Debates of Nov. 22nd, 2010

Question No. 419

[Tony Clement, Conservative, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, in response to (a), the broadband Canada program received 570 submissions from proponents during the call for applications, from September 1 to October 23, 2009.

In response to (b), more than $1 billion in funding was requested from broadband Canada.

In response to (c), to date, $109,339,149 in broadband Canada program funding has been conditionally approved.

In response to (d)(i), OmniGlobe Broadband Inc., Red Bay, Labrador.

In response to (d)(ii), there are 207 households that will gain access to broadband Internet as a result of this program.

In response to (d)(iii), OmniGlobe Broadband Inc. has been conditionally approved for $225,741 in program funding.

In response to (d)(iv), May 9, 2010.

Question No. 427

[Ken Dryden, Liberal, York Centre, ON]

With regard to the CF-18 replacement criteria: (a) what organizational, political, industrial or bureaucratic bodies had input in determining the CF-18 replacement specifications; (b) what were the names and positions of the individuals involved in the decision-making process; (c) who at the Department of National Defence ultimately approved the final draft of the CF-18 operational requirements document; and (d) did any analysts or officials register dissenting opinions in this process and, if so, what were they?

[Peter MacKay, Conservative, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, in response to (a), after a thorough analysis of the current and perceived future roles and missions that the next generation fighter capability, NGFC, will be responsible for, as defined in the Canada first defence strategy, and the environment, both physical and threat, in which the NGFC will be required to operate, the Directorate of Air Requirements, DAR, 5, fighters and trainers, drafted the NGFC statement of operational requirements, NGFC SOR.

As the title implies, the NGFC SOR is an operational level document. As such, no political, industrial or bureaucratic bodies had any input into determining the CF-18 replacement specifications.

The NGFC SOR, as an internal military document, was drafted using the chief of force development, CFD, process. Part of the CFD process requires that the document be reviewed by all military agencies that are potential stakeholders in the project. The following list identifies the organizations/positions to which the NGFC SOR was sent for review and concurrence: vice chief of defence staff, VCDS, Chief of Programme, Director Defence Programme Coordination; Chief of the Land Staff, Director of Land Requirements; Assistant Deputy Minister, Information Management, Director General Information Management Project Delivery; Assistant Deputy Minister, Infrastructure and Environment, Director General Realty Policy and Plans; Assistant Deputy Minister, Materiel, Director General Aerospace Equipment Program Management; VCDS, Chief of Defence Intelligence, J2 Plans and Development; Canadian Special Operations Forces Command; Canadian Expeditionary Force Command; Canada Command; Chief of the Air Staff, CAS, DAR 2 - Transport and Search and Rescue; CAS DAR 3, Maritime Air and Electronic Warfare and Avionics; CAS DAR 8, Unmanned Air Vehicles; CAS DAR 9, Tactical Aviation; CAS DAR Prog, Programme Coordination; CAS Director Air Contracted Force Generation; CAS Director Air Programmes; CAS Director Air Strategic Plans; CAS Director Air Public Affairs; CAS Director Flight Safety; CAS Director Air Force Readiness; and CAS Director Air Personnel Strategy.

In response to (b), DAR 5 was responsible for the definition of the requirements of next generation fighter capability, NGFC. Once the NGFC SOR was reviewed by the organizations and positions listed above and approved by the Chief of the Air Staff, it was submitted to the Next Generation Fighter Capability Office for analysis. The NGFC office is a separate organization from the Director of Air Requirements and reports directly to the Chief of the Air Staff. The NGFC office was created in August 2007 to investigate the capabilities of potential replacements for the CF-18. Based on the analysis done by the NGFC office, it was determined that the only aircraft able to meet the mandatory specifications detailed in the NGFC SOR is the F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighter.

In response to (c), the next generation fighter capability statement of operational requirement was endorsed by the Chief of Force Development and the Vice Chief of the Defence Staff and was approved by the Chief of the Air Staff.

There were no dissenting opinions in the process that led to the determination of the requirements for the next generation fighter capability and the subsequent analysis that led to the selection of the F-35 Lightning II as the replacement for the CF-18.

Question No. 430

[Bryon Wilfert, Liberal, Richmond Hill, ON]

With regard to efforts ensuring that federal lobbying practices are conducted in an open and accountable manner: (a) how many former staff members of Conservative Members of Parliament (MPs) are now registered federal lobbyists; (b) how many former Conservative MPs are registered as federal lobbyists; (c) on how many occasions has a former Conservative MP or a former staff member of a Conservative MP lobbied a member of the Conservative government; (d) on how many occasions has a former Conservative MP or a former staff member of a Conservative MP lobbied the Minister of Finance, the Minister of Public Works and Government Services, or the Prime Minister directly; and (e) are any former Conservative MPs or former staff members of Conservative MPs currently under investigation by the Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying of Canada?

[Stockwell Day, Conservative, President of the Treasury Board]

Mr. Speaker, lobbyists are required to provide the Commissioner of Lobbying with information as specified in the Lobbying Act. All returns and other documents submitted to the commissioner under the Lobbying Act are maintained by the commissioner in a registry that is open to public inspection. Therefore, this request should be submitted directly to the Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying.

Questions Passed as Orders for Returns

[Tom Lukiwski, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, if Questions Nos. 416, 417, 421, 422, 423, 424, 426, 428 and 438 could be made orders for returns, these returns would be tabled immediately.

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Is that agreed?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

Question No. 416

[Malcolm Allen, NDP, Welland, ON]

With respect to Canada's Economic Action Plan (EAP): (a) how much money has been committed since the launch of the EAP (i) by province, (ii) by riding, (iii) by department, (iv) by each program activity; (b) how much money has been spent on projects up to and including September 30, 2010 (i) by province, (ii) by territory, (iii) by department, (iv) by program activity; (c) broken down by province and department, what is the project completion rate; (d) what criteria will be used to determine if municipalities are eligible for project extensions beyond March 31, 2011; (e) what is the estimated economic benefit created by each department and each program as a result of the implementation of the EAP; (f) how many full-time and part-time jobs have been created to date, broken down by province, since the implementation of the EAP; (g) how many full-time and part-time jobs were lost to date, broken down by province, since the implementation of the EAP; (h) how much money has been spent to date on Employment Insurance benefits, broken down by province and by month, since the implementation of the EAP; (i) how many green economic stimulus projects have been supported, broken down by province and department, since the launch of the EAP; and (j) what percentage of EAP projects have been completed to date in rural and urban areas of Canada?

(Return tabled)

Question No. 417

[Malcolm Allen, NDP, Welland, ON]

With regard to expenses for all government departments, since fiscal year 2006-2007 up to and including the current fiscal year: (a) what is the total amount spent on hospitality expenses; (b) how much has been spent on (i) leasing expenses, (ii) catering services, (iii) restaurants, (iv) coffee and beverages, (v) bottled water, (vi) petty cash; (c) how much has been spent on overseas travel, (i) in what countries, (ii) on what dates did these trips occur, (iii) what was the purpose of each trip, (iv) what was the purpose of each expense; (d) how much has been paid to third parties to provide hospitality services; (e) what companies received sole-source contracts to provide hospitality services; and (f) how much has been spent on (i) limousine services, (ii) private air service, (iii) executive class commercial air service, (iv) economy class commercial air service, (v) car rentals?

(Return tabled)

Question No. 421

[Judy Foote, Liberal, Random—Burin—St. George's, NL]

What is the total amount of government capital and operation funding, since fiscal year 2008-2009 up to and including the current fiscal year, allocated within the constituency of Random—Burin—St. George's, identifying each department, agency, funding transfer to provincial and municipal governments and arm's length agency, detailing in each case the initiative and amount, including the date the funding was allocated?

(Return tabled)

Question No. 422

[Navdeep Bains, Liberal, Mississauga—Brampton South, ON]

With regard to contracts by departments and agencies for writing and editing services: (a) how much has each department and agency spent for both services since 2006; (b) what were the corresponding events, releases, speeches, or materials for each contract; (c) who were the contracts paid to; and (d) were any of these tendered?

(Return tabled)

Question No. 423

[Navdeep Bains, Liberal, Mississauga—Brampton South, ON]

With regard to the Prime Minister’s office, Minister’s offices, Minister of State’s offices, and budgets for exempt staff of Parliamentary Secretaries from January 1, 2008 to October 5, 2010: (a) how much was spent on contracts for (i) temporary employment, (ii) consultants, (iii) advice; (b) what are the names of the individuals and companies that correspond to these amounts; and (c) for each person and company in (b), what were their billing periods and what type of work did they provide?

(Return tabled)

Question No. 424

[Navdeep Bains, Liberal, Mississauga—Brampton South, ON]

With regard to the government’s decision to change the level of Employment Insurance premiums: (a) how many items of correspondence has the government received on this issue; (b) what impact, both in percentages and in numbers, does the government project this decision will have on employment; (c) what does the government’s comparative analysis of the impact of the decision indicate; and (d) does the government anticipate a different impact on small businesses as opposed to medium and large businesses?

(Return tabled)

Question No. 426

[Ken Dryden, Liberal, York Centre, ON]

With regard to the CF-18 replacement criteria: (a) what specific operational requirements did the Department of National Defence (DND) set out in its CF-18 replacement criteria; (b) what was the rationale behind each of these requirements; and (c) in what operational theatres does DND anticipate the CF-18 replacement will be used?

(Return tabled)

Question No. 428

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

With regard to the procedure followed by the Department of Canadian Heritage for awarding grants and contributions in the arts and culture sector over the past two fiscal years: (a) what steps were taken to reduce the time required to process applications and pay out the approved funding; (b) how many additional multi-year agreements were signed in each of these fiscal years; and (c) what is the amount of each of these multi-year agreements?

(Return tabled)

Question No. 438

[Andrew Kania, Liberal, Brampton West, ON]

With regard to projects funded by the Recreational Infrastructure Canada program in the riding of Brampton West, what is the total number of jobs created or sustained for each project, according to reports submitted to the government, pursuant to Schedule "H" of the Recreational Infrastructure Funding Agreement?