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

With regard to the costs incurred by the government in settling lawsuits or claims, as identified in the 2011 Public Accounts totaling $654 million, divided by department, what are the: (a) identities of the claimants or organizations; (b) details of the grievance including the (i) times, (ii) location(s), (iii) type(s), (iv) nature of dispute; (c) monetary amounts and any other terms requested in the claimant's initial claim or lawsuit; (d) subsequent government responses including (i) monetary offers, (ii) any other terms; (e) dates of settlement agreements; (f) types of settlements; (g) amounts of the settlements, and all other terms agreed to in the settlements; (h) the amounts that have been paid by the date of December 7, 2011; (i) estimated costs of not settling and using judicial channels; (j) names of government employees involved in the settlements and their role; (k) Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) hours spent on each claim's settlement; (l) legal fees incurred by the government (including those, if applicable, of the claimant) in each claim's settlement; and (m) steps taken to ensure the events leading to the lawsuit or claim are not repeated and any further lawsuits or claims are mitigated?

Since January 1, 2006, what are the particulars, including the nature of any claim or legal action, amount, date of payment, and government official to whom the payment was made, of all legal fees paid in accordance with (i) section 8.6.1 of the Policies for Ministers Offices, (ii) section 6.1.14 of the Policy on Legal Assistance and indemnification, (iii) predecessor provisions to either of these two sections?

With respect to the legislative mandate for the Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO): (a) how many legal opinions has the government drafted on the legislative mandate of the PBO and for each opinion (i) when was the opinion asked for, (ii) when was the opinion drafted, (iii) was the opinion produced by public servants or an outside consultant; and (b) how much has the government spent drafting these legal opinions?

With regard to the ongoing disputes between the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) and one of its former employees, Dr. Chander Grover, between January 1, 2004, and October 31, 2010: (a) how much money has the NRC spent on legal services and costs for services provided by external legal counsel; (b) how much money has the NRC spent on legal services and costs for services provided by the Department of Justice; (c) how much money has the NRC spent on external communications advice; and (d) how much has the NRC spent on external consultants?

With regard to the $16, 667 in professional and special services spent by the Minister of Labour in fiscal year 2010-2011 in her capacity as Minister of Natural Resources: (a) how much of this money was spent on legal services; (b) what was the nature, extent and purpose of those legal services; (c) was there any court case associated with those legal services and, if so, what is the citation of that case; and (d) what is the contact information, if any, such as telephone number or e-mail address, associated with those legal services?

With regard to the Department of Veterans Affairs, what were the legal costs incurred by the government with respect to the case of Manuge v. Canada, decided as Supreme Court of Canada docket 33103, broken down by: (a) pre-trial costs; (b) costs related to proceedings at the Federal Court of Canada; (c) costs related to proceedings at the Federal Court of Appeal; (d) costs related to proceedings at the Supreme Court of Canada; and (e) other costs, specifying the nature of those costs?

With regard to the case of PHS Community Services Society v. Attorney General of Canada: (a) how much was spent by the government in this case before the Supreme Court of British Columbia, broken down by (i) year, (ii) department, (iii) type of expense; (b) how much was spent by the government on its appeal to the Court of Appeal for British Columbia of the British Columbia Supreme Court’s decision in this case, broken down by (i) year, (ii) department, (iii) type of expense; and (c) how much was spent by the government on its appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada of the Court of Appeal for British Columbia’s decision in this case, broken down by (i) year, (ii) department, (iii) type of expense?

With regard to the Department of National Defence: (a) how many Members of Parliament wrote to the Minister with respect to the Service Income Security Insurance Plan (SISIP) unfair deduction of Pension Act Payments from 2007 to 2012 inclusive; (b) how many Conservative MPs wrote the Minister with respect to SISIP from 2007 to 2012 inclusive; (c) what was the total amount of money spent by all government departments and agencies on the SISIP class action lawsuit including outside legal counsel; (d) what is the estimated cost for settling the SISIP class action lawsuit; and (e) has the government determined how far back it will apply retroactivity to veterans who were part of the SISIP class action lawsuit?

With regard to the Property Value Protection Program associated with the low-level radioactive waste clean-up in the Port Hope area, as of March 15, 2013, what are the total legal costs incurred by the government for all claims that have entered into arbitration?

With regard to Public Works and Government Services Canada, what were the legal costs incurred by the government with respect to the case Halifax Regional Municipality v. Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, – and – City of Toronto, Federation of Canadian Municipalities, Association of Canadian Port Authorities and City of Québec, decided as Supreme Court of Canada docket 33876, distinguishing costs incurred: (a) pre-trial; (b) related to proceedings at the Federal Court of Canada; (c) related to proceedings at the Federal Court of Appeal; (d) related to proceedings at the Supreme Court of Canada; and (e) other costs, specifying the nature of those costs?