Questions and responses 42nd Parliament, 1st session December 3, 2015, to September 11, 2019

With regard to Statistics Canada's Table 204-0001, ''High income trends of tax filers in Canada, provinces and territories, and census metropolitan areas (CMA), national thresholds annual (percent)'', for 2015 and 2016, and broken down by year: (a) what is the number of tax filers in the (i) top 1%, (ii) top 10%, (iii) bottom 50%; and (b) what is the percentage of federal and provincial or territorial income tax paid as a percentage of total tax paid for each group in (a)?

With regard to communication sent or received by Statistics Canada since January 1, 2017: (a) what are the details of all communication between Statistics Canada and the Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, the Office of the Minister or the Department of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, including (i) date, (ii) sender, (iii) recipient, (iv) title, (v) subject matter, (vi) summary of contents, (vii) format (email, letter, teleconference, etc.); (b) what are the details of all communication between Statistics Canada and banks or other financial institutions, including (i) date, (ii) sender, (iii) recipient, (iv) title, (v) subject matter, (vi) summary of contents, (vii) format (email, letter, teleconference, etc.); and (c) what are the details of all communication between Statistics Canada and the Office of the Prime Minister or the Privy Council Office, including (i) date, (ii) sender, (iii) recipient, (iv) title, (v) subject matter, (vi) summary of contents, (vii) format (email, letter, teleconference, etc.)?

With regard to contracts under $10 000 granted by Statistics Canada since January 1, 2016: what are the (i) vendors' names, (ii) contracts' reference and file numbers, (iii) dates of the contracts, (iv) descriptions of the services provided, (v) delivery dates, (vi) original contracts' values, (vii) final contracts' values if different from the original contracts' values?

With regard to Statistics Canada: (a) what is the complete and detailed list of all surveys, data products, tables, and publications whose collection, measurement, or reporting was discontinued between February 6, 2006, and November 4, 2015; (b) for each item listed in (a), (i) on what date was it first established, (ii) on what date was it discontinued, (iii) what was the rationale for its discontinuation, (iv) by what process was this decision reached, (v) how many Canadians had been accessing its data on an annual basis, (vi) what was the cost-savings from its discontinuation; and (c) is it the current government's policy to reinstate its collection, measurement, or reporting?

With regard to Statistics Canada’s plan to harvest data from Canadians’ bank accounts: for each of the next five years, what is the projected revenue that the agency will receive as a result of selling information or statistics obtained as a result of the project?

With regard to the methods used by Statistics Canada: (a) what method did Statistics Canada use to calculate the unemployment rate and full-time and part-time employment rates in Canada in 2017-18, (i) do the current methods differ from those used in 2015 and in 2010, (ii) if the answer to (a)(i) is affirmative, that the current methods differ from those used in 2010 and 2015, how do they differ; (b) what data collection procedures did Statistics Canada use for the unemployment rate and full-time and part-time employment rates for 2017-18, (i) do the current procedures differ from those used in 2015 and in 2010, (ii) if the answer to (b)(i) is affirmative, that the current procedures differ from those used in 2010 and 2015, how do they differ; (c) what calculation methods and data collection procedures were used for the unemployment rate and full-time and part-time employment rates, respectively, in the economic regions of Gaspé-Magdalen Islands (10), Lower St. Lawrence and North Shore (19) and Restigouche-Albert (09) in 2010, 2015, and 2017-18, (i) do the current calculation methods and data collection procedures differ from those used in 2015 and 2010, (ii) if the answer to (c)(i) is affirmative, that the current calculation methods and data collection procedures differ from those used in 2015 and 2010, how do they differ; and (d) what percentage and number of senior citizens receiving a pension were included in the collection of data on the unemployment and employment rates in the economic regions of Gaspé-Magdalen Islands (10), Lower St. Lawrence and North Shore (19) and Restigouche-Albert (09) in 2010, 2015, and 2017-18?

With regard Statistics Canada’s plan to harvest financial transaction data and the claim by the Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development that he found out about the plan through the media: (a) on what date did Statistics Canada begin developing the plan; (b) on what date did Statistics Canada notify banks or financial institutions about the plan; (c) on what date did Statistics Canada notify the Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development about the plan; and (d) on what date did Statistics Canada notify the Privacy Commissioner about the plan?

With regard to Statistics Canada’s plan to collect financial transaction data on Canadians: (a) by what means will data be anonymized; (b) which employee classification will have access to data that has not been anonymized; and (c) what cyber security protection measures have been put in place to protect this sensitive data?

With regard to Statistics Canada and specifically the incident described in the March 11, 2018, CBC story, where 587 long-form census forms were stored in the trunk of an employee's vehicle that was stolen on a weekend trip to Montreal: (a) were the completed census forms ever recovered and, if so, when; (b) were the individuals whose information was stolen notified about the incident and, if so, when and how; (c) did the Statistics Canada employee who left the forms in his trunk violate any government policies or procedures and, if so, which ones; and (d) what specific changes have been made to the manner in which census information is stored as a result of this incident?