Questions and responses 45th Parliament, 1st session May 26, 2025, to present

With regard to the Department of National Defence, the Public Health Agency of Canada and the Department of Health: (a) since 2019, what are the details of all projects which included the Department of National Defence working together with either the Public Health Agency of Canada or the Department of Health, or both, including (i) the project name, (ii) the start date, (iii) the end date, (iv) the cost of the project, (v) the total number of personnel who contributed to the project, (vi) which departments contributed to the projects, (vii) which employees or contractors contributed to the projects, (viii) which department was responsible for the approval of project decisions, (ix) the project's purpose; (b) for each project in (a), which companies contributed to the project, and, for each, what was the (i) company name, (ii) cost of company services, (iii) date of company services, (iv) subject of the service provided; and (c) for the companies in (b), is there a process to audit for conflict of interest, and, if so, which department conducts the audits and stores the audit results?

With regard to the government’s announcement in budget 2024 that they will create a new “capstone research funding organization”: (a) what will be the purpose of this organization; (b) how much money has been allocated to, or is projected to be required by, this organization to date and over each of the next five fiscal years; (c) what specific gaps, deficiencies, or coordination challenges in the current federal research support system is this new capstone organization intending to address; (d) what is expected to be achieved by the organization in the (i) short, (ii) medium, (iii) long, term; (e) how will capstone fit in organizationally with the (i) Canadian Institutes of Health Research, (ii) Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, (iii) Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council; (f) will the new capstone organization have any funding authority or influence over any of the entities in (e), and, if so, what are the details; (g) how will the government avoid duplication between the work of capstone and the other entities in (e); (h) what impact, if any, will the establishment and funding of capstone have on the funding of the other entities in (e); (i) what metrics will be used to assess the impact of the new capstone organization, and whether or not the government is receiving value for its money; (j) how often will the assessments in (i) take place, and how will the results be made public; (k) what will be the composition of the board, or other governing body of the capstone, and how much will they be paid; and (l) on what date is capstone expected to be fully operational?

With regard to the Great Lakes Fishery Commission, Treasury Board appropriations, and the government's response to parliamentary committee recommendations: (a) what is the current process by which Treasury Board approved appropriations for Canada's obligations to the Great Lakes Fishery Commission flow through Fisheries and Oceans Canada, and on what legal, policy, and administrative basis does this arrangement continue; (b) why has the government not corrected the conflict of interest noted in the 11th report of the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans, which was adopted during the 1st session of the 44th Parliament, that found that, Fisheries and Oceans Canada's dual role as both the funder and the delivery agent of the Sea Lamprey Control Program represents a conflict of interest; (c) what accountability mechanisms are currently in place to ensure that funds flowing through Fisheries and Oceans Canada are not influenced by the department's operational role in delivering the Sea Lamprey Control Program; (d) why has the government not yet implemented recommendation number eight of the standing committee's report, which calls for transferring responsibility for the Great Lakes Fishery Commission, including the flow of Treasury Board appropriations, from Fisheries and Oceans Canada to Global Affairs Canada; (e) what is the timeline for implementing the transfer in (d); and (f) what assessment has the government made of the risks posed by not yet implementing recommendation number eight, including risks to (i) Canada's compliance with its international treaty obligations, (ii) the credibility of Canada's governance of shared Great Lakes resources, (iii) the effective and timely delivery of sea lamprey control activities?