Questions and responses 40th Parliament, 3rd session March 3, 2010, to March 26, 2011

With regard to the Department of National Defence, what are the contents of every email sent from ministers' exempt staff to access to information staff between the dates of January 1, 2010 and March 30, 2010?

With regard to the Department of National Defence, what is the list of all equipment procurement projects with a value of over $25 million that are either currently in progress or have been announced publicly, including: (a) the piece of equipment being purchased and the quantity; (b) the date the project was announced; (c) the total value (or expected value) of the project and of any related contracts such as maintenance or repair; (d) the date the project received Treasury Board approval; (e) the date the contract was awarded and to whom; (f) the dates of commencement of delivery and end of delivery; and (g) for each project, what is the breakdown of the original and most recent schedule, including all project phases and costing, and a detailed explanation for each case where the original and most recent schedule are not the same?

With regard to the CF-18 replacement criteria: (a) what specific operational requirements did the Department of National Defence (DND) set out in its CF-18 replacement criteria; (b) what was the rationale behind each of these requirements; and (c) in what operational theatres does DND anticipate the CF-18 replacement will be used?

With regard to the announced purchase of Close Combat Vehicles (CCV) and Tactical Armoured Patrol Vehicles (TAPV): (a) why was the solicitation of interest and qualifications (SOIQ) postponed to 2010; (b) what industry feedback contributed to non-issuance of the SOIQ; (c) what changes to the government requirements contributed to this decision; (d) what impact did the Department of National Defence (DND) internal reviews have on the CCV procurement process, including whether resources that had been allotted to the CCV procurement process were reallocated and, if applicable, what was the value of those resources and to where were they reallocated; (e) what are the key procurement priorities of DND; (f) what impact does the end of the military mission in Afghanistan have on the decision to not issue the SOIQ as scheduled; (g) what is the timeframe for issuing the SOIQ for the TAPV project and is this on schedule; and (h) if applicable, what are the details of the revised schedule for either project?

With respect to the Department of National Defence, for every project over 5 million dollars which received money from the department in the last 5 years and which involved incurred or currently foreseen cost overruns of 15% or more relative to the initial predictions: (a) what is the name of that project and details on its nature; (b) what is the history of cost predictions for that project, including (i) dates of predictions reviews and amounts of the predictions, (ii) itemized predictions on the costs of different subparts of that project; (c) what are the reasons for the cost overruns; (d) what are the dates at which Ministers or their close staff were informed of the cost predictions described in part (b), what was the name of the Minister or staffer that received the information and what is a description of the actions taken, if any, by the Minister in reaction to that information; and (e) what is, in percentage (compared with the initial prediction), and in dollars, the final incurred value or the currently expected value of the cost overrun?

With respect to training offered to members of the Department of National Defence and Canadian Forces: (a) what mission-related training is offered on gender; (b) what mission-related training is offered on sexual and gender-based violence; (c) what mission-related training is offered on United Nations Security Council Resolutions 1325, 1820, 1888 and 1889; (d) what mission-related training is offered on the integration of local female civilian, military and police personnel in operations; (e) what mission-related training is offered on strategies to promote the meaningful participation of local women and their national organizations in civil-military relations; and (f) for the types of training mentioned in subquestions (a) to (e), (i) who administers the training, (ii) who has access to the training, (iii) for each course, how many hours of instruction are provided, (iv) which courses are mandatory and which are optional?

With regard to advertising by the Department of National Defence or its agencies: (a) what was the total amount of money spent by the department and each of its agencies since January 1, 2009, in multi-cultural targeted print, radio, television and web-based media; (b) what was the exact placement of each ad purchase; and (c) what was the target demographic of each advertisement?

With regard to the CF-18 replacement criteria: (a) what organizational, political, industrial or bureaucratic bodies had input in determining the CF-18 replacement specifications; (b) what were the names and positions of the individuals involved in the decision-making process; (c) who at the Department of National Defence ultimately approved the final draft of the CF-18 operational requirements document; and (d) did any analysts or officials register dissenting opinions in this process and, if so, what were they?

With respect to Conservative Senator Pamela Wallin's position as Honorary Colonel of the Air Force: (a) since August 1, 2009, what is the total cost associated with the position including a breakdown of any spending for travel based on air travel, accommodations, per diems, meals, hospitality, gifts and all other expenses; and (b) what department or agency paid for these expenses?

With regard to the Department of National Defence and the purchase of CH-148 Cyclone helicopters: (a) when was the government notified that Sikorsky could not deliver the helicopters according to the agreed-upon schedule in November of 2007; (b) what were the “additional capabilities” that were added in the contract amendments and, if these capabilities were necessary for the Canadian operating environment, why were they not included in the original contract; (c) why did the government not impose late penalties in 2007 as agreed to in the original contract; (d) will the government impose late penalties now that Sikorsky has indicated that it will not be able to meet even the amended schedule; (e) what is the revised schedule for the commencement of delivery, and the end of delivery of both the interim and enhanced helicopters; and (f) how will this delay affect the cost of this procurement project?

With regard to the recent request by the Department of National Defence for bids for new fire trucks: (a) how many companies bid; (b) how many of these companies were from Canada; (c) what was the winning bid; and (d) why wasn’t a longer tendering period used for such a large procurement?

With regard to the recent purchase of the F-35 stealth fighter jets: (a) what strategic studies have been conducted by either the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) or the Department of National Defence (DND) on future conflict scenarios that would justify expenditures on the F-35; (b) what meetings did DFAIT or DND take with other member countries of the Joint Strike Fighter program to discuss the costs of the F-35 jets; (c) what strategic studies have been conducted by DFAIT or DND on the role of F-35 jets in counter-insurgency operations; and (d) what strategic studies have been conducted by DFAIT or DND on the role of F-35 jets in the protection of Canadian ground troops in future peacekeeping operations?

Regarding the Integrated Relocation Program (IRP) and the reimbursement of excess broker fees paid by federal employees: (a) how many National Defence employees were reimbursed by the Royal LePage Relocation Services contractor; (b) what is the total dollar amount that was reimbursed; and (c) what methods were used to contact employees who were likely to have overpaid broker fees to the contractor or third-party IRP suppliers?