Navdeep Bains

[Questions on the Order Paper, May 19th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to an order from the Federal Court, a national security review of the takeover of ITF Technologies by O-Net Technology Group was conducted under the Investment Canada Act. Following this thorough review, an order containing measures to protect national security was issued. The government acted on the full record of the evidence and on the advice of Canada’s security and intelligence experts.

The act contains strict confidentiality provisions in regard to information obtained through its administration. Section 36 of the act states that,

“…all information obtained in respect to a Canadian, a non-Canadian, a business or an entity referred to in paragraph 25.1(c) by the Minister or an officer or employee of Her Majesty in the course of the administration or enforcement of this Act is privileged and no one shall knowingly communicate or allow to be communicated any such information or allow anyone to inspect or to have access to any such information.”

As a result of section 36, and given that this is a national security matter, we are unable to disclose any additional information.

[Questions on the Order Paper, May 19th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, with regard to (a), the National Research Council of Canada, NRC, provides scientific, administrative, and financial support to the Canadian Commission on Building and Fire Codes, or CCBFC, an independent committee established by the NRC. This commission is responsible for developing and updating Canada’s various national model codes, including the National Building Code, the National Fire Code, the Energy Code, and the Plumbing Code, in which over 600 standards are currently referenced, including the Canadian Standards Association A23.1 technical standard, “Concrete Materials and Methods of Concrete Construction”. This standard was first developed in 1980, with an update schedule of every five years. This technical standard was developed by the CSA, which is an independent not-for-profit organization. The CSA is accredited by the Standards Council of Canada, or SCC, a crown corporation of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada that provides the requirements and guidance for all accredited standards organizations to develop standards for the Canada market.

With regard to (b), as noted above, the technical standard is not maintained by NRC or the Canadian Commission of Building and Fire Codes but rather by the CSA. The CSA continues to update their standards on a five-year cycle, with the next edition of this standard due out in 2019. The Standards Council of Canada provides the requirements and guidance for all accredited standards organizations, such as the CSA, for which a link is provided.

With regard to (c), the technical standard is developed by the CSA, which is an independent not-for-profit organization. The National Building Code, or NBC, which is developed by NRC, references this standard, and the NBC is maintained by the commission, which is made up of voluntary members. Their support is provided through Codes Canada under the construction portfolio at NRC.

With regard to (d), there has been no financial support from NRC committed, as the development is carried out at the CSA. The National Building Code section that references this standard falls under the mandate of one technical committee reporting to the commission, and is supported by one technical adviser at Codes Canada.

With regard to (e), no employees were assigned to work on developing the scientific standards.

With regard to (f), no external consultants were hired to work on the scientific standard development process.

With regard to (f) and (g), no external consultants have been hired as part of this process.

With regard to (h) and (i), these items are not applicable.

With regard to (j), the SCC provides the requirements and guidance that the SCC-accredited standards development organizations, or SDOs, follow to develop or adopt standards for the Canadian market. The requirements and guidance documents for accredited SDOs can be found at https://www.scc.ca/en/ news-events/news/2017/ scc-improves-canadian-standards- development-system.

[Canada-U.S. Relations, May 19th, 2017]

Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague from Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge for his hard work and leadership as the chair of the innovation committee.

He is absolutely correct. Our trade is fair and balanced with our U.S. counterparts. Since NAFTA came into force, our economies have more than doubled, so it truly is a win-win situation. We have integrated economies, highly competitive, that allow us to compete globally. I have shared this viewpoint with my counterparts in Michigan, Colorado, California, and Nevada. We will continue to work together, build things together, and create jobs—

[Interprovincial Trade, May 9th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, I am very proud of our government in working with the provinces and territories and signing this really incredible deal with them to have a Canadian free trade agreement. Part of that Canadian free trade agreement is a working group to liberalize alcohol, so we were very clear. That is why we have the support of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, we have the support of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, we have the support of the Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters, and we have the support of Beer Canada, because we made sure that we put liberalizing alcohol as part of the Canadian free trade agreement.

[Interprovincial Trade, May 8th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, we pursued a very clear path, working with the provinces and territories, in helping liberalize alcohol. As you know, Mr. Speaker, I do not consume alcohol, but this is a priority for me and our government, and this is why we worked very closely with the provinces and territories to make sure it was part of the Canadian free trade agreement. This historic agreement is going to, again, create an environment that is going to help businesses and consumers. It is going to provide more choice and better price points for consumers.

With regard to alcohol, we are going to continue to work with the provinces in a manner that is going to be productive, thoughtful, and progressive, a good result for Canadian consumers.

[Regional Economic Development, May 4th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Sudbury for his question.

He and his colleagues from the region are staunch supporters of northern Ontario.

I was excited to be in northern Ontario to announce an increase of $25 million for FedNor. Along with the launch of this, we also put forward the prosperity and growth strategy for northern Ontario. This will help the community; this will help indigenous communities; this will help diversify the economy; and, in particular, this will help small businesses grow and scale up, which will create good-quality jobs in northern Ontario.

[Questions on the Order Paper, May 1st, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, with regard to (a), on March 6, 2017, during the House of Commons debates, the Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development clarified his earlier statement:

On February 23, during question period, in response to a question from the member for Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo on the Investment Canada Act, I inadvertently stated that Cedar Tree will now be owned and operated by Canadians going forward. What I meant to say is that Retirement Concepts will continue to be managed and operated by Canadians under its new ownership….

With regard to (b), under the Investment Canada Act, the Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development carefully considers each reviewable investment on a case-by-case basis and approves foreign investments to acquire control of a Canadian business only if they are likely to be of net benefit to Canada. The act contains strict confidentiality provisions in regard to information obtained through its administration. Section 36 of the act states that:

that “…all information obtained in respect to a Canadian, a non-Canadian, a business or an entity referred to in paragraph 25.1(c) by the Minister or an officer or employee of Her Majesty in the course of the administration or enforcement of this Act is privileged and no one shall knowingly communicate or allow to be communicated any such information or allow anyone to inspect or to have access to any such information.”

As a result of section 36, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada is unable to disclose any information obtained under the Investment Canada Act to respond to this question.

[Foreign Investment, April 13th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, when we looked at the file, we made sure that we did the proper net economic benefit examination. Based on that, we were able to secure good, quality jobs in Canada, particularly in senior management positions. We were also able to secure the head office in Boucherville. More important, this transaction will allow the company to tap into global supply chains as well. This is good for Quebec, this is good for the economy, and this is good for job security.

[Interprovincial Trade, April 13th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, landing a new interprovincial trade deal is no small achievement.

We congratulate the Federal and provincial governments for delivering on their commitment to complete a new free trade agreement as we celebrate our 150th year as a country.

Do members know who said that? It was Luke Harford, president of Beer Canada.

[Questions on the Order Paper, April 10th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, the Investment Canada Act, ICA, contains strict confidentiality provisions in regard to information obtained through its administration. Section 36 of the ICA states that “…all information obtained in respect to a Canadian, a non-Canadian, a business or an entity referred to in paragraph 25.1(c) by the Minister or an officer or employee of Her Majesty in the course of the administration or enforcement of this Act is privileged and no one shall knowingly communicate or allow to be communicated any such information or allow anyone to inspect or to have access to any such information.”

As a result of section 36, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada is unable to disclose any information obtained under the ICA to respond to this question.