Questions and responses 44th Parliament, 1st session November 22, 2021, to January 6, 2025

With regard to the government’s announcement on February 21, 2022, that it would provide up to $136 million to connect rural households in Newfoundland and Labrador to high-speed internet: (a) what are the details of all projects approved through this funding, including, for each, the (i) recipient, (ii) location, (iii) project description, (iv) number of households that will receive new broadband service, (v) number of households that will receive upgraded broadband service, (vi) amount of funding, (vii) project start and completion dates, (viii) date the project application was received, (ix) date the project was approved, (x) funding breakdown between federal and provincial governments; (b) what is the total amount of funding provided to projects, to date, under the funding; (c) what was the eligibility and performance criteria used to determine if an applicant qualified for funding; and (d) what were the penalties for recipients that did not meet (i) the performance metrics, (ii) the timeline, (iii) all other requirements, outlined in the funding agreement?

With regard to the government's response to Order Paper Question Q-3051 showing the number of taxpayers in each riding that received the Canada Carbon Rebate rural supplement: what is the government's explanation for why certain individuals in completely urban ridings, such as Winnipeg Centre, Ottawa Centre and numerous completely urban ridings in the Greater Toronto Area, are receiving the rural supplement?

With regard to the Canada Carbon Rebate rural supplement (top-up), broken down by year since the rural supplement began: what was the total (i) amount of top-up money paid, (ii) number of top-up recipients, broken down by each federal riding which qualified for the rural supplement?

With regard to the claim that “[s]ince 2015, the Government of Canada has made available over $7.2 billion to close this unacceptable gap in service” contained in the document entitled "Canada’s Rural Economic Development Strategy: Progress Report", August 2021 related to connectivity for rural Canadians: (a) what is the breakdown of the $7.2 billion by initiative or program; and (b) what are the details of all projects which received more than $10,000 of the $7.2 billion, including the (i) amount of federal contribution, (ii) start and end dates of the project, (iii) project description, (iv) project location, (v) funding recipient, (vi) company involved in the project, if different from the funding recipient?

With regard to the Climate Action Incentive Payment and the government's plan to increase the rural top-up rate from 10 to 20 percent of the baseline amount starting in April 2024: how will the rate increase be funded, including whether the increase will come from general revenue or from carbon tax revenue?

With regard to nurses employed by Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) to provide health care to rural, remote and Northern communities, broken down by province or territory: (a) what is the current number of nurses employed by ISC who are (i) full-time, (ii) part-time; (b) what is the total number of new nurses hired since September 1, 2022; (c) what is the current number of vacant nursing positions; and (d) which nursing stations had their capacity reduced due to staffing shortages in other communities?

With regard to the government’s announcement on November 14, 2022, about securing a foreign supply of children’s acetaminophen for sale at retail and in community pharmacies: (a) are there any measures in place to ensure that some of the supply will be sold in pharmacies located in small towns and other rural areas, and, if so, (i) what are those measures, (ii) how many doses are the measures expected to make available for small town and rural pharmacies; and (b) what is the breakdown of the doses expected to be available in each province or territory?

With regard to rural post offices: how many rural post offices are there in Canada serving populations under 1,000, since 2015, broken down by: (i) postal code, (ii) the model they employ (postmaster-provided, franchise, etc.), (iii) the size of the population served, (iv) the annual leasing costs paid by Canada Post, (v) the percentage of the population served that is indigenous, (vi) the years the post office operated?

With regard to the Universal Broadband Fund and other funds relating to the government's various commitments since October 2015 to provide broadband and high-speed Internet services to rural and underserved communities: (a) how many applications for funding have been received for projects located in whole or in part in Lanark County or Frontenac County, Ontario; (b) of those applications in (a), how many have been approved, and when was each approved; (c) what is the total dollar amount distributed to projects located in whole or in part in Lanark County or Frontenac County, Ontario; (d) what are the details of each approved project referred to in (b), including the (i) recipient, (ii) amount, (iii) location, (iv) project description or summary.

With regard to the meeting between the office of the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada and the Mayor of Swan River, Manitoba, referred to in the government’s response to petition 441-01673: (a) what was the (i) date, (ii) time, (iii) location, of the meeting; (b) what were the titles of all attendees representing the government who attended the meeting; (c) why was the meeting initiated; (d) what were the outcomes of the meeting; (e) were there any presentations or briefing materials provided during, or in advance of the meeting, by the government; and (f) did the representatives in (b) take any notes during the meeting?

With regard to the Universal Broadband Fund announcement by the government on August 28, 2023, specifically relating funding recipient Rogers – UBF-05530 in the amount of $79,052,000 to bring high speed internet access to 28,269 households: (a) how many of the 28,269 individual households are each located in (i) Ancaster, (ii) Binbrook, (iii) Branchton, (iv) Campbellville, (v) Carlisle, (vi) Copetown, (vii) Dundas, (viii) Freelton, (ix) Grassie, (x) Jerseyville, (xi) Kilbride, (xii) Lynden, (xiii) Millgrove, (xiv) Mount Hope, (xv) Pleasant View Survey, (xvi) Rockton, (xvii) Sheffield, (xviii) Stoney Creek, (xix) Strabane, (xx) Troy, (xxi) Waterdown; and (b) how much of the allotted $79,052,000 for this project is allocated to be used in (i) Ancaster, (ii) Binbrook, (iii) Branchton, (iv) Campbellville, (v) Carlisle, (vi) Copetown, (vii) Dundas, (viii) Freelton, (ix) Grassie, (x) Jerseyville, (xi) Kilbride, (xii) Lynden, (xiii) Millgrove, (xiv) Mount Hope, (xv) Pleasant View Survey, (xvi) Rockton, (xvii) Sheffield, (xviii) Stoney Creek, (xix) Strabane, (xx) Troy, (xxi) Waterdown?

With regard to the National Housing Strategy and the statement by the Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion on December 7, 2021, that the government's National Housing Strategy has a rural lens to it: (a) what are the details of the rural lens applied to the National Housing Strategy; (b) when and how was the rural lens developed; (c) who was responsible for developing the rural lens; (d) what is definition of "rural community" when using a rural lens for the program; (e) what specific criteria is used for determining which communities are included as a rural community; (f) how did the government calculate that 38% of Rapid Housing Initiative projects are in rural and Indigenous communities; (g) what is the breakdown of (f) by type of community, including the amount of money that has been spent in communities that fit under the definition in (d); and (h) what are the government's targets for the number of houses built through the Rapid Housing Initiative, by type of community?

With regard to the findings from the 2023 Auditor General Report 2 titled “Connectivity in Rural and Remote Areas” that “59.5% of households had access to Internet coverage at the target speeds” in rural and remote areas: (a) after the completion of the Universal Broadband Fund, what percentage of rural and remote communities will still need connectivity to meet the 50/10 goal; (b) by 2026, what is the estimated percentage of rural and remote households that will be connected to the 50/10 goal based on funded and projected projects; (c) what improvements are planned for the Internet Service Availability map to ensure that it is up to date and accurate; (d) when will each of the improvements in (c) be implemented; (e) does the National Broadband Internet Service Availability Map share a data source with the Ontario New Interactive High-Speed Internet Map; and (f) what is the breakdown of the submissions received by (i) consumers, (ii) providers on the feedback section of the government’s web page titled “High-speed Internet for all Canadians”, broken down by geographic area the submission was from and by the nature of the feedback?

With regard to the Minister for Innovation, Science and Industry’s commitment to stabilize food prices: (a) has the Minister held any meetings with CEOs or executives of companies serving Northern, rural, and remote communities where there is little or no competition in the grocery sector; (b) does the Minister’s commitment to stabilize grocery prices include efforts to stabilize prices in Northern, rural and remote communities where food insecurity is the highest; (c) does the Minister’s efforts to create a grocery task force include a mandate to monitor the practices of grocers in Northern, rural and remote communities; and (d) what efforts is the Minister making to improve the availability and accessibility of data on food prices in Northern, rural and remote communities?

With regard to Rural and Suburban Mail Carriers (RSMCs), broken down by province or territory and fiscal year since 2015-16: (a) what is the total number of RSMCs required to use their own vehicles to deliver mail; (b) how many employees were remunerated at (i) the maximum tax-exempt-per allowance rate, (ii) under the maximum tax-exempt-per allowance rate; (c) what was the maximum tax-exempt-per allowance limit and rate for each fiscal year; (d) what was the total amount remunerated to RSMCs under (i) the maximum tax-exempt-per allowance rate, (ii) under the maximum tax-exempt-per allowance rate; and (e) what is the total amount of actual automobile expenses covered for RSMCs?

With regard to the press release dated April 4, 2022, “Government of Canada announces affordable high-speed Internet to help connect low-income families and seniors”: (a) which participating Internet service providers (ISP) will be providing services under Connecting Families 2.0 to rural areas as defined by Statistics Canada; (b) how many eligible households whom received a letter from the government will not be able to participate in Connecting Families 2.0 due to not having a participating ISP service in their geographic area; (c) how many and which census divisions with rural areas will have (i) no participating ISP servicing the area, (ii) less than 50 per cent of the census division serviced by a participating ISP, (iii) less than 25 per cent of the census division serviced by a participating ISP; (d) in the federal electoral district of Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound, which census subdivisions or municipalities will have no participating ISPs; (e) how will the government increase participating ISPs servicing rural areas; and (f) how will the government ensure that this program provides equal access to the social and economic advantages of affordable internet to both rural and urban low income Canadians?

With regard to the statement in the government’s response to Order Paper Question Q-1449 on the Centre for Rural Economic Development that “In 2022, the Minister of Rural Economic Development participated in more than 100 stakeholder engagement sessions across Canada”: what are the details of each meeting, including, for each, (i) the date, (ii) the location, (iii) the type of meeting (virtual, in person), (iv) the list of attendees, (v) the number of attendees, (vi) the titles of all attendees representing the government at the meeting, including ministers, (vii) the advertised topic, (viii) the list of individuals invited, (ix) the date the invitations were sent out, (x) whether the public was invited, and, if so, how was the public notified?

With regard to the Minister of Rural Economic Development’s announcement on improving connectivity in rural Saskatchewan made on March 17, 2023, since the announcement: (a) how much of the $37 million in announced funding has been spent to date; (b) what projects, if any, have received funding; and (c) have any of the Hanson Lake Road projects been approved for this funding, including (i) Hanson Lake Road A UBF-3500, (ii) Hanson Lake Road B UBF-3501, (iii) Hanson Lake Road C UBF-3502, (iv) Creighton UBF-3503, (v) Hanson Lake Road UBF-3506, (vi) other projects?

With regard to the Centre for Rural Economic Development, since its founding: (a) how much has been paid out in bonuses and performance awards, broken down by year; (b) how many employees received bonuses or performance awards each year; and (c) what are the details of the $400,000 listed, under the standard object 0306-subscriptions and data, in the government’s response to Order Paper Question Q-1449, including, for each contract, the (i) vendor, (ii) date, (iii) amount, (iv) description of the goods or services?

With regard to the Centre for Rural Economic Development: (a) where is the Centre for Rural Economic Development headquartered; (b) how many full time equivalents are employed by the Centre for Rural Economic Development; (c) what are the classifications and job titles of each employee in (b); (d) how many rural communities have contacted the Centre for Rural Economic Development, broken down by community and fiscal year; (e) how many issues raised with the Centre for Rural Economic Development were deemed (i) resolved, (ii) unresolved; (f) what was the total annual budget and the forecasted budget for each fiscal year between 2019-20 and 2025-26; (g) what is the annual spending, broken down by year and by standard object, from 2019-20 to 2022-23; (h) what is the amount of spending on internal services or overhead, broken down by year, between 2019-20 and 2022-23; and (i) what are the latest performance indicators and results?