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

With regard to the Department of Veterans Affairs, what are the contents of all news releases, media advisories or any form of communication, national, regional or "proactive local outreach” in scope, issued by the Department between November 6 and November 15, 2012?

With regard to contracts and consulting services within the Department of Veterans Affairs: (a) what is the annual cost of the third-party contract with Quantum; (b) how much did the department pay Keith Coulter for consultant services in 2010, 2011 and 2012; (c) what are the details of the report produced by Keith Coulter; (d) what is the amount spent by the department on other private consultant fees each year from 2006 to 2012 inclusive; (e) what are the names of businesses or individuals across the country who provide consultant services for the department and what types of services do they provide; and (f) what is the cost of the contract to third party Medavaie Blue Cross from 2006 to 2012 inclusive?

With respect to the following personnel at Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC), namely Mary Chaput, Associate Deputy Minister; James Gilbert, Assistant Deputy Minister, Policy, Communications and Commemoration; Keith Hillier, Assistant Deputy Minister, Service Delivery Branch; Heather Parry, Assistant Deputy Minister; and Peter Yendall, Director General of Communications, for the period April 1, 2010, to March 31, 2012: (a) what does VAC provide for each individual in terms of salary range; (b) how much did each of these individuals claim for (i) food, (ii) travel, (iii) hotels, (iv) hospitality, broken down by fiscal year for the period requested; (c) what were the itemized amounts and descriptions of each individual’s individual expenses as identified in the answers to (b); (d) how many trips were taken by each of these individuals in each fiscal year for the period requested, broken down by (i) dates, (ii) destination(s), (iii) purpose(s); (e) for each trip in (d), what expenses were claimed, broken down by (i) transportation, (ii) accommodations, (iii) per diems, (iv) meals, (v) any and all hospitality; and (f) how many days in each fiscal year for the period requested did each of these individuals work in (i) VAC headquarters in Prince Edward Island, (ii) Ottawa?

With respect to staffing at Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC): (a) what is the breakdown, expressed as a percentage of the total number of VAC staff, of VAC staff who work in (i) the departmental headquarters in Ottawa, (ii) the departmental headquarters in Charlottetown, (iii) regional offices across Canada, (iv) sub-regional offices across Canada, (v) district offices across Canada; (b) what are the names and titles of departmental staff at the EX level and above in the Head Office in Ottawa; (c) what is the authorized number of employees on the Veterans Review and Appeal Board (VRAB); and (d) what is the breakdown of the location of the VRAB members and employees in the various regional and district offices of VAC?

With respect to staffing at Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC): (a) how many persons were employed by VAC in Prince Edward Island for the fiscal years 2007-2008, 2008-2009, 2009-2010, and 2010-2011, broken down by (i) full-time employees, (ii) part-time employees, (iii) term contract employees, (iv) student contract employees; (b) what is the deployment, broken down by percentage, of VAC staff to (i) departmental headquarters in Ottawa, (ii) departmental headquarters in Charlottetown, (iii) regional offices across Canada, (iv) sub-regional offices across Canada, (v) district offices across Canada; and (c) what was the total remuneration of VAC employees in Prince Edward Island for the same periods listed in (a)?

With respect to certain personnel at Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC), namely, Mary Chaput, Associate Deputy Minister; James Gilbert, Assistant Deputy Minister, Policy, Communications and Commemoration; Keith Hillier, Assistant Deputy Minister, Service Delivery Branch; Heather Parry, Assistant Deputy Minister; and Peter Yendall, Director General of Communications, for the period April 1, 2010, to March 31, 2012: (a) what does VAC provide for each individual in terms of salary range; (b) how much did each of these individuals claim for (i) food, (ii) travel, (iii) hotels, (iv) hospitality, broken down by fiscal year for the period requested; (c) what were the itemized amounts and descriptions of each individual’s individual expenses as identified in the answers to (b); (d) how many trips were taken by each of these individuals in each fiscal year for the period requested, broken down by (i) dates, (ii) destination(s), (iii) purpose(s); (e) for each trip in (d), what expenses were claimed, broken down by (i) transportation, (ii) accommodations, (iii) per diems, (iv) meals, (v) any and all hospitality; and (f) how many days in each fiscal year for the period requested did each of these individuals work in (i) VAC headquarters in Prince Edward Island, (ii) Ottawa?

With regard to government communications, what were the costs of transmitting each of the following press releases using Marketwire (or Marketwired) or Canada NewsWire: (i) “Harper Government continues to engage industry on the Canadian surface combatant project”, issued by Public Works and Government Services Canada on March 8, 2013, (ii) “Harper Government Invests in Canadian entrepreneurial business in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec”, issued by Public Works and Government Services Canada on March 15, 2013, (iii) “Harper Government kick-starts entrepreneurial and innovative business in Beaconsfield, Quebec”, issued by Public Works and Government Services Canada on March 18, 2013, (iv) “Harper Government's ship strategy bolstering Canada's economy”, issued by Public Works and Government Services Canada on March 7, 2013, (v) “National Fighter Procurement Secretariat awards contract for next independent cost review”, issued by Public Works and Government Services Canada on March 11, 2013, (vi) “Work progresses on Harper Government's evaluation of options to replace Canada's CF-18s”, issued by Public Works and Government Services Canada on March 3, 2013, (vii) “Harper Government and Wounded Warriors Canada Continue to Work Together in Support of the Vancouver Homeless Veterans Project”, issued by Veterans Affairs Canada on March 11, 2013, (viii) “Harper Government Commends Queen's University for Offering Priority Hiring to Veterans”, issued by Veterans Affairs Canada on February 27, 2013, (ix) “Harper Government Marks the End of the Italian Campaign”, issued by Veterans Affairs Canada on February 22, 2013, (x) “Harper Government Announces Funding to Support Brain Research”, issued by Health Canada on May 3, 2012?