House of Commons Hansard #36 of the 37th Parliament, 3rd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was budget.
Roger Gallaway LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to table two sets of documents, in both official languages. The first is a number of order in council appointments recently made by the government.
Roger Gallaway LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, the second set of documents is the government's response to 33 petitions.
John Williams Canadian Alliance St. Albert, AB
Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the fourth report of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, which deals with the report of the Auditor General of Canada on the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.
Paul Szabo Liberal Mississauga South, ON
Mr. Speaker, I have three brief petitions to present today.
The first petition is related to Bill C-250. The petitioners would like to draw to the attention of the House that Canadians are appalled by hate motivated attacks and believe that promoting hatred toward any person is wrong. The petitioners call upon Parliament to take necessary steps to protect the rights of Canadians to freely share their religious and moral beliefs without being in fear of prosecution.
Paul Szabo Liberal Mississauga South, ON
Mr. Speaker, the second petition is with regard to stem cells. The petitioners would like to draw to the attention of the House the fact that all Canadians support the ethical stem cell research, which has already shown encouraging potential in Canada. They would like to petition Parliament to focus its legislative support on adult stem cell research to find the cures and therapies necessary to treat the illnesses and diseases of Canadians.
Paul Szabo Liberal Mississauga South, ON
Finally, Mr. Speaker, I have a petition on the definition of marriage. The petitioners would like to draw to the attention of the House the fact that the defence of traditional marriage as a bond between one man and one woman is a serious moral good. They request that Parliament take whatever action is necessary to maintain the current definition of marriage in law in perpetuity and to prevent any court from overturning or amending that definition.
PetitionsRoutine Proceedings
The Speaker
It is my duty, pursuant to Standing Order 36(8)(b) to inform the House that the matter of the failure of the ministry to respond to Petition No. 373-0348 is deemed referred to the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade.
Roger Gallaway LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, the following questions will be answered today: No. 10, supplementary, and Nos. 48, 49 and 70.
John Williams Canadian Alliance St. Albert, AB
With regard to the rubric “Losses of Public Property Due to an Offence or Other Illegal Act” for the Department of National Defence as listed on page 3.25 of Volume II, Part II of the Public Accounts of Canada 2002-2003, and the following cases of theft: i) 5,532 cases of “theft of military kit” totalling $208,538; ii) 1 case of “theft of transportation equipment” totalling $206; iii) 2 cases of “theft of machinery” totalling $7,195; iv) 8 cases of “theft of telecommunication equipment” totalling $4,297; v) 22 cases of “theft of electronic equipment” totalling $18,879; vi) 18 cases of “theft of technical equipment” totalling $32,863; vii) 4 cases of “theft of tools” totalling $4,898; viii) 5 cases of “theft of weapons” totalling $1,146; ix) 1,013 cases of “theft of military specific equipment” totalling $38,520; x) 33 cases of “theft of non-military specific equipment” totalling $14,762; ( a ) what was stolen in each individual case; ( b ) what was the value of each individual item; ( c ) where was the location of the theft; and ( d ) were there any charges laid in the case?
David Pratt LiberalMinister of National Defence
Mr. Speaker, items (a), (b) and (c) were responded to on March 22, 2004.
In response to (d), no charges were laid in any of these cases.
Rex Barnes Progressive Conservative Gander—Grand Falls, NL
Who attended the joint Prime Minister's Office--Privy Council Office “Communications Coordination Group” meetings in 2001, 2002 and 2003; what are the names of the individual attendees, their official titles and the government ministries they represented?
John Godfrey LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister (Cities)
Mr. Speaker, the Communications Secretariat of the Privy Council Office conducted a thorough search through both paper and electronic records. These records did not contain information regarding individuals who actually attended each weekly meeting of the Communication Coordination Group.
The group was composed of the following regular members:
The following officials were also regularly invited:
The Communications Coordination Group, CCG, did not hold any meetings after October 2001.
Peter MacKay Progressive Conservative Pictou—Antigonish—Guysborough, NS
What contracts or sub-contracts were awarded to Groupaction Inc., Lafleur Communication Marketing, Gosselin Communication, Media/I.D.A. Vision, Communication Coffin, BCP, Groupe Everest and Groupe Polygone since June 1994, specifying the source, the department, Crown corporation or agency, the dollar amount, the date of each contract, the rationale and the procurement method?
Jacques Saada LiberalLeader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, as is well known, the government has already provided a considerable amount of related information to the public accounts committee in the context of its examination of chapters 3, 4 and 5 of the report of the Auditor General of November 2003 and is actively dealing with outstanding motions passed by the committee for additional information.
Question No. 49 is extremely broad. It appears to target all departments, agencies and crown corporations. In addition, it covers a period of almost 10 years, which makes the task all the more difficult given that, under applicable rules, federal departments must keep their records for a period of six years only.
Extensive work has already been done to collect the relevant information in answer to this question and to perform the required verification. However, and in spite of the extensive efforts invested so far, the work is not completed yet. More time is needed to perform the type of quality control that is necessary to ensure that the information provided to the House is as comprehensive and reliable as possible.
The government will provide a supplementary reply to this question as soon as the requested information is ready.
Inky Mark Canadian Alliance Dauphin—Swan River, MB
With regard to the creation of the Department of Social Development: ( a ) what were the costs and locations of new or additional office space that has been acquired; ( b ) what were the costs of any renovations; ( c ) which firms conducted the renovations and what was the tendering process used; ( d ) what were the costs and particulars of any office equipment and technological equipment (including televisions and stereos); and ( e ) what is the operational budget allocated for the creation of the new department and what costs have been incurred to date?
Question No. 70Routine Proceedings
Verdun—Saint-Henri—Saint-Paul—Pointe Saint-Charles Québec
Liberal
Liza Frulla LiberalMinister of Social Development
Mr. Speaker, in response to (a), no new space was acquired in regard to the creation of Social Development Canada, SDC. To date, all related office space requirements have been satisfied from existing inventory, through the relocation of existing personnel, and the renovation of certain spaces. In response to (b), some renovation work has been undertaken at Place Vanier to provide office space resulting from the creation of SDC. As of March 29, 2004 approximately $382,000 in expenditures have been incurred for renovating office spaces at Place Vanier. In response to (c), all renovations have been performed through Public Works and Government Services Canada, PWGSC, under a memorandum of agreement. PWGSC, as the client service delivery organization supporting Human Resources and Skills Development Canada and SDC, contracted the work on a competitive basis through the building landlord, BONA Building Management. In response to (d), the following assets were purchased for the offices of the minister and the deputy minister of SDC and their staff:
In response to (e), the department has not received additional funding for the creation of the department nor has an operational budget been established for this purpose.
Roger Gallaway LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, if Questions Nos. 46, 47, 51, 52 and 53 could be made orders for returns, these returns would be tabled immediately.
Rex Barnes Progressive Conservative Gander—Grand Falls, NL
Since 1993, what grants, contributions, contracts and/or loan guarantees made through a crown corporation, department, and/or agency of the government were received by Burrard Communications Inc., specifying, in each case, the source and dollar amount, the date made, the reason(s) for providing funding and the present status of the grant, contribution and/or loan guarantee (whether repaid, partially repaid, or unpaid, including the value(s) of any repayment(s)) and, in the case of contracts, specifying whether the contract has been fulfilled, whether it was tendered and any reason for limiting the tender?
Return tabled.
Rex Barnes Progressive Conservative Gander—Grand Falls, NL
Since 1993, what grants, contributions, contracts and/or loan guarantees made through a crown corporation, department, and/or agency of the government were received by Pilothouse Public Affairs Group, specifying, in each case, the source and dollar amount, the date made, the reason(s) for providing funding and the present status of the grant, contribution and/or loan guarantee (whether repaid, partially repaid, or unpaid, including the value(s) of any repayment(s)) and, in the case of contracts, specifying whether the contract has been fulfilled, whether it was tendered and any reason for limiting the tender?
Return tabled.
Carol Skelton Canadian Alliance Saskatoon—Rosetown—Biggar, SK
With regard to all contaminated sites in Saskatchewan known to the government, what, in each case, and with a detailed description of each, is the type and the scope of the contamination, including any clean-up action plans involving government departments or utilizing financial assistance from the government?
Return tabled.
Carol Skelton Canadian Alliance Saskatoon—Rosetown—Biggar, SK
What, in detail, are all of the costs associated with the Non-Insured Health Benefits program from its inception to the present time?
Return tabled.
Wendy Lill NDP Dartmouth, NS
At each level of the Canada Pension Plan disability application and appeal process, for each financial year from 1990-1991 to 2000-2001, what were the numbers of men and women (listed separately for each group) who: ( a ) applied for or appealed denials of disability benefits; and ( b ) were awarded benefits?
(Returns tabled)
Roger Gallaway Liberal Sarnia—Lambton, ON
Mr. Speaker, I ask that the remaining questions be allowed to stand.