Debates of Nov. 29th, 2004

Committees of the House

[John Williams, Conservative, Edmonton—St. Albert, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present the fifth report of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts concerning the supplementary estimates (A), vote 20(a) under finance, referred to the committee on Thursday, November 4.

[Leon Benoit, Conservative, Vegreville—Wainwright, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the first report of the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates.

The committee studied the main estimates for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2005, and has agreed to report them with amendments.

[Karen Redman, Liberal, Kitchener Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present the 17th report of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs regarding the membership of certain committees.

If the House gives its consent, I intend to move concurrence in the 17th report later this day.

Old Age Security Act

[Marcel Gagnon, Bloc, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-301, an act to amend the Old Age Security Act (monthly guaranteed income supplement).

Mr. Speaker, this enactment amends the Old Age Security Act to allow eligible pensioners to receive a monthly guaranteed income supplement without having to make an application. It also repeals the restrictions respecting retroactivity. This will entitle eligible pensioners to full retroactivity for the monthly guaranteed income supplement and for allowances.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)

Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act

[Lynn Myers, Liberal, Kitchener—Conestoga, ON]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-302, an act to change the name of the electoral district of Kitchener—Wilmot—Wellesley—Woolwich.

Mr. Speaker, the enactment changes the name to Kitchener--Conestoga and I believe it is self-explanatory.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)

Committees of the House

[Karen Redman, Liberal, Kitchener Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, if the House gives its consent, I move that the 17th report of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs, presented to the House earlier this day, be concurred in.

(Motion agreed to)

Petitions

[Michel Guimond, Bloc, Charlevoix—Montmorency, QC]

Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to submit a petition signed by citizens from Saint-Férréol-les-Neiges and from Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré, in the riding of Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord.

These petitioners believe that Canada's participation in all or part of the U.S. missile defence program would be contrary to their interests and values. They ask that taxes be applied as a matter of priority to meeting urgent and important needs of the public, particularly in health.

[Jim Gouk, Conservative, Southern Interior, BC]

Mr. Speaker, your petitioners draw to the attention of the House that our children need protection from sexual exploitation and therefore call upon Parliament to protect our children by taking all necessary steps to raise the age of consent from 14 to 18.

[Jay Hill, Conservative, Prince George—Peace River, BC]

Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure for me to present yet another petition, this one on behalf of the citizens of Niagara Falls, London and St. Catharines.

The petitioners wish to draw to the attention of the House that the Canadian Forces Housing Agency provides housing for some of our military families on base but that many of these homes are substandard to acceptable living conditions and that they are seeing increased rents every year.

Therefore the petitioners call upon Parliament to immediately suspend any future rent increases for accommodation provided by the Canadian Forces Housing Agency until such time as the Government of Canada makes substantive improvements to the living conditions of housing that is provided for our military families.

[John Cummins, Conservative, Delta—Richmond East, BC]

Mr. Speaker, my petition today is from residents of Richmond, Delta, Vancouver, Port Coquitlam and throughout the lower mainland of British Columbia.

The petitioners are concerned about the disappearance of two million sockeye fish from the Fraser River this year. They call upon Parliament to establish a judicial inquiry to investigate the management of the fishery. They would hope that would happen soon.

[Nathan Cullen, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, today I have the pleasure of presenting a petition, which comes from right across my riding of Skeena—Bulkley Valley, that is opposed to the open net caged salmon farming industry.

The petitioners are calling upon the government to seek conditions in legislation that forces salmon farmers to use closed net systems.

This is something that is in concurrence with their recent petition just handed in that our wild salmon industry is in a great deal of danger because of threats such as open net, caged salmon farming.

[Greg Thompson, Conservative, St. Croix—Belleisle, NB]

Mr. Speaker, I have in my hand a petition signed by the residents of Deer Island, New Brunswick.

The petitioners are calling upon Parliament to protect the waters of Passamaquoddy Bay and the citizens of the area by saying no to the construction of an LNG terminal in Eastport, Maine, U.S.A.

The way in which we can say no is simply by not allowing the passage of those tankers through Canadian waters. We cannot control what happens in the United States but if those tankers do not go through Canadian waters, through a very dangerous passage called head harbour passage, that project will die a natural death.

The petitioners do not support the construction of that terminal and therefore are asking Parliament to say no to the transport of LNG tankers through head harbour passage.

The citizens of Campobello and Deer Island, New Brunswick would urge that we do that in a timely fashion.

Questions on the Order Paper

[Raymond Simard, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Deputy Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, the following questions will be answered today: Nos. 17 and 18.

Question No. 17

[Garry Breitkreuz, Conservative, Yorkton—Melville, SK]

What are the current status, current cost and projected cost of the Canada Firearms Program’s Alternative Service Delivery Program and what are the current status and costs of all contracts with Team Centra, GCI Group, BDP Business Data Services and EDS Canada?

[Roy Cullen, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness]

Mr. Speaker, in respect of the Canada Firearms Centre, CAFC, the contract for the development of the alternative service delivery solution, ASD, is made up of: (a) the development, solution realization phase, of the Canadian firearms information system, CFIS II, required to implement administrative and technical changes in Bill C-10A, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (firearms) and the Firearms Act including its Regulations; (b) the ongoing administrative operations, primarily at the central processing site; and (c) the anticipated solution enhancement requirements over the contract duration for the ongoing operations.

A contract was awarded to Team Centra, a partnership between CGI Group Inc. and BDP Business Data Services, now known as Resolve Corporation, for the solutions realization phase of the ASD. This contract is in the amount of $46,886,908, including GST, and a total of $9,665,665 has been paid to date to CGI.

Bill C-10A received royal assent in May 2003. Consultations in the fall of 2003 on the bill’s associated regulations resulted in changes from the original requirements. As of March 31, 2004 the regulations had not been made, which has resulted in deferring the implementation date of CFIS II. Reviews have been conducted on the initiative. Resulting options and a proposed course of action are under consideration.

A contract with EDS is currently ongoing until March 31, 2005 for the maintenance of the current Canadian firearms information system, CFIS I. This contract can be extended up to September 30, 2005. The contracts awarded to EDS, over a seven year period, relating to CFIS amount to $169,059,349, including GST, and payments of $165,926,243 including GST, have been issued to date, covering the seven year period from November 28, 1997 to September 15, 2004.

The delivery of IT services, systems and infrastructure for the firearms program are under active examination in the context of the government’s current review of expenditures.

Question No. 18

[Garry Breitkreuz, Conservative, Yorkton—Melville, SK]

Having regard to statements made by the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness on May 20, 2004, that funding for the Firearms Registry component of the Program will be capped at $25 million per year, starting next fiscal year: ( a ) what has been the total cost of the firearms program for each year since 1995; ( b ) how much was spent on the firearms owner licencing component of the program for each year since 1995; ( c ) how much was spent on the registration component of the program for each year since 1995; ( d ) how much will it cost to implement fully all components of the firearms program; ( e ) when will the firearms program be fully implemented; and ( f ) how much will it cost to maintain the firearms program each year after it is fully implemented?

[Roy Cullen, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness]

Mr. Speaker, in response to (a), the total cost of the firearms program for each year since 1995 is:

• Includes indirect costs for the period of 1995-96 to 2001-02. Indirect costs are program costs incurred by other government departments that are not reimbursed by CAFC.

In response to (b), the cost for the licensing component of the program since 1995 is:

• Costs of licensing component by fiscal year not available for the period of 1995-96 to 2001-02.

In response to (c), the cost for the registration component of the program since 1995-96 is:

• Costs of Registration component by fiscal year not available for the period of 1995-96 to 2000-01.

Note: Past calculations for (b) and (c) were based on management estimates of activity and attribution of indirect costs to various program elements. CAFC is currently developing a detailed costing methodology to support a voted appropriation specifically for firearms registration activities that will be introduced in 2005-06. This methodology will be adopted for all future reporting.

In response to (d), it is expected to implement all components of the firearms program within the proposed $85 million annual funding level beginning in 2005-06.

In response to (e), Bill C-10A passed in May 2003. Proposed regulatory changes to implement the new legislation and to make the amendments to the regulations to support public safety and effective program administration were tabled in June 2003. Stakeholders and the public were consulted in the fall of 2003 and during the ministerial review of the program in early 2004. Parliamentary committees considered the proposals in the fall of 2003. Final changes to the regulations are to be made, including: import/export regulations; public agent regulations; firearms marking regulations; and changes to other regulations, e.g., licensing, gun shows.

It is anticipated that all components of the firearms program now planned or under development will be fully implemented by December 31, 2007.

In response to (f), as per the May 20, 2004 announcement by the government, funding for the Canada Firearms Centre will decline to $85 million in 2005-06 and beyond. This amount does not include indirect costs incurred by other federal departments. It does not include revenues from firearms licensing and other fees that are collected over the course of the fiscal year.

Questions Passed as Orders for Returns

[Raymond Simard, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Deputy Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

If questions Nos. 15, 16 and 19 could be made orders for return, the return would be tabled immediately.

[The Speaker]

Is that agreed?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

Question No. 15

[Dave Chatters, Conservative, Westlock—St. Paul, AB]

Since January 1, 1997, have any past Members of Parliament been hired or appointed in any capacity by the government and, if so: ( a ) who was the Member; ( b ) what was their salary at the time of hiring and any subsequent increases; ( c ) what have the job descriptions been; ( d ) what advertisements were used to solicit applications for these positions; ( e ) how was the interview process conducted for all positions; ( f ) who approved the hiring; ( g ) how many applicants were interviewed; ( h ) when was each position created; and ( i ) what were the annual expenses of each indivudual?

(Return tabled)

Question No. 16

[Garry Breitkreuz, Conservative, Yorkton—Melville, SK]

How much has it cost so far to transfer the Canadian Firearms Centre from the Department of Justice to the Department of the Solicitor General (now the Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness) and how much has it cost so far to transfer the National Weapons Enforcement Support Team from the Department of Justice to the RCMP?

(Return tabled)

Question No. 19

[Garry Breitkreuz, Conservative, Yorkton—Melville, SK]

Since 1995, what have been the actual public safety improvements achieved as a direct result of the Canadian Firearms Program and Firearms Registry including: ( a ) the number of violent crimes solved; ( b ) the number and type of violent and non-violent charges laid; ( c ) the number and type of convictions obtained; ( d ) the number and type of firearms seized from criminals; ( e ) the reduction in the total number of homicides; ( f ) the reduction in the total number of domestic homicides; ( g ) the reduction in the total number of suicides; ( h ) the number of lives saved; ( i ) the respective reduction in violent crime; and ( j ) the number of firearms returned to their rightful owners?

(Return tabled)

[Raymond Simard, Liberal, Saint Boniface, MB]

I ask that all remaining questions be allowed to stand.

[The Speaker]

Is that agreed?