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Thursday, February 4, 2021 (No. 57)

Questions

Those questions not appearing in the list have been answered, withdrawn or made into orders for return.

Q-347² — January 21, 2021 — — With regard to the Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations: (a) how many permits have been given to Canadians to produce (i) fewer than 50 plants, (ii) 50 to 100 plants, (iii) 100 to 200 plants, (iv) 200 to 300 plants, (v) over 300 plants; (b) broken down by year since 2016, how many licenses have been revoked due to criminal activity; (c) what specific actions, if any, did the government take to address the concerns raised in a news release from the York Regional Police on October 29, 2020, that “Investigators believe that organized crime continues to exploit the Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulation”; (d) did the government introduce any restrictions to prevent the creation of “cannabis farms” resulting from the pooling of grow licenses; and (e) what specific actions, if any, did the government take to address the concerns raised by the York Regional Police on October 29, 2020, that “Organized crime networks have comfortably embedded themselves in this business, capitalizing and exploiting the loopholes in the current legislation”, including which specific loopholes the government closed?

Q-348² — January 21, 2021 — — With regard to the Court Challenges Program, since the announcement on February 7, 2017, that it would be reinstated: (a) what is the total amount offered under the program; and (b) what are the specifics regarding each funding recipient, including the (i) name, (ii) amount promised by the government, (iii) amount received by the person concerned, (iv) court case concerned, (v) date on which the funding decision was made?

Q-349² — January 21, 2021 — — With regard to visa requirements for foreign nationals entering Canada, since December 1, 2016: (a) what formal review of the visa exemption has been undertaken by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada; (b) what consultations with federal departments and agencies have been undertaken with respect to the visa lift, including, for each consultation (i) the date, (ii) the place, (iii) the agencies and departments consulted, (iv) the country under review; (c) what are the criteria established by Canada in its visa policy framework to assess eligibility for a visa exemption; and (d) what aspects, in detail, are taken into consideration when Canada conducts a review of visa requirements, with respect to (i) socio-economic trends, (ii) migration issues, (iii) the integrity of travel documents, (iv) border management, (v) safety and security issues, (vi) human rights issues, (vii) bilateral and multilateral issues?

Q-350² — January 21, 2021 — — With regard to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s (CMHC) Project Stream of the Rapid Housing Initiative: (a) what was the (i) total number of applications received to date, (ii) total number of proposed projects, (iii) total number of proposed housing units; (b) what is the breakdown of each part of (a) by municipality and province or territory; (c) what was the dollar value of funds requested, broken down by (i) individual application, (ii) province or territory; and (d) what are the details of all applications in (c)(i), including (i) location, (ii) project description, (iii) number of proposed units, (iv) date the application was submitted to CMHC?

Q-351² — January 21, 2021 — — With regard to access to information requests filed since January 1, 2018, broken down by government institutions and by year: a) how many requests included requests for (i) text messages, (ii) audio recording or files, (iii) video recordings or files, including recordings of Zoom calls or similar, (iv) all records, including (i), (ii) and (iii); b) how many requests fulfilled have included records containing (i) text messages, (ii) audio recording or files, (iii) video recordings or files, including recordings of Zoom calls or similar; and (c) what is each government institution’s policy regarding the recordkeeping requirements and release through the ATIP process of (i) text messages, (ii) audio recordings or files, (iii) video recordings or files?

Q-352² — January 21, 2021 — — With regard to the spending the federal government has done since 2016, related to mitigating or addressing climate change, including, but not limited to, infrastructure, tax rebates, subsidies both for businesses and individuals, research and development, loans, grants and contributions, and transfers of any kind: (a) what is the total amount spent; (b) what is the total amount spent per province on an absolute basis; (c) what is the total amount spent per province on a basis relative to population; (d) what is the total amount spent on any entity outside of Canada, including foreign states; (e) what is the breakdown per foreign state for any amount spent outside of Canada; (f) what is the total amount spent on any international or multi-lateral organization; and (g) what is the breakdown of where any organization in (f) spent the funds?

Q-353² — January 21, 2021 — — With regard to the government’s response to the opioid crisis: has the government joined legal action against (i) Purdue Pharma, (ii) McKinsey, (iii) any other pharmaceutical companies or consultants who acted for pharmaceutical companies in relation to how their activities may have contributed to the opioid crisis, and if so, what is the status of any such action?

Q-354² — January 21, 2021 — — With regard to the government’s decision to appoint Dominic Barton to various positions since November 4, 2015: (a) did Dominic Barton disclose the work that McKinsey had done for Purdue Pharma before receiving government appointments; (b) was the government aware of the work that McKinsey had done for Purdue Pharma prior to appointing Dominic Barton; (c) did Dominic Barton recuse himself or was he asked to recuse himself from any aspect of his work for McKinsey in light of his concurrent work for the federal government, and if so, on what subject matters; and (d) on what date did the government become aware that McKinsey had done work for Purdue Pharma during the time when Dominic Barton was its managing director?

Q-355² — January 21, 2021 — — With regard to the $4.03 million in funding announced in 2017 by the government to bring high-speed Internet upgrades to Madsen, Iskatewizaagegan #39 Independent First Nation, Stratton, Minahico, the Nigigoonsiminikaaning First Nation, and the Anishinaabeg of Naongashiing: (a) what is the current status of each of these upgrade projects, including what specific work has been completed on each project; and (b) what is projected completion date of each project?

Q-356² — January 25, 2021 — — With regard to the use of government aircraft since April 1, 2020: (a) how many times have government aircraft travelled outside of Canada since April 1, 2020; and (b) what are the details of the legs of each such flights, including the (i) date, (ii) type of aircraft, (iii) origin, (iv) destination, (v) purpose of the trip, (vi) names of passengers?

Q-357² — January 25, 2021 — — With regard to the Keystone XL pipeline expansion project: (a) did the government take any action or make any representations to the Office of the President-elect or to President Joe Biden’s transition team to try to save the Keystone XL project, prior to the cancellation of the permit on January 20, 2021, and, if so, what are the specific details; and (b) if the answer in (a) is negative, why was no action taken?

Q-358² — January 25, 2021 — — With regard to expenditures on social media influencers, including any contracts which would use social media influencers as part of a public relations campaign, since October 23, 2020: (a) what are the details of all such expenditures, including the (i) vendor, (ii) amount, (iii) campaign description, (iv) date of the contract, (v) name or handle of the influencer; and (b) for each campaign that paid an influencer, was there a requirement to make public, as part of a disclaimer, the fact that the influencer was being paid by the government, and, if not, why not?

Q-359² — January 25, 2021 — — With regard to the use of transport or passenger aircraft, either owned or chartered by the government, between November 1, 2020, and January 25, 2021: what are the details of all flight legs, including the (i) date, (ii) type of aircraft, (iii) origin, (iv) destination, (v) purpose of the trip, (vi) names of passengers, (vii) vendor and cost, if aircraft was chartered?

Q-360² — January 26, 2021 — — With regard to the support units and bases of the Canadian Armed Forces and subcontracts, broken down by fiscal year since 2011-12: (a) what are the details of each contract, including (i) the supplier, (ii) the amount, (iii) the commodity description, (iv) the sourcing, sole or not; and (b) for each contract in (a), why was this work not performed by the Department of National Defence?

Q-361² — January 26, 2021 — — With regard to private debt guaranteed by the government: what is its total value, including all Crown corporations like the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation and Export Development Canada?

Q-362² — January 26, 2021 — — With regard to the government’s commitment to expunge the criminal records of LGBTQ2+ Canadians for historical offences that are no longer criminal offences as part of the Expungement of Historically Unjust Convictions Act: (a) how many people have applied to have their records expunged for unjust convictions; (b) what percentage of the applicants have been successful in having their records expunged; (c) of the unsuccessful applications, what reasons have been given for their rejection by category and how many rejected applications fall into each category; and (d) is there a deadline for applying for expungement under this act and, if so, will that deadline be extended to take into account the impact of the pandemic on the ability of those affected to complete applications?

Q-363² — January 27, 2021 — — With regard to the Royal Canadian Navy’s frigate replacement program and the National Shipbuilding Strategy: (a) how critical is progress on the modernization of the Royal Canadian Navy to the defence of Canada and its allies; (b) what is the status of the Canadian Surface Combatant procurement project, including the (i) timelines, (ii) costs, (iii) target dates for the Royal Canadian Navy to take delivery of the frigates; (c) has the government conducted an inquiry in regards to the management, costs and associated production delays of the Canadian Surface Combatant procurement project and, if not, will the government commit to holding such an inquiry and make the results public; (d) what measures are being taken by the government to make sure that the National Shipbuilding Strategy remains on track to provide Canada’s armed forces personnel with the equipment they need to do their work in a timely and cost-effective manner; and (e) has the government considered appointing a single minister responsible for defence procurement, similar to our allies in the United Kingdom and Australia, in order to streamline military procurement and to provide better accountability to the public and, if not, will the government commit to establishing such a position?

Q-364² — January 27, 2021 — — With regard to individuals entering Canada since April 1, 2020: (a) how many were (i) required to quarantine, (ii) exempted from quarantine requirement; and (b) what is the breakdown of (a) (i) and (ii) by month and by type of entry point (airport, land crossing, etc.)?

Q-365² — January 27, 2021 — — With regard to the Canada Summer Jobs program since 2016, broken down by year: (a) how many applications for funding under the program were rejected or denied due to (i) incomplete or incorrectly filled out application forms, (ii) failure to meet the eligibility requirements, (iii) lack of funding, (iv) another reason, broken down by reason, if possible; (b) what is the total number of applications rejected or denied; and (c) what was the total dollar value applied for by the applications in each of the subcategories of (a)?

Q-366² — January 27, 2021 — — With regard to the government's support for the campaign to make Bill Morneau the next secretary-General of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development: (a) what are the total expenditures or costs incurred by the government to date in relation to the campaign; (b) what are the projected final expenditures or costs, if different than in (a); (c) what is the breakdown of expenditures by type of expense; (d) what are the details of all contracts signed related to the campaign, including the (i) vendor, (ii) amount, (iii) date the contract was signed, (iv) location of the vendor, (v) description of goods or services, (vi) start and end date of the contract, if applicable; and (e) what was the total number of individuals assigned to work on or assist with the campaign, including those assigned on a part-time basis?

Q-367² — January 27, 2021 — — With regard to federal sponsorship of youth anti-drug programs: (a) does the government currently have plans to expand anti-drug programs for youth in Canada and, if so, what are the details; (b) how much funding has been given to support the Royal Canadian Mounted Police's Drug Abuse Resistance Education programs in Canada in the last three fiscal years; and (c) how much funding will be provided for the fiscal year 2021-22?

Q-368² — January 27, 2021 — — With regard to delays in the processing of immigration files submitted through the traditional hard-copy paper method: (a) how many files had their processing delayed as a result of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada employees not having access to paper files while working from home during the pandemic; (b) what is the number of files still (i) not being processed, (ii) delayed as a result of employees working from home, broken down by type of application; (c) what is the current backlog and processing times for applications submitted via (i) paper, (ii) online, broken down by type of application; and (d) what was the backlog and processing times for applications submitted via (i) paper, (ii) online, prior to the pandemic, or as of March 1, 2020?

Q-369² — January 28, 2021 — — With regard to Global Affairs Canada, from August 2020 to the present: (a) how much funding was (i) allocated, (ii) spent by month to promote the candidacy of Bill Morneau to the presidency of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development; (b) how many public servants were involved in substantial activities related to Mr. Morneau’s candidacy; and (c) how many person-hours were dedicated to substantial activities related to Mr. Morneau’s candidacy?

Q-370² — January 28, 2021 — — With regard to the negotiations between Canada and the United States to renew the Columbia River Treaty: (a) what is the current schedule of the negotiations; (b) which organizations and individuals have been granted observer status for the negotiations; (c) which organizations and individuals have requested observer status but were not granted it; and (d) what is the government's specific reason for denying the request for each organization or individual in (c)?

Q-371² — January 29, 2021 — — With regard to Visa Facilitation Services Global (VFS Global) processing visa applications for the government: (a) what is the list of countries in which VFS Global currently processes visas for the Canadian government; (b) what guarantees, if any, does the government have with VFS Global to ensure that any information collected from visa applicants is not shared with the company’s Chinese state-owned investment funds or the Chinese government; (c) does the government have any way of monitoring whether personal information provided to VFS Global is being shared or disclosed to any third party or state-owned organization; (d) how is the government notified and what processes are in place for when a data breach occurs with information in the possession of VFS Global; and (e) is the government aware of any such data breaches occurring and, if so, what are the details, including how individuals’ whose information was compromised were informed?

Q-372² — February 1, 2021 — — With regard to COVID-19 vaccines: (a) how many will Canada receive, broken down by week, between January 29, 2021, and the end of 2021; and (b) what is the breakdown by manufacturer with whom Canada has procurement agreements, including those manufacturers whose vaccines have not yet received Health Canada approval?

Q-373² — February 1, 2021 — — With regard to illegal firearms entering Canada: what is the government’s estimate of the number of illegal firearms that have entered the country since 2016, broken down by year and by method of entry (air cargo shipments, land passenger vehicle smuggling, etc.)?

Q-374² — February 1, 2021 — — With regard to ownership of government bonds: what is the total ownership of bonds, broken down by wealth quintile?

Q-375² — February 1, 2021 — — With regard to the directives outlined in the Supplementary mandate letter of January 15, 2021, addressed to the Minister of Veterans Affairs and Associate Minister of National Defence and signed by the Prime Minister: (a) what are the specific programs and services that will be reviewed to ensure veterans, their families, and their primary caregivers receive the best possible mental health supports, including timely access to service; (b) what are the metrics by which each program and service will be reviewed; and (c) when will a review of each program and service begin and end?

Q-376² — February 1, 2021 — — With regard to the decision to layoff air traffic control workers at the Regina International Airport and the statement by the Minister of Transport in the House of Commons on January 28, 2021, that "No decision has been made. It is important to note that any changes in the level of service proposed by Nav Canada will be subjected to a rigorous safety assessment by Transport Canada": (a) why were layoff notices provided to workers prior to January 28, 2021, if "no decision has been made"; (b) on what date was the decision made; (c) on what date was Transport Canada first notified of the decision; (d) what are the details of how the "rigorous safety assessment by Transport Canada" was conducted; and (e) what were the results of the safety assessment?

Q-377² — February 2, 2021 — — With regard to the various travel restrictions and border measures put into place during the pandemic: (a) what is the government's criteria or exit strategy regarding when each restriction or measure will be eased, including the targeted number of vaccinations, cases or hospitalizations before the government will consider easing each measure; and (b) does the government have any projected timeline for when each criteria in (a) is expected to be met and, if so, what is the timeline?

Q-378² — February 2, 2021 — — With regard to the impact of interest rate hikes on the government’s finances: what are the Department of Finance’s projections on the amount of interest the government will have to pay to service the debt in each of the next 10 years under the (i) current interest rate levels, (ii) increased interest rate levels, broken down by rate?

Q-379² — February 2, 2021 — — With regard to the government’s decision to grant a travel exemption to family members of Meng Wanzhou: (a) on what date was the exemption granted; (b) which minister signed off on the exemption; (c) why was the exemption granted; (d) did the family members also receive an exemption from the 14-day quarantine requirement and, if so, why was such an exemption granted; and (e) has the government provided any other travel exemptions since April 1, 2020, for family members of individuals awaiting extradition and, if so, how many were granted, broken down by month?

Q-380² — February 2, 2021 — — With regard to the planned layoffs at the air traffic control towers in St-Jean, Windsor, Sault Ste. Marie, Regina, Fort McMurray, Prince George and Whitehorse: (a) how many air traffic controllers have received layoff notices, broken down by each airport; (b) does the Minister of Transport agree with the decision to lay off these air traffic controllers, and, if not, has he asked Nav Canada to reverse the decision; and (c) did Transport Canada conduct an analysis on the impact of these layoff decisions, and, if so, what methodology was used, and what were the findings, broken down by airport?


² Response requested within 45 days