Debates of Jan. 30th, 2012

Question No. 317

[Scott Simms, Liberal, Bonavista—Gander—Grand Falls—Windsor, NL]

With regard to the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, as of December 1, 2011, how many Canadian citizens have been detained, arrested or imprisoned abroad and by which countries?

(Return tabled)

Question No. 319

[Denis Coderre, Liberal, Bourassa, QC]

With regard to the Haiti earthquake relief fund put in place by the government following the devastating January 2010 event: (a) what is the total amount of the fund; (b) what are all the programs that have received funding from it; and (c) what is the amount and the name of the organisations that have received the funding?

(Return tabled)

Question No. 320

[Denis Coderre, Liberal, Bourassa, QC]

With regard to the Department of National Defence and the operational capability of our fleet of Buffalo aircraft: (a) what is their percentage of availability; (b) how many hours of maintenance do they require per hour of flight; (c) what is the number of in-flight incidents that have required an aircraft to abort its rescue mission; (d) what is the number of missions that have been conducted since 2006; and (e) what has been the cost of maintaining this fleet since 2006?

(Return tabled)

Question No. 327

[Francis Scarpaleggia, Liberal, Lac-Saint-Louis, QC]

With regard to National Parole Board (NPB) appointments since 2006: (a) what are the names of the appointees; (b) what is the professional background of each appointee; (c) what is the appointment length for each appointee; and (d) what is the remuneration for each appointee?

(Return tabled)

Question No. 328

[Scott Andrews, Liberal, Avalon, NL]

With regard to Employment Insurance applications processed by Service Canada (SC) in Newfoundland and Labrador for each year between 2006 and 2011 to date, inclusively, and for each specific SC office by month: (a) how many applications were processed for (i) regular claims, (ii) fishing claims; (b) what were the average and median processing times for (i) regular claims, (ii) fishing claims; and (c) how many of the applications (i) received immediate approval, (ii) were approved after some follow-up between SC officials and the applicant, (iii) were rejected, (iv) were appealed, (v) were approved after appeal?

(Return tabled)

Question No. 329

[Scott Andrews, Liberal, Avalon, NL]

With regard to Canada Post outlets in Newfoundland and Labrador, by electoral riding and for each year between 2006 and 2010 inclusively: (a) how many outlets were operational; (b) in which communities were the operational outlets located; (c) what was the total financial expenditure for each of these outlets per year for (i) labor, (ii) capital/repair and maintenance; and (d) were the same outlets operational in 2011, and, if not, in what year did the operations cease?

(Return tabled)

Question No. 331

[Carolyn Bennett, Liberal, St. Paul's, ON]

With regard to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, endorsed by the government in November 2010: (a) what concrete actions has the government taken to implement the Declaration; (b) what steps has the government taken to consult with First Nations on the implementation of the Declaration; (c) what steps has the government taken to consult with the provincial and territorial governments on the implementation of the Declaration; (d) how does the government define the term “aspirational” which it has used to characterize its approach to implementing the Declaration; (e) are there any other international agreements that the government considers not legally binding or “aspirational”; (f) what criteria does the government use to determine whether a policy is “aspirational”; (g) what is the government’s position concerning whether or not the Declaration will be binding in the future; (h) did the government communicate its position that the Declaration is “aspirational” and non-binding to First Nations and the other levels of government in advance of endorsing the Declaration; (i) what directives have been provided to Ministers, political exempt staff and public servants concerning the use of the Declaration in developing policy and programs; (j) does a process exist to ensure that all legislation, regulations and policy concerning indigenous peoples are compliant with the Declaration; and (k) has training on the Declaration been provided to employees of the Treasury Board and Privy Council Office?

(Return tabled)

Question No. 332

[Carolyn Bennett, Liberal, St. Paul's, ON]

With regard to the government’s on-reserve housing policy administered by Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada and the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, per First Nations community: (a) what is the number of (i) additional housing units required to meet the current demand for housing, (ii) additional housing units required to meet the expected future demand for housing, (iii) existing housing units assessed as being in good condition, (iv) existing housing stock assessed as being in fair condition and requiring minor repairs and maintenance, (v) existing housing stock assessed as being in poor condition and requiring significant repairs and maintenance; (b) what is the average estimated cost of (i) building a new housing unit, (ii) repairing an existing housing unit assessed as being in fair condition, (iii) repairing an existing housing unit assessed as being in poor condition; and (c) for fiscal years 2006-2007 to 2010-2011 what has been (i) the rate of new housing construction, (ii) the rate of repairs to existing housing stock, (iii) the extent of overcrowding, (iv) the total funding allocation in new housing construction, (v) the total funding allocation in housing repairs and maintenance?

(Return tabled)

Question No. 333

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Cardigan, PE]

With regard to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans’ (DFO) Evaluation of the Fisheries Resources Science Program (Project number 6B139): (a) what are the reasons for the decrease in the number of publications and public communications being produced by the Fisheries Resources Science (FRS) Program; (b) is this decrease projected to continue into the future; (c) what is the total number of publications produced by FRS in each of the years from 2000 to present; (d) what are the challenges associated with moving towards a complex ecosystems-based approach and how does FRS plan to address these challenges; (e) what effects will present and future budget cuts to DFO have on the move to this approach; (f) how does DFO intend to deal with the skills shortage among FRS staff in the quantitative/modeling areas; (g) how does DFO plan to address the increasing science requests to FRS; and (h) will any current FRS staff that are slated to retire in the next four years be replaced by new staff?

(Return tabled)

Question No. 335

[David McGuinty, Liberal, Ottawa South, ON]

With respect to the project in conjunction with Public Works and Government Services Canada and Environment Canada which involves the Place Vincent Massey Building at 351 St. Joseph Boulevard in Gatineau, Quebec: (a) who made the decision not to proceed with the waste and cost reduction strategy of refurbishing the existing workstations; (b) what criteria were used in determining that the procurement process for refurbishment was time consuming and that buying was easier; (c) what were the expected costs for refurbishment to fit up the property; (d) what analysis was conducted to determine whether to buy new or to refurbish; (e) who approved the budget for the new furniture; (f) who approved the cost of storing the existing furniture; (g) what is the complete inventory of workstations and other furniture being stored, (i) how long will the previously mentioned furniture inventory be stored, (ii) what are the total storage costs expected to be, (iii) how much of this furniture has been declared surplus and will be sold; and (h) what is the total cost for new furniture at Place Vincent Massey?

(Return tabled)

Question No. 336

[David McGuinty, Liberal, Ottawa South, ON]

With respect to Canada’s oil sands: (a) how does the government define the oil sands geographically; (b) what are the known reserves in the oil sands; (c) how many jobs are directly or indirectly linked to the oil sands, (i) where, specifically, are these jobs located, (ii) in what sectors are the previously mentioned jobs; (d) how much revenue accrues annually to the government from oil sands exploitation for the years 2000 to 2011 inclusively; (e) what infrastructure investments regarding oil sands have been made by the government since January 2006; and (f) what federal subsidies are in place to incentivise oil sands exploitation and what has it cost the government on an annual basis since 2000?

(Return tabled)

Question No. 337

[Irene Mathyssen, NDP, London—Fanshawe, ON]

With regard to website development and redevelopment since fiscal year 2003-2004, up to and including the current fiscal year: (a) how much has the government spent on altering, improving, branding or otherwise amending the websites for the government and all departmental websites, broken down by fiscal year and department; and (b) what, if any, contracts were awarded to carry out this work, broken down by fiscal year and department, (i) what was, if any, the bidding process for these contracts, broken down by fiscal year and department, (ii) how many applications were received for the contracts, broken down by fiscal year and department?

(Return tabled)

Question No. 340

[Gerry Byrne, Liberal, Humber—St. Barbe—Baie Verte, NL]

With regard to each Canadian flag that has flown above the Peace Tower on Parliament Hill since January 1, 2010: (a) who received each flag; (b) for what purpose or occasion did the recipient indicate the flag was being requested or would be used; (c) for requests in which the intended recipient was different then the requestor, who was the requestor’s intended recipient; (d) the number of flags distributed each day throughout the period covered within this request; and (e) the average cost per unit to the government for each flag?