (a) what are the development, preparation, design, production, editing, and uploading costs for each video; (b) what are the costs for staff and contractors involved, broken down by salary, overtime, and other expenses; (c) how many people are working on this project and what are their titles; (d) what equipment is used to produce and edit the videos and how much did this equipment cost; and (e) what are the travel, accommodation, and other expenses involved in filming and producing these videos?

With regard to the visit by the presidents of the United States and Mexico to Ottawa on June 27 and 28, 2016: (a) what is the breakdown of all costs associated with venue rentals for the visit; (b) what is the breakdown of costs associated with security for the visit; (c) were any private security firms hired for the visit; (d) what were the contract amounts, companies used, and related file numbers for any private security firms hired; and (e) has any compensation been given to the City of Ottawa, the City of Toronto, or the Province of Ontario related to additional costs incurred by Ottawa, Toronto, or Ontario as a result of the visit?

With regard to the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls: what was the total cost incurred by the government for any related spending in the period from February 29, 2016, to present, broken down by (i) total cost, (ii) travel, (iii) accommodations, (iv) room rentals, (v) meals, (vi) all other expenses?

With regard to costs related to the Development Finance Institute Canada (DFIC) Inc.: (a) what are the estimated start-up costs for the DFIC, broken down by type; and (b) what are the yearly projected operating costs, for each of the next five years starting in 2018-19?

With regard to each Minister’s office, including costs paid out of the Minister’s office budget or other government funds, from November 3, 2015, to April 22, 2016: what was the total cost spent on (i) wine, spirits, beer and other alcohol, (ii) bottled water, (iii) soft drinks, (iv) potato chips, nuts and other snacks, (v) coffee, cream, non-dairy creamer, sugar and related supplies, (vi) food, other than food included above?