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44th PARLIAMENT, 1st SESSION

Journals No. 53 Tuesday, April 5, 2022 10:00 a.m.

The clerk informed the House of the unavoidable absence of the Speaker.

Whereupon, Mr. d'Entremont (West Nova), Deputy Speaker and Chair of Committees of the Whole, took the chair, pursuant to subsection 43(1) of the Parliament of Canada Act.

Prayer

Daily Routine Of Business

Introduction of Government Bills

Pursuant to Standing Orders 68(2) and 69(1), on motion of Mr. Rodriguez (Minister of Canadian Heritage), seconded by Ms. Petitpas Taylor (Minister of Official Languages and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency), Bill C-18, An Act respecting online communications platforms that make news content available to persons in Canada, was introduced, read the first time, ordered to be printed and ordered for a second reading at the next sitting of the House.

Introduction of Private Members' Bills

Pursuant to Standing Orders 68(2) and 69(1), on motion of Ms. Diab (Halifax West), seconded by Mr. Aboultaif (Edmonton Manning), Bill C-268, An Act to designate the month of November as Lebanese Heritage Month, was introduced, read the first time, ordered to be printed and ordered for a second reading at the next sitting of the House.

Presenting Petitions

Pursuant to Standing Order 36, petitions certified by the Clerk of Petitions were presented as follows:

— by , one concerning employment and labour (No. 441-00350);

— by , one concerning the environment (No. 441-00351);

— by , one concerning foreign affairs (No. 441-00352);

— by , one concerning foreign affairs (No. 441-00353).

Questions on the Order Paper

Mr. Lamoureux (Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons) presented the answers to questions Q-338, Q-344, Q-346, Q-349, Q-352 to Q-354 and Q-356 on the Order Paper.

Pursuant to Standing Order 39(7), Mr. Lamoureux (Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons) presented the returns to the following questions made into orders for return:

Q-337 — — With regard to the Regional Relief and Recovery Fund (RRRF): (a) which businesses and communities have applied for funding; (b) for each business and community that have applied, was their application accepted or rejected, and if it was accepted, how much funding did they receive; (c) for each successful application, how many jobs were (i) initially meant to be saved by receiving funding through the RRRF, (ii) actually saved; (d) what specific follow-up measures were taken with each successful applicant to ensure that the funding was actually used to save jobs; (e) how many of the jobs saved by the RRRF were located (i) in Canada, (ii) outside of Canada; and (f) is the government aware of instances where funds from the RRRF were used inappropriately or for ineligible expenses and, if so, what are the details of all such instances, including the (i) recipient, (ii) value, (iii) summary of goods or services inappropriately purchased? — Sessional Paper No. 8555-441-337.

Q-339 — — With regard to employees at the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO): (a) what was the total number of employees or full-time equivalent on the (i) Fisheries section, (ii) Oceans section of DFO, broken down by year since 2015; (b) what was the number of fishery offices field supervisor positions in conservation and protection at DFO, broken down by year since 2016; (c) what is the current number of fishery offices field supervisor positions in conservation and protection; (d) how many positions at DFO were eliminated in conservation and protection in (i) 2020, (ii) 2021, (iii) 2022; and (e) how many positions at DFO were eliminated in total in (i) 2020, (ii) 2021, (iii) 2022, broken down by section of DFO and type of position? — Sessional Paper No. 8555-441-339.

Q-340 — — With regard to research conducted by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO): (a) what dollar amount and percentage of DFO's scientific research budget has been provided to the (i) oceans department, (ii) fisheries department, broken down by year since 2016; and (b) what is the breakdown of (a) by topic or area of research? — Sessional Paper No. 8555-441-340.

Q-341 — — With regard to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and the Eastern Shore Islands Area of Interest (AOI) and the proposed marine refuge off the Scotian Shelf bioregion: (a) how many (i) groups, (ii) individuals, have been consulted since January 1, 2019, regarding the AOI or the proposed marine refuge; and (b) what are the details of all such consultations, including, for each, (i) the date of the consultation, (ii) the format, (iii) the name of the individual or group consulted, (iv) who conducted the consultation, (v) the summary of the feedback or submission related to the consultation? — Sessional Paper No. 8555-441-341.

Q-342 — — With regard to the various government relief programs for businesses put into place since March 1, 2020, and broken down by each program: (a) what was the number of incorporated businesses that (i) applied for funding, (ii) were provided funding, (iii) had their application rejected or not accepted; (b) what was the average amount of funding provided in (a)(ii); (c) what was the number of sole proprietorship businesses that (i) applied for funding, (ii) were provided funding, (iii) had their application rejected or not accepted; (d) what was the average amount of funding provided received in (c)(ii); and (e) what is the breakdown of each of the subparts in (a) and (c), by sector and industry, if known? — Sessional Paper No. 8555-441-342.

Q-343 — — With regard to Canadian travellers re-entering Canada, provisioned under Order In Council 2022-0042 (Minimizing the Risk of Exposure to COVID-19 in Canada Order (Quarantine, Isolation and Other Obligations)): (a) on what date (s) were the webpages “COVID-19 vaccinated travellers entering Canada”, “Find out if you can travel to Canada – Citizen with symptoms – By land or sea”, and “COVID-19 testing for travellers” on the government’s travel website updated to reflect the entry requirements that Canadians must wait at least 10 calendar days after a positive test result before entering Canada, to avoid being fined $5,000 per traveller (plus surcharges); (b) which department is responsible for (i) drafting communications regarding this provision, (ii) updating the webpages in (a); and (c) what are the details of all other communications which were issued regarding this entry requirement, including, for each, the (i) date issued, (ii) medium, (iii) summary of communication? — Sessional Paper No. 8555-441-343.

Q-345 — — With regard to the requirement for fully vaccinated travellers to have a recent negative COVID-19 test before crossing the land-border or face a $5,000 fine: (a) was this decision based on any scientific research, other than political science, and, if so, what specific scientific studies or data was it based on, and what are the specific website locations where the studies and data is located; (b) has the government conducted a cost-benefit analysis of maintaining the test requirement, either molecular or antigen, and, if so, (i) who conducted the analysis, (ii) what were the findings; and (c) what specific criteria or metrics must be met (i) at the land border, (ii) on flights from travellers from the United States, (iii) on flight from other international travellers, before the antigen test requirement for returning travellers is dropped, and on what dates does the government anticipate meeting each of these metrics or criteria? — Sessional Paper No. 8555-441-345.

Q-347 — — With regard to the "Other consolidated specified purpose accounts", listed on pages 133 and 134 of the 2021 Public Accounts of Canada, Volume 1, and broken down by each account: (a) what is the current balance of the account; (b) how many (i) individuals, (ii) corporations, (iii) other entities, have received payments from the funds, broken down by fiscal year since 2016-17; (c) what is the total value of the expenditures in each subpart of (b); (d) what is the annual cost to the government to operate and maintain each fund; (e) what is the itemized breakdown of (d); (f) how many employees or full-time equivalents are assigned to administer each fund; and (g) which minister and department has responsibility for the employees in (f)? — Sessional Paper No. 8555-441-347.

Q-348 — — With regard to the refusal of applications submitted to Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada: (a) how many applications were submitted between January 1, 2014, and January 31, 2021; (b) how many applications in (a) were refused; (c) what is the breakdown of (a) and (b) by (i) country of applicant, (ii) line of business being applied to, (iii) month; (d) how many applications in (a) were processed using Chinook; (e) what is the breakdown of (d) by (i) country of applicant, (ii) line of business being applied to, (iii) month; (f) of the visa offices using Chinook, what is the refusal rate of applications, broken down by line of business; and (g) what is the breakdown of (f) by year from 2017 to 2021? — Sessional Paper No. 8555-441-348.

Q-350 — — With regard to the use of the Chinook software program at Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC): (a) what oversight of Chinook is in place; (b) has Chinook undergone a performance audit; (c) when was the last time Chinook was audited; (d) what quality assurance is in place for Chinook; (e) what training materials are used to train IRCC employees on the use of Chinook; (f) what is the content of those training materials in (e); (g) what training is given to IRCC employees using Chinook specifically to prevent racism and discrimination; (h) what is the content of the material used for the training in (f); (i) what consultation with stakeholders was done by IRCC on the implementation of Chinook before it was implemented; (j) has any consultation with stakeholders been done by IRCC since Chinook was implemented; (k) were any immigration lawyers or consultants consulted by IRCC before Chinook was implemented; (l) if any stakeholders were consulted by IRCC on Chinook, how many stakeholders were consulted; (m) what was the result of the Privacy Risk Assessment of Chinook conducted in August 2019; (n) what is the content of the Security Assessment Report conducted for Chinook in January 2020; (o) why are the visa offices in Algiers, Havana, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, and Tel Aviv not using Chinook; (p) are notes about immigration officers’ decisions while using Chinook kept; and (q) why is no list provided to applicants of the software that is used to process applications, including the use of Chinook? — Sessional Paper No. 8555-441-350.

Q-351 — — With regard to the requirement for federal public servants to be vaccinated against COVID-19: (a) how many public servants have been placed on unpaid leave as a result of their vaccination status; (b) how many public servants have received health exemptions; (c) does the government gather information regarding the nature of individual health exemptions, such as the condition causing the need for the exemption, and, if so, what is the prevalence of different kinds of health exemptions; (d) how many public servants have received religious exemptions; (e) does the government gather information regarding the nature of individual religious exemptions, such as the particular faith of those with the exemption, and, if so, what is the prevalence of different kinds of exemptions; (f) how many public servants have applications for health exemptions pending; (g) how many public servants have applications for religious exemptions pending; (h) by what date does the government expect the applications in (f) and (g) to be resolved; (i) how many public servants had applications for a health exemption denied; (j) how many public servants had applications for a religious exemption denied; (k) for each response in (a) through (j), what is the breakdown by department, agency, or other government entity; (l) how many replacement workers has the government (i) contacted, (ii) hired, to fulfill functions previously performed by those who are on unpaid leave as a result of their vaccination status, broken down by department or agency, type of job, and job title; (m) what is the government policy related to the ability of the individual placed on leave to return to their position after it has been filled with a replacement worker; (n) what ordinary functions of the government are not currently being carried out as a result of unvaccinated workers being placed on leave without pay; (o) has the government assessed the impact on public services resulting from the decision to place unvaccinated workers on leave without pay, and, if so, what are the details of the assessment, broken down by the impact on each department; (p) how many workers are being expected to perform additional tasks as a result of colleagues being placed on leave without pay as a result of these new requirements, broken down by department or agency; (q) how many of the workers in (p) are receiving any additional compensation directly related to their colleagues being placed on leave; (r) has the government identified any increase in stress or strain for the workers referred to in (p) as a result of additional workload, and, if so, what are the details; (s) how long will the workers in (p) be expected to perform additional tasks; (t) does the government intend to hire additional replacement workers if the workers on unpaid leave continue to be on leave for more than (i) six months, (ii) nine months, (iii) 12 months; (u) has the government received legal advice regarding whether this policy is consistent with (i) existing labour agreements, (ii) the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, (iii) other human rights codes, laws, or agreements which bind the actions of the federal government; and (v) what legal advice did the government receive respecting the items in (u)? — Sessional Paper No. 8555-441-351.

Q-355 — — With regard to the government's invocation of the Emergencies Act and the Emergency Economic Measures Order: (a) how many (i) personal, (ii) business, banking accounts have been frozen under the order; (b) what is the breakdown of (a) (i) and (ii), by financial institution; (c) what is total value of the accounts in (a) (i) and (ii), broken down by financial institution; and (d) has the government set up any fund or compensation program for individuals or businesses that have their accounts frozen as a result of error or mistaken identity related to the order and, if so, what are the details? — Sessional Paper No. 8555-441-355.

Business of Supply

The order was read for the consideration of the business of supply.

Mr. Chong (Wellington—Halton Hills), seconded by Mr. Paul-Hus (Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles), moved, — That, given that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) alliance has made an immeasurable contribution to peace, security, and prosperity for all its members, the House call on the government to increase spending on national defence to at least two per cent of Canada's gross domestic product, in accordance with NATO's 2014 Wales Summit Declaration.

Debate arose thereon.

Statements By Members

Pursuant to Standing Order 31, members made statements.

Oral Questions

Pursuant to Standing Order 30(5), the House proceeded to Oral Questions.

Business of Supply

The House resumed consideration of the motion of Mr. Chong (Wellington—Halton Hills), seconded by Mr. Paul-Hus (Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles), in relation to the business of supply.

The debate continued.

At 5:15 p.m., pursuant to Standing Order 81(16), the Deputy Speaker interrupted the proceedings.

The question was put on the motion and, pursuant to order made Thursday, November 25, 2021, the recorded division was deferred until Wednesday, April 6, 2022, at the expiry of the time provided for Oral Questions.

Private Members' Business

At 5:18 p.m., by unanimous consent, the House proceeded to the consideration of Private Members' Business.

The order was read for the second reading and reference to the Standing Committee on Finance of Bill C-249, An Act respecting the encouragement of the growth of the cryptoasset sector.

Ms. Rempel Garner (Calgary Nose Hill), seconded by Mr. Lobb (Huron—Bruce), moved, — That the bill be now read a second time and referred to the Standing Committee on Finance.

Debate arose thereon.

Pursuant to Standing Order 93(1), the order was dropped to the bottom of the order of precedence on the Order Paper.

Returns and Reports Deposited with the Clerk of the House

Pursuant to Standing Order 32(1), papers deposited with the Clerk of the House were laid upon the table as follows:

— by the Speaker — Costing note from the Parliamentary Budget Officer on Bill C-255, An Act to amend the Income Tax Act and the Canada Student Financial Assistance Act, pursuant to the Parliament of Canada Act, R.S. 1985, c. P-1, sbs. 79.2(2). — Sessional Paper No. 8560-441-1119-32. (Pursuant to Standing Order 32(5), permanently referred to the Standing Committee on Finance)

— by the Speaker — Costing note from the Parliamentary Budget Officer on Bill C-222, An Act to amend the Income Tax Act (travel expenses deduction for tradespersons), pursuant to the Parliament of Canada Act, R.S. 1985, c. P-1, sbs. 79.2(2). — Sessional Paper No. 8560-441-1119-33. (Pursuant to Standing Order 32(5), permanently referred to the Standing Committee on Finance)

— by Ms. Joly (Minister of Foreign Affairs) — Copies of the Regulations Amending the Special Economic Measures (Russia) Regulations (P.C. 2022-335) and of the Regulations Amending the Special Economic Measures (Belarus) Regulations (P.C. 2022-336), pursuant to the Special Economic Measures Act, S.C. 1992, c. 17, sbs. 7(1). — Sessional Paper No. 8560-441-495-09. (Pursuant to Standing Order 32(5), permanently referred to the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development)

— by Mr. Lametti (Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada) — Charter Statement — Bill C-13, An Act to amend the Official Languages Act, to enact the Use of French in Federally Regulated Private Businesses Act and to make related amendments to other Acts, pursuant to the Department of Justice Act, R.S.C., 1985, c. J-2, sbs. 4.2(1). — Sessional Paper No. 8560-441-1232-14. (Pursuant to Standing Order 32(5), permanently referred to the Standing Committee on Official Languages)

— by Mr. Lametti (Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada) — Charter Statement — Bill C-14, An Act to amend the Constitution Act, 1867 (electoral representation), pursuant to the Department of Justice Act, R.S.C., 1985, c. J-2, sbs. 4.2(1). — Sessional Paper No. 8560-441-1232-15. (Pursuant to Standing Order 32(5), permanently referred to the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs)

— by Mr. Lametti (Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada) — Charter Statement — Bill C-17, An Act to amend the Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements Act and to authorize certain payments to be made out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund, pursuant to the Department of Justice Act, R.S.C., 1985, c. J-2, sbs. 4.2(1). — Sessional Paper No. 8560-441-1232-16. (Pursuant to Standing Order 32(5), permanently referred to the Standing Committee on Finance)

Adjournment Proceedings

At 6:18 p.m., pursuant to Standing Order 38(1), the question “That this House do now adjourn” was deemed to have been proposed.

After debate, the question was deemed to have been adopted.

Accordingly, at 6:47 p.m., the Deputy Speaker adjourned the House until tomorrow at 2:00 p.m., pursuant to Standing Order 24(1).