House of Commons Hansard #123 of the 41st Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was copyright.

Topics

The EnvironmentPetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:35 p.m.

Green

Elizabeth May Green Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC

Mr. Speaker, the second petition is similar to the one just raised by the hon. member in relation to the northern gateway project.

The petitioners in this case are from the general Toronto area, including Etobicoke and Whitby. They call on the House to urge the Conservative Privy Council to allow a full, fair and transparent hearing of the impacts of this project, to not rush to judgment and to cease and desist from insisting the project must go ahead come hell or high water, as the current minister and Prime Minister appear to be doing.

PensionsPetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:35 p.m.

Liberal

Kevin Lamoureux Liberal Winnipeg North, MB

Mr. Speaker, it is with pleasure that I present this petition from constituents of Winnipeg North. They are stating that they believe that people should be able to continue to have the option to retire at the age of 65 and that the government should not in any way diminish the importance and value of Canada's three major seniors' programs, the OAS, GIS and CPP.

It is with pleasure that I provide the petition to the government.

Questions on the Order PaperRoutine Proceedings

3:35 p.m.

Regina—Lumsden—Lake Centre Saskatchewan

Conservative

Tom Lukiwski ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons

Mr. Speaker, the following questions will be answered today: Nos. 555 and 556.

Question No. 555Questions on the Order PaperRoutine Proceedings

3:35 p.m.

Liberal

Sean Casey Liberal Charlottetown, PE

With regard to Canadian Forces aircraft procurement, will any pilot training for the proposed F-35 Joint Strike Fighters take place in Canada, and, if so, at which Canadian Forces base or other location will it occur?

Question No. 555Questions on the Order PaperRoutine Proceedings

3:35 p.m.

Vaughan Ontario

Conservative

Julian Fantino ConservativeAssociate Minister of National Defence

Mr. Speaker, the Government of Canada has not yet purchased a replacement fleet of aircraft for the current CF-18 fighter jets. As a result, no arrangements for pilot training for the replacement fleet have been finalized.

Question No. 556Questions on the Order PaperRoutine Proceedings

3:35 p.m.

Liberal

Sean Casey Liberal Charlottetown, PE

With regard to Canadians discovered to have secret bank accounts in Liechtenstein: (a) since the government received the names of 106 Canadians with accounts in Liechtenstein, how many of the 106 have made an application under the Voluntary Disclosure Program (VDP) and how many of these VDP disclosures have been accepted; (b) who authorized these disclosures after the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) had already declared these Canadians ineligible for the VDP; (c) does the CRA accept disclosures that do not meet its guidelines for disclosures under the VDP; (d) how many times has the CRA allowed ineligible individuals to make disclosures under the VDP in the past (i) 6 months, (ii) year, (iii) 5 years; (e) what policy or procedures exist that govern whether or not an ordinarily ineligible disclosure will be accepted; (f) does the CRA make exceptions to the VDP for individuals who are suspected of domestic tax evasion; and (g) what percentage of individuals who disclose information to the CRA through the VDP are (i) fined, (ii) penalized, (iii) prosecuted, (iv) convicted of tax evasion, (v) placed under house arrest, (vi) sent to prison?

Question No. 556Questions on the Order PaperRoutine Proceedings

3:35 p.m.

Egmont P.E.I.

Conservative

Gail Shea ConservativeMinister of National Revenue

Mr. Speaker, the response of the Canada Revenue Agency, CRA, with regard to (a) is that since the government received the names and starting compliance actions on the 106 Canadians whose names appear on the list of having accounts in Liechtenstein, none of them have applied under the voluntary disclosures program, VDP, with respect to accounts in Liechtenstein.

With regard to (b), the response to (a) applies.

With regard to (c), no, there are no policies to allow ineligible disclosure to be accepted under the VDP.

With regard to (d), there have been no such instances.

With regard to (e), there are no policies or procedures to allow ineligible disclosures to be accepted under the VDP. To be considered valid, and therefore accepted, the VDP policy requires that a disclosure meet all four of the following conditions: it must be voluntary, it must be subject to a penalty, it must be at least one year past due and it must be complete.

With regard to (f), no, the CRA does not make exceptions to the VDP policy.

With regard to (g), taxpayers who make a valid disclosure under the VDP may not be subjected to penalties or pursued for prosecution as long as they are covered by the legislative parameters of the program.

Questions Passed as Orders for ReturnsRoutine Proceedings

3:35 p.m.

Regina—Lumsden—Lake Centre Saskatchewan

Conservative

Tom Lukiwski ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons

Mr. Speaker, if Questions Nos. 558, 559, 560, 561 and 571 could be made orders for returns, these returns would be tabled immediately.

Questions Passed as Orders for ReturnsRoutine Proceedings

3:35 p.m.

Conservative

The Acting Speaker Conservative Barry Devolin

Is that agreed?

Questions Passed as Orders for ReturnsRoutine Proceedings

3:35 p.m.

Some hon. members

Agreed

Question No. 558Questions Passed as Orders for ReturnsRoutine Proceedings

3:35 p.m.

Liberal

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

With regard to the closure of the Maritime Rescue Sub-Centre in St. John’s: (a) what are the dates of all communication on this subject between any official of the federal government and any official of the provincial government of Newfoundland and Labrador; (b) what was the medium of such communication; (c) who initiated the communication; (d) who was the recipient or intended recipient; and (e) what are the associated file or reference numbers associated with any such communication?

(Return tabled)

Question No. 559Questions Passed as Orders for ReturnsRoutine Proceedings

3:35 p.m.

NDP

Marjolaine Boutin-Sweet NDP Hochelaga, QC

With regard to Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC): (a) what are the names of the Department’s skills programs; and (b) for each skills program in (a), what is (i) the target population, (ii) the funding recipient (i.e., provinces and territories or organizations), (iii) the budget for each fiscal year from 2005-2006 to 2012-2013, broken down by operating expenses and transfer payments, (iv) the projected budget for fiscal years 2013-2014, 2014-2015, and 2015-2016, broken down by operating expenses and transfer payments, (v) the number of applications received annually for funding, broken down by the number of applications accepted and the number of applications rejected, (vi) how many HRSDC staff work on administering or evaluating the program, (vii) what evaluations have been done for the programs’ effectiveness by date and by title of report, (viii) what are the granting criteria?

(Return tabled)

Question No. 560Questions Passed as Orders for ReturnsRoutine Proceedings

3:35 p.m.

NDP

Marjolaine Boutin-Sweet NDP Hochelaga, QC

With regard to government funding allocated within the constituency of Hochelaga for every fiscal year from 2004-2005 to 2012-2013: (a) what is the total amount of funding by (i) department, (ii) agency, (iii) other government entity, (iv) program; and (b) how many jobs are a direct result of this funding, including both (i) full-time jobs, (ii) part-time jobs?

(Return tabled)

Question No. 561Questions Passed as Orders for ReturnsRoutine Proceedings

3:35 p.m.

NDP

Claude Patry NDP Jonquière—Alma, QC

With regard to the Employment Insurance (EI) program and its administration: (a) how many overpayments have been made annually for the past five fiscal years by number and by amount, broken down by (i) region/province, (ii) year, (iii) misrepresented versus non-misrepresented cases; (b) how many overpayments have been collected annually for the past five fiscal years by number and by amount, broken down by (i) region/province, (ii) year, (iii) misrepresented versus non-misrepresented cases; (c) how many overpayments have been written off annually for the last five fiscal years by number and by amount, broken down by (i) region/province, (ii) year, (iii) misrepresented versus non-misrepresented cases; (d) how many EI cases have been adjudicated annually for the past five years, broken down by (i) region/province, (ii) year, (iii) misrepresented versus non-misrepresented cases; (e) what is the average caseload for EI inspectors annually for the past five fiscal years, broken down by (i) region/province, (ii) year, (iii) misrepresented versus non-misrepresented cases; (f) what is the average caseload for EI adjudicators annually for the past five fiscal years, broken down by (i) region/province, (ii) year, (iii) misrepresented versus non-misrepresented cases; (g) what is the EI Workload Status annually for the past five fiscal years, broken down by (i) region/province, (ii) year, (iii) total case intake, (iv) number of cases pending, (v) number of cases pending more than 29 days; and (h) excluding those on parental leave, what is the number of Service Canada employees on long-term disability leave in total and broken down by (i) EI call centres, (ii) EI processing centres?

(Return tabled)

Question No. 571Questions Passed as Orders for ReturnsRoutine Proceedings

3:35 p.m.

Liberal

Massimo Pacetti Liberal Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC

With regard to the Apprenticeship Incentive Grant: (a) how many apprentices applied for grants in each of the years between 2007 and 2011, broken down by apprentice program; (b) how many apprentices received grants in each of the years between 2007 and 2011, broken down by apprentice program; and (c) how much has actually been spent by the government on these grants for each of the years between 2007 and 2011, broken down by apprentice program?

(Return tabled)

Questions Passed as Orders for ReturnsRoutine Proceedings

3:35 p.m.

Conservative

Tom Lukiwski Conservative Regina—Lumsden—Lake Centre, SK

Mr. Speaker, I ask that the remaining questions be allowed to stand.

Questions Passed as Orders for ReturnsRoutine Proceedings

3:35 p.m.

Conservative

The Acting Speaker Conservative Barry Devolin

Is that agreed?

Questions Passed as Orders for ReturnsRoutine Proceedings

3:35 p.m.

Some hon. members

Agreed.

The House resumed consideration of Bill C-11, An Act to amend the Copyright Act, as reported (with amendments) from the committee, and of the motions in Group No. 1.

Copyright Modernization ActGovernment Orders

3:35 p.m.

Conservative

The Acting Speaker Conservative Barry Devolin

I wish to inform the House that because of the statement made earlier today, government orders will be extended by 12 minutes.

The hon. Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice has five minutes remaining in questions and comments.

Questions and comments, the hon. member for Davenport.