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

With regard to the renting of venues or properties for executive retreats or meetings outside of a government department, agency or Crown Corporation’s own offices (i.e., where an expense for rental of rooms is made to an outside party), from 2006 to December 1, 2011, for all government departments, agencies and Crown corporations: (a) what was the total cost of the rental of these venues for each department, agency or Crown corporation; (b) for each department, agency and Crown corporation, how many times were venues or properties contracted for or rented; and (c) in each case, (i) what was the name and location of the venue or property, (ii) what was the reason or purpose of the venue or property rental, (iii) how many people attended the retreat or meeting, (iv) what was the overall cost of the rental of the venue?

With regard to each meeting of the Treasury Board since April 1, 2009: (a) what was the date of the meeting; (b) where did the meeting occur; (c) who was in attendance; and (d) what was the agenda of the meeting?

With regard to the Department of National Defence's preparation for the Auditor General of Canada's 2012 Spring Report: (a) how many meetings were held on the issue of the F-35s; and (b) who attended these meetings and what are their (i) titles, (ii) responsibilities?

With regard to the awarding of medals, decorations and awards for present or past members of Canada's Forces: (a) since 2006, were meetings organized by a committee within the government, a department, or an inter-departmental entity to consider such awarding, and, if so, (i) when, (ii) who attended, (iii) who chaired those meetings, (iv) were minutes taken, (v) were the minutes made public, and, if not, why not, (vi) was Rideau Hall involved in these meetings, and, if so, what was the nature of their involvement; and (b) did Ministers of the Crown take part in any of these meetings with respect to decorations for Canadian members of Bomber Command, and, if so, did they participate (i) directly, (ii) in writing, (iii) orally, (iv) by way of a representative of their office, (v) if no representation occurred, why?

With regard to Library and Archives Canada (LAC): (a) what is the nature of LAC's participation, if any, in the 2012 Canadian Library Association's conference of May 30 to June 2, 2012, in Ottawa, Ontario; (b) how many LAC (i) librarians, (ii) other staff members attended the conference; and (c) if no LAC librarians or staff attended the conference, why was this the case?

With regard to particular military theatres in which Canada has been involved, what decisions about medals for the Canadian military in these theatres have been made since 2000 and what committees, advisory boards, groups or inter-departmental units have been involved in these decisions?

With regard to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), and more specifically the DFO Regional Office in Newfoundland and Labrador (White Hills), what official(s) at the regional office met with Mr. Loyola Sullivan of Ocean Choice International between June 1, 2011, and May 10, 2012, including (i) the function and title of the official, (ii) the date of the meeting(s), (iii) the location of the meeting, (iv) the topic(s) discussed, (v) the details of any briefing notes or other materials prepared for or used at the meeting?

With respect to the planning for and the execution of the joint meeting of the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR) and the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada (MSSC), on August 26, 2010: (a) what were the most recent statistics CIHR had regarding MS as of August 26, 2010, and had CIHR received, internally or externally, any request to update the figures beforehand; (b) what criteria were used to identify which international experts in chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency (CCSVI) should be invited to the August 26, 2010, meeting, and, (i) was Dr. Mark Haacke a candidate for invitation and, if so, why was he not invited, (ii) was Dr. Marion Simka a candidate for invitation and, if so, why was he not invited, (iii) was Dr. Paolo Zamboni a candidate for invitation, and, if so, why was he not invited, (iv) which invitees had expertise or experience administering CCSVI treatment, (v) why did the criteria not exclude from participation individuals who had publicly criticized the validity of CCSVI, (vi) what was the rationale for “[keeping] the international participation in focus” (Answer to Access to Information Request ATI 2010-006); (c) what CIHR experts were consulted regarding CCSVI/MS prior to the August 26, 2010, meeting, and, if any CIHR experts were consulted, what recommendations did they make, including any recommendations concerning large multi-centre clinical trials; (d) what briefings did the Minister of Health provide to members of the Conservative caucus regarding CCSVI or MS prior to the August 26, 2010, meeting, (i) what were the dates of any briefings, (ii) what information was provided; (e) did provincial governments express “mounting pressure” (ATI 2010-006) from the public regarding the need for clinical trials and treatment for CCSVI, and, if so, which provinces expressed any such pressure; (f) did any of the provinces and territories communicate an interest in partnering with the federal government on a “potential initiative” (ATI 2010-006), and, if so, what were the details of the “potential initiative” (ATI 2010-006); (g) by what date and by whom was CIHR made aware of the history of the theory of abnormal vasculature in MS dating back more than 100 years; (h) what was CIHR’s rationale for focussing its literature review on CCSVI and for excluding from consideration literature on the theory of abnormal vasculature in MS and why did CIHR decide to have students work on this literature review; (i) what criteria did the CIHR use to determine which of the 19 studies identified through PubMed (July 2010) it would include in its review of existing literature and research; (j) on what date did the President of CIHR first state that he would be pleased to provide for a randomized control trial on CCSVI treatment for review at the next grant competition, and (i) did the President ever speak to the “F/P/T” (ATI 2010-006) regarding the need for randomized clinical trials; (k) what lobbyists and/or pharmaceutical companies asked for a meeting with the Minister of Health’s office prior to August 26, 2010, to discuss a new oral MS drug and CCSVI treatment, and (i) what lobbyists and/or companies were “well respected” (ATI 2010-006) and had “a solid reputation with the MSSC” (ATI 2010-006); (l) why did CIHR change its position in March 2011 regarding an MS registry, and how was this change possible, given CIHR’s previous statements to Dr. Carolyn Bennett and Dr. Kirsty Duncan that the creation of such a registry “was outside” their “mandate” (ATI 2010-006); (m) did CIHR have money available for funding clinical trials related to CCSVI, (i) was CIHR “overcommitted” (ATI 2010-006), (ii) if so, by how much, (iii) could CIHR have found “some money” (ATI 2010-006), (iv) when could money have been available; (n) prior to the August 26, 2010, meeting, how many provinces and territories “expressed some level of support for a clinical trial” (ATI 2010-006); (o) concerning the e-mail exchange of August 24, 2011, contained in the response to ATI 2010-006, did the Minister of Health "have authority or [did] she need to go through cabinet" (ATI 2010-006); (p) were abnormal veins discussed in any of the August 26, 2010, presentations, and, if so, (i) which presenters covered this issue, (ii) what historical papers were referenced; (q) was iron accumulation in MS brains discussed in any of the August 26, 2010, presentations, and, if so, (i) which presenters covered the issue, (ii) what historical papers were referenced; (r) did any of the presentations explore a possible relationship between abnormal brain veins and tissue damage in MS, and, if so, (i) which presenters covered the issue, (ii) what historical papers were referenced; (s) what criteria were used or what process was followed to prepare the Summary Report of the August 26, 2010, meeting and, specifically, why was no reference made in the Summary Report to historical papers discussing abnormal vasculature and iron accumulation; and (t) does the Summary Report of the August 26, 2010, meeting disclose potential conflicts of interests of the attendees, and, if not, why was this information not included?

With regard to the schedule of the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development since his appointment in January, 2013: (a) how many meetings has the Minister had with Aboriginal nations, (i) with whom has he met, (ii) when did the meetings occur, (iii) where did these meetings occur, (iv) what were the agendas of said meetings, (v) how much has the department spent on travel for these meetings; (b) how many meeting requests from Aboriginal nations and groups has the Minister received, (i) how many received a “yes” to their meeting requests, (ii) how many received a “no” to their meeting requests; (c) how many meeting requests from private businesses, corporations and other similar organisations has the Minister received, (i) how many received a “yes” to their meeting requests, (ii) how many received a “no” to their meeting requests; and (d) how many meeting requests from provincial and municipal governments has the Minister received, (i) how many received a “yes” to their meeting requests, (ii) how many received a “no” to their meeting requests?