Debates of March 21st, 2011

Question No. 852

[Diane Finley, Conservative, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development]

Mr. Speaker, in response to (a), (b), (c) and (d), no contract existed for sending letters to employment insurance offices about the 20 additional weeks of benefits.

Question No. 884

[Andrew Kania, Liberal, Brampton West, ON]

With regard to Recreational Infrastructure Canada projects in Manitoba: (a) in which federal riding is each project located; (b) what is the description of each project; (c) what is the expected cost of each project; and (d) what is the expected completion date of each project?

[Lynne Yelich, Conservative, Minister of State (Western Economic Diversification)]

Mr. Speaker, for parts (a), (b) and (c), please see the listing of RInC projects approved in Manitoba, as found on the Department of Western Economic Diversification Canada’s public website: http://www.wd.gc.ca/eng/11930.asp

In response to (d), all RInC projects must be completed by October 31, 2011.

Question No. 885

[Andrew Kania, Liberal, Brampton West, ON]

With regard to Recreational Infrastructure Canada projects in Saskatchewan: (a) in which federal riding is each project located; (b) what is the description of each project; (c) what is the expected cost of each project; and (d) what is the expected completion date of each project?

[Lynne Yelich, Conservative, Minister of State (Western Economic Diversification)]

Mr. Speaker, for parts (a), (b) and (c), please see the listing of RInC projects approved in Saskatchewan, as found on the Department of Western Economic Diversification Canada’s public website: http://www.wd.gc.ca/eng/11931.asp

In response to (d), all RInC projects must be completed by October 31, 2011.

Question No. 888

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

With regard to Recreational Infrastructure Canada projects in Alberta: (a) in which federal riding is each project located; (b) what is the description of each project; (c) what is the expected cost of each project; and (d) what is the expected completion date of each project?

[Lynne Yelich, Conservative, Minister of State (Western Economic Diversification)]

Mr. Speaker, for parts (a), (b) and (c), please see the listing of Recreational Infrastructure Canada, RInC, projects approved in Alberta, as found on the Department of Western Economic Diversification Canada’s public website: http://www.wd.gc.ca/eng/11928.asp.

In response to (d), all RInC projects must be completed by October 31, 2011.

Question No. 889

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

With regard to Recreational Infrastructure Canada projects in British Columbia: (a) in which federal riding is each project located; (b) what is the description of each project; (c) what is the expected cost of each project; and (d) what is the expected completion date of each project?

[Lynne Yelich, Conservative, Minister of State (Western Economic Diversification)]

Mr. Speaker, for parts (a), (b) and (c), please see the listing of Recreational Infrastructure Canada, RInC, projects approved in British Columbia, as found on the Department of Western Economic Diversification Canada’s public website: http://www.wd.gc.ca/eng/11929.asp.

In response to (d), all RInC projects must be completed by October 31, 2011.

Question No. 903

[John McKay, Liberal, Scarborough—Guildwood, ON]

With regard to Building Canada Fund projects in the Yukon: (a) what is the description of each project; (b) what is the expected cost of each project; and (c) what is the expected completion date of each project?

[Chuck Strahl, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, a list of approved infrastructure projects funded by Infrastructure Canada in the north, the three territories, under its national programs can be found on our website at the following location: http://www.buildingcanada-chantierscanada.gc.ca/regions/quicklinks-liensrapides-eng.html.

Question No. 905

[John McKay, Liberal, Scarborough—Guildwood, ON]

With regard to Building Canada Fund projects in Northwest Territories: (a) what is the description of each project; (b) what is the expected cost of each project; and (c) what is the expected completion date of each project?

[Chuck Strahl, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, a list of approved infrastructure projects funded by Infrastructure Canada in the north, the three territories, under its national programs can be found on our website at the following location: http://www.buildingcanada-chantierscanada.gc.ca/regions/quicklinks-liensrapides-eng.html.

Question No. 906

[John McKay, Liberal, Scarborough—Guildwood, ON]

With regard to Building Canada Fund projects in the Nunavut: (a) what is the description of each project; (b) what is the expected cost of each project; and (c) what is the expected completion date of each project?

[Chuck Strahl, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, a list of approved infrastructure projects funded by Infrastructure Canada in the north, the three territories, under its national programs can be found on our website at the following location: http://www.buildingcanada-chantierscanada.gc.ca/regions/quicklinks-liensrapides-eng.html.

Question No. 914

[David McGuinty, Liberal, Ottawa South, ON]

With regard to responses to questions on the Order Paper, prepared by the ministries but sent to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) or the Privy Council Office (PCO) for review in 2009 and 2010: (a) what responses to questions on the Order Paper were reviewed by PMO or PCO staff; (b) what responses were amended or sent back to the ministries with suggestions for amendment; and (c) what responses to questions on the Order Paper were completely rejected by PCO or PMO with instructions to the ministry or ministries to rewrite or submit a non-response to the House?

[John Baird, Conservative, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, the Office for the Coordination of Parliamentary Returns at the Privy Council Office, PCO, coordinates the government-wide process for producing and tabling responses to parliamentary written questions seeking factual information from ministers of the Crown relating to public affairs.

PCO seeks to assist the government in providing timely, complete and accurate responses to questions from parliamentarians and has prepared a “Guide to Producing Parliamentary Returns” to assist departments, agencies and other government organizations to prepare timely, complete and accurate responses.

Officials in PCO examine the Order Paper and Notice Paper of the House of Commons and the Senate on a daily basis for new questions. The text of each question is analyzed and, on occasion, clarification of a question may be sought from the parliamentarian who filed the question. PCO then determines, in consultation with departmental parliamentary return officers, which departments and other organizations in a minister’s portfolio will be assigned to respond to the question. In the case of complex questions assigned to many departments and other government organizations, PCO will often produce and distribute written instructions. These will state which organizations should answer parts of a question, provide advice on interpretation of the question, refer to relevant government policies, and, if needed, provide a template so that information is presented in a consistent manner. These instructions are tabled in Parliament with Ministers’ answers to the questions.

PCO has also produced, as requested by the Auditor General, a “Glossary of Terms for Parliamentary Returns” to help parliamentarians frame written questions in a manner that will assist them in getting the type of information they wish, and to help government institutions ensure there is a consistency of response. Many of the glossary items relate to financial and accounting terms used by federal government institutions.

PCO is responsible for ensuring compliance with the guidelines, for ensuring that there is a consistency of approach with respect to multi-departmental/agency responses, for quality control as far as practicable, and for ensuring the responses are formatted for tabling in Parliament and using appropriate parliamentary language. For responses to questions tabled in 2010, PCO in carrying out these responsibilities made or suggested that 275 discrete changes be made to proposed responses submitted to the PCO Office for the Coordination of Parliamentary Returns. Approximately two-thirds of these interventions were to address formatting issues, typographical errors, translation issues, or issues of parliamentary language. An additional 25% of the interventions were to provide greater precision, greater clarity, or additional information in the responses. In four instances, duplicate information was removed. In five other instances, PCO interventions were to suggest the privacy of individuals or companies be protected in accordance with government policy, i.e., that the principles of the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act be applied. For responses tabled in 2009, PCO made or suggested 41 changes to provide greater precision, greater clarity, or additional information in the responses. It was not possible in the time available to research the number of changes to address formatting and other similar types of matters in 2009.

Question No. 916

[David McGuinty, Liberal, Ottawa South, ON]

With regard to the G7 Finance Ministers' meetings in Nunavut: (a) how many Canada Goose parkas were purchased for the event; (b) who were the recipients of each jacket paid for by the government; and (c) what was the total cost of these jackets?

[Shelly Glover, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, in response to (a), for the February, 2010 G7 finance ministers and central bank governors meeting held in Nunavut, 40 Canadian-made parkas were purchased from Canadian manufacturer Canada Goose. Similarly, the Department of Finance previously provided jackets to participants when it hosted the G20 finance ministers meeting in October, 2000, as well as the western hemisphere finance ministers meeting in April, 2001.

In response to (b), parkas were provided to those involved in the event, including: officials from Canada, the Minister of Finance, Tiff Macklem, Associate Deputy Minister of Finance and G-7 Deputy for Canada, Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of Canada; from France, Christine Lagarde, Minister of the Economy, Finance and Employment, Christian Noyer, Governor of the Bank of France, Ramon Fernandez, Director of the Treasury; from Germany, Wolfgang Schäuble, Minister of Finance, Axel Weber, President of the Deutsche Bundesbank, Jörg Asmussen, State Secretary for the Ministry of Finance; from Italy, Giulio Tremonti, Minister of the Economy and Finance, Mario Draghi, Governor of the Bank of Italy, Vittorio Grilli, Director for International Financial Relations; from Japan, Naoto Kan, Minister of Finance, Masaaki Shirakawa, Governor of the Bank of Japan, Rintaro Tamaki, Vice Minister of Finance for International Affairs, from the United Kingdom, the right hon. Alistair Darling, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Mervyn King, Governor of the Bank of England, Michael Ellam, Managing Director, International and Europe, International and Finance Directorate; from the United States of America, Timothy Geithner, Secretary of the Treasury, Ben Bernanke, Chairman of the Federal Reserve System, Lael Brainard, Counselor to the Secretary of the Treasury; from the European Central Bank, Jean-Claude Trichet, President of the European Central Bank; from Eurogroup, Jean-Claude Juncker, Prime Minister; from the European Commission, Joaquin Almunia, Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs, Marco Buti, Director General of Economic and Financial Affairs; from the International Monetary Fund, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Managing Director, John Lipsky, First Deputy Managing Director; from the World Bank, Robert Zoellick, President, Jeffrey Lewis, Senior Adviser and Head of the International Policy and Partnerships Group; from the Financial Stability Board, Rupert Thorne, Deputy to the Secretary General; and from the Government of Nunavut, John Quirk, Clerk, National Assembly, Karen Kabloona, Nunavut Territory Liaison. Surplus parkas were transferred to Crown Assets at Public Works and Government Services Canada.

In response to (c), $19,874.64. The total cost provided includes the cost of 40 Canada Goose parkas, as well as all taxes, shipping costs, and costs for ‘G-7 Finance Minister Meeting in Iqaluit’ logo patch and sewing of the logo patch.

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. 818, 819, 820, 821, 822, 823, 825, 826, 827, 828, 829, 831, 833, 836, 838, 839, 842, 843, 844, 846, 847, 849, 850, 851, 853, 854, 855, 856, 857, 858, 859, 860, 861, 862, 863, 864, 865, 866, 867, 868, 869, 870, 871, 873, 874, 875, 876, 877, 878, 879, 880, 881, 882, 883, 886, 887, 890, 891, 892, 893, 894, 895, 896, 897, 898, 899, 900, 901, 902, 904, 907, 908, 909, 910, 911, 912, 913, 915, 917, 918, 919, 920, and 921 could be made orders for returns, these returns would be tabled immediately.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

Is that agreed?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

Question No. 818

[Martha Hall Findlay, Liberal, Willowdale, ON]

With respect to the meetings between the Government of Canada, U.S. governors and members of the U.S. House of Representatives on U.S. protectionist legislation in a bid to defend Canadian companies: (a) how many meetings were held; (b) with whom, for each meeting; (c) what were the dates of these meetings; and (d) what is the content of the meeting minutes and correspondence?

(Return tabled)

Question No. 819

[Wayne Marston, NDP, Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, ON]

With regard to the Infirm Dependent Tax Credit, for each calendar year between 2004 and 2010: (a) how many people applied for the tax credit; (b) how many people qualified to receive a tax credit; and (c) what was the total amount granted for this tax credit?