Debates of Jan. 28th, 2013

Question No. 1089

[Dany Morin, NDP, Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC]

With regard to the Wastewater Systems Effluent Regulations, P.C. 2012-942 (June 28, 2012), pursuant to subsection 36(5) and paragraphs 43(g.1), (g.2) and (h) of the Fisheries Act and with regard to all governmental departments: (a) has the government already identified the wastewater systems that present a high, medium or low environmental risk and, if so, (i) which wastewater systems have been identified in the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region, (ii) in which municipalities are they located; (b) does the government have a financial assistance plan to help small municipalities comply with the new regulatory system and, if so, (i) what are the details of the financial assistance plan for communities that must upgrade their system, (ii) what is the proposed timeline for municipalities that want to apply for government financial assistance to upgrade their wastewater system; (c) have towns and cities been informed of changes to government standards for wastewater treatment and, if so, how were they informed and, if not, when will they be informed; (d) what, if any, scientific reports or research on water sanitation in the Saguenay Fjord or the Saguenay-St. Lawrence Marine Park have been released since 2007, when the State of the Saguenay-St. Lawrence Marine Park Report was published; (e) what, if any, studies have been done on the effects and impacts of wastewater discharge in the Saguenay Fjord; and (f) have any measures been taken by a government department or agency to help municipalities within the coordination zone of the Saguenay-St. Lawrence Marine Park receive priority when a program to fund wastewater treatment is introduced and, if so, what are the details of these measures?

(Return tabled)

Question No. 1090

[Christine Moore, NDP, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

With regard to Canada Economic Development: (a) what grants have been awarded in the federal riding of Abitibi—Témiscamingue in the last 10 years; (b) what projects have been funded or undertaken in the federal riding of Abitibi—Témiscamingue in the last 10 years; and (c) what were the organizations, amounts allocated and type of project?

(Return tabled)

Question No. 1091

[Christine Moore, NDP, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

With regard to the various federal departments maintaining offices and services in the constituency of Abitibi—Témiscamingue, what are their detailed operating budgets, by department and service, for the years 2006 to 2012?

(Return tabled)

Question No. 1092

[Kirsty Duncan, Liberal, Etobicoke North, ON]

With regard to drug safety in Canada and the protection of Canadians’ health: (a) for each of the recommendations in the Auditor General’s 2011 fall report, Chapter 4, Regulating Pharmaceutical Drugs—Health Canada, what are the actions taken to date, and specifically, which of these actions (i) has yet to begin, (ii) is in progress, (iii) is completed; (b) for drugs produced in off-shore factories, how does Health Canada monitor safety, (i) how many inspections has it undertaken since 2006, and (ii) for each identified inspection, what was the reason for investigating, and what were the results; (c) what are all the positive and negative impacts of the “user-fee” model, by which drug companies pay to submit a drug for approval, and what, if any, research or investment has been undertaken to consider alternative models, (i) what are the dates, results and recommendations of any research, (ii) the dollar amount of any investment, (iii) if results and recommendations are available, will Health Canada be acting upon them and when; (d) will Health Canada make registering clinical trials for drugs mandatory, and if so, when; (e) what, if any, research or investment has been undertaken to examine whether the pharmaceutical industry suppresses negative clinical trial results, (i) what are the dates, results and recommendations of any research, (ii) the dollar amount of any investment, (iii) if results and recommendations are available, will Health Canada be acting upon them and when; (f) what, if any, research or investment has been given to having Health Canada provide information regarding clinical trials, including, but not limited to, information confirming safety and efficacy, the number of people in the trials, and the number of people who drop out due to bad side effects, (i) what are the dates, results and recommendations of any research, (ii) the dollar amount of any investment, (iii) if results and recommendations are available, will Health Canada be acting upon them and when; (g) what, if any, research or investment has been undertaken to identify new drugs for consumers, as in the United Kingdom, (i) what are the dates, results and recommendations of any research, (ii) the dollar amount of any investment, (iii) if results and recommendations are available, will Health Canada be acting upon them and when; (h) what, if any, research or investment has been undertaken to adopt plain language labelling, (i) what are the dates, results and recommendations of any research, (ii) the dollar amount of any investment, (iii) if results and recommendations are available, will Health Canada be acting upon them and when; (i) will Health Canada be undertaking plain language labelling and, if so, when; (j) what specific post-market monitoring of drugs does Health Canada undertake itself, (i) how many drugs have been approved since 2006, (ii) how many of these were later given safety warnings, (iii) how many of these were later removed from market, (iv) for each drug given a warning or a removal, did it follow a warning or removal by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) or the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), (v) did Health Canada ever issue a warning or removal before the EMA/FDA; (k) what specific post-market monitoring of drugs that have had a 180-day priority review does Health Canada undertake itself, (i) how many drugs have been approved since 2006, (ii) how many were later given safety warnings, (iii) how many of these were later removed from market, (iv) for each drug given a warning or a removal, did it follow a warning or removal by the EMA or the FDA, (v) did Health Canada ever issue a warning or removal before the EMA/FDA; (l) when will Health Canada offer a list of drugs that received fast-track approval, and why fast-tracking took place, (ii) what other variables might Health Canada consider making available to increase transparency regarding priority-review drugs; (m) what, if any, research or investment has been undertaken to develop an independent drug-monitoring agency with the power to remove unsafe drugs from the market, (i) what are the dates, results and recommendations of any research, (ii) the dollar amount of any investment, (iii) if results and recommendations are available, will Health Canada be acting upon them and when; (n) what, if any, research or investment has been undertaken to provide plainly worded risk warnings, (i) what are the dates, results and recommendations of any research, (ii) the dollar amount of any investment, (iii) and if results and recommendations are available, will Health Canada be acting upon them and when; (o) will Health Canada be undertaking plainly-worded risk warnings, and if so, when; (p) how many Canadians die each year of prescription drugs in Canada, (i) what is the most recent data Health Canada has regarding these deaths, (ii) what specific action has Health Canada taken to reduce these numbers, (iii) what data does Health Canada or the Canadian Institutes for Health Research have regarding how these data are expected or predicted to change in the future; (q) what action has been taken to address each of the 59 recommendations of the coroner’s jury in the inquiry into Ms. Vanessa Young's death, what action has been taken to address each of the 16 recommendations of the coroner’s jury in the inquiry into Ms. Sara Carlin's death, and for each recommendation, (i) is the recommendation being acted upon, in progress, or completed, (ii) if it is not being acted upon, why; (r) what, if any, research or investment has been undertaken to making “related to a drug prescribed” a category of death, (i) what are the dates, results and recommendations of any research, (ii) the dollar amount of any investment, (iii) if results and recommendations are available, will Health Canada be acting upon them and when; (s) what, if any, research or investment has been undertaken to determine what percentage of adverse reactions are never reported, (i) what are the dates, results and recommendations of any research, (ii) the dollar amount of any investment, (iii) if results and recommendations are available, will Health Canada be acting upon them and when; (t) what, if any, research or investment has been undertaken to make reporting adverse effects of drugs mandatory for doctors, (i) what are the dates, results and recommendations of any research, (ii) the dollar amount of any investment, (iii) and if results and recommendations are available, will Health Canada be acting upon them and when; (u) what, if any, research, or investment has been undertaken to make reporting adverse effects of drugs mandatory for pharmacists, (i) what are the dates, results and recommendations of any research, (ii) the dollar amount of any investment, (iii) if results and recommendations are available, will Health Canada be acting upon them and when; (v) what, if any, research or investment has been undertaken to make reporting adverse effects of drugs mandatory for all healthcare professionals, (i) what are the dates, results and recommendations of any research, (ii) the dollar amount of any investment, (iii) if results and recommendations are available, will Health Canada be acting upon them and when; (w) what, if any, research or investment has been undertaken to make public adverse effects reports from companies, (i) what are the dates, results and recommendations of any research, (ii) the dollar amount of any investment, (iii) if results and recommendations are available, will Health Canada be acting upon them and when; (x) what, if any, research or investment has been undertaken to make Health Canada’s on-line, adverse-reactions-to-drugs database more navigable and user-friendly, (i) what are the dates, results and recommendations of any research, (ii) the dollar amount of any investment, (iii) if results and recommendations are available, will Health Canada be acting upon them and when; (y) when will Health Canada offer a full list of every warning given for a specific drug; (z) what, if any, research or investment has been undertaken to make Health Canada’s website more user-friendly and transparent, (i) what are the dates, results and recommendations of any research, (ii) the dollar amount of any investment, (iii) and if results and recommendations are available, will Health Canada be acting upon them and when; and (aa) what, if any, research or investment has been undertaken to give Health Canada the authority to unilaterally revise a label or remove a drug from market, (i) what are the dates, results and recommendations of any research, (ii) the dollar amount of any investment, (iii) if results and recommendations are available, will Health Canada be acting upon them and when?

(Return tabled)

Question No. 1093

[Françoise Boivin, NDP, Gatineau, QC]

With regard to demographic information about judicial appointments for each of the last 10 years, what is the: (a) total number of judicial appointments made, by year; (b) total number of judicial appointments for each year by (i) court, (ii) province; (c) total number of judicial appointments of women, and number by year; (d) number of judicial appointments of women by (i) court, (ii) province; (e) total number of judicial appointments of visible minorities, and number by year; (f) number of judicial appointments of visible minorities by (i) court, (ii) province; (g) total number of judicial appointments of First Nations, Inuit or Metis, and number by year; (h) number of judicial appointments of First Nations, Inuit or Metis by (i) court, (ii) province; (i) number of applications made by visible minorities by (i) court, (ii) province; and (j) number of applications made by women by (i) court, (ii) province?

(Return tabled)

Question No. 1094

[Chris Charlton, NDP, Hamilton Mountain, ON]

With regard to Employment Insurance (EI), for each of the past seven fiscal years as well as the year-to-date: (a) what was Service Canada's overall budget for EI; (b) what was Service Canada's budget for processing EI applications; (c) what was Service Canada's budget for EI call centres; (d) what was Service Canada's budget for reviewing EI appeals before they reached a hearing; (e) what was Service Canada's budget for investigating fraud; (f) how many staff did Service Canada allocate to EI overall; (g) how many staff did Service Canada allocate to processing EI applications; (h) how many staff did Service Canada allocate to EI call centres; (i) how many staff did Service Canada allocate to reviewing EI appeals before they reached a hearing; (j) how many staff did Service Canada allocate to investigating fraud; and (k) how many members of the Board of Referees were there, broken down by region and position?

(Return tabled)

Question No. 1095

[Chris Charlton, NDP, Hamilton Mountain, ON]

With regard to the Review of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) that was announced in November 2012: (a) which department is the lead for the review and which departments are involved; (b) what are the Terms of Reference for the Review; (c) what is the scope of the Review; (d) who is the lead conducting the Review, including, (i) their name, (ii) their position and department or organization, (iii) their duties in relation to the Terms of Reference for the Review, (iv) any other responsibilities or duties they may have with respect to the Review; (e) how was it determined which department would be the lead in the Review; (f) when did the Review begin; (g) what are the titles of any reports or studies being used to conduct the Review and who are the authors; (h) for any consultations that are part of the Review, what third party groups and stakeholders are being consulted as part of the Review, broken down by employers and employer groups representatives, labour unions and employee representative groups, non-profit groups, provinces and territories, and other groups; (i) when and how will consultations happen; (j) when are the results of the Review expected; (k) will the results of the Review be made publically available and, if so, when and how; (l) what are the findings of the Review to date; (m) with respect to the cost of the Review, (i) what is the cost of the Review, (ii) which departments are allocating resources toward the Review, (iii) what is each department allocating to the Review, including staff resources; (n) what concerns were identified within Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC) and Citizenship and Immigration (CIC) that led to the Review; (o) when did HRSDC first become aware of the concerns that led to the Review; (p) when did CIC first become aware of the concerns that led to the Review; (q) what specific concerns does HRSDC have about HD Mining Ltd following the rules under the TFWP and when did CIC first become aware of these concerns; (r) what specific concerns does CIC have about HD Mining Ltd following the rules under the TFWP and when did CIC first become aware of these concerns; (s) what communications has HRSDC or CIC had with the Government of British Columbia with respect to any concerns about HD Mining Ltd following the rules under the TFWP; (t) with respect to the Labour Market Opinions (LMOs) that are subject to the Review, (i) how many LMOs will be subject to the Review and for which employers, (ii) what will the Review of each of those LMOs entail, (iii) what impact will the Review have on the status of these LMOs during the Review, (iv) what are the possible impacts of the Review on the status of these LMOs once the review is complete; and (u) for the CIC work permits that are subject to the Review, (i) how many work permits will be subject to the Review and for which employers, (ii) what will the review of each of those work permits entail, (iii) what impact will the Review have on the status of these work permits during the Review, (iv) what are the possible impacts of the Review on the status of these work permits once the review is complete?

(Return tabled)

Question No. 1096

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

With regard to federal research relating to water: (a) in which federally-owned facilities and departments, including the Experimental Lakes Area, is the government conducting research on water issues, including but not limited to research relating to fisheries, fish habitat, climate change, groundwater, water quality, and wastewater technology and processes; and (b) since January 1, 2006 what major water-related research projects have been or are currently being undertaken in these facilities and departments, ranked by project budget size?

(Return tabled)

Question No. 1098

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

With regard to Aboriginal affairs, what are the titles, dates, and file numbers of any reports, studies, files, or dossiers, dated between January 1, 2006, and May 31, 2011, held by any department or agency, concerning the Labrador Metis Association, Labrador Metis Nation, or NunatuKavut?

(Return tabled)

Question No. 1099

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

With regard to access to information requests, broken down by each department or agency of government subject to the Access to Information Act: (a) what is the practice to release records in digital form pursuant to a request made under the Act and in what electronic format are such records released to a requester; (b) following an access to information request, are records released in the original format in which they were created and if another format is used, what is it; (c) if records are released in digital format, why, and if not, why not; (d) in what policy, circular, notice, memorandum, directive, or other document is the department or agency's policy concerning release or non-release of electronic records contained?

(Return tabled)

Question No. 1100

[Ted Hsu, Liberal, Kingston and the Islands, ON]

With regard to Sir John A. Macdonald's grave site and bicentennial in January 2015: (a) what is the total amount of dollars per year for the upkeep of Sir John A. Macdonald's grave site, which is listed in the National Program for the Grave Sites of Canadian Prime Ministers, from 2006 to 2012; (b) is the government considering allocating funding for the basic upkeep of Sir John A. Macdonald's grave site in the 2013 budget; (c) is the government considering funding the memorial service for Sir John A. Macdonald held at his grave site annually on January 6; and (d) what other steps has the government taken to commemorate Sir John A. Macdonald's upcoming bicentennial?

(Return tabled)

Question No. 1102

[Alexandre Boulerice, NDP, Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC]

With respect to Citizenship and Immigration’s oversight of reciprocal agreements of Canadian and foreign airlines: (a) what documentation has been received by Citizenship and Immigration Canada from Canadian air carriers with regard to foreign operators with which they have reciprocal agreements for the seasonal exchange of pilots and what is a breakdown of where the latter airlines are based in, (i) the European Union, (ii) all other countries where such reciprocal agreements would be applicable; (b) what does the government consider an acceptable reference period for establishing whether a minimum 75% threshold ratio has been achieved by Canadian and foreign airlines engaged in reciprocal pilot exchange agreements i.e. three offshore real and equivalent job opportunities for Canadians for every four foreign workers admitted to Canada per the agreements in question (a); (c) what documentation and supporting evidence is required to prove reciprocal opportunities exist for Canadian pilots abroad and where such evidence relies on forecasted market demand, what are the repercussions for the foreign worker quotas established if the Canadian employer fails to meet its commitments regarding job opportunities abroad; (d) how are reciprocal agreements between Canadian companies and foreign entities being enforced both presently and historically; (e) how many foreign pilots have been allowed to work in Canada on the basis of reciprocal agreements in 2010, 2011 and 2012 and how is it calculated; (f) how are reciprocal agreement guidelines (i) developed, (ii) amended; (g) if a Labour Market Opinion (LMO) application is received concerning commercial airline pilots, are guidelines and enforcement mechanisms in place to ensure that the Canadian employer is providing fair opportunities for employment to Canadian commercial airline pilots before resorting to the importation of foreign workers; (h) is Human Resources and Skills Development Canada actively verifying that the Canadian employer requesting the LMO is not requiring job qualifications as part of a system that would deprive otherwise qualified Canadian airline pilots of employment opportunities; and (i) what is the average length of time between the receipt of an application and the issuance of the decision for an LMO?

(Return tabled)

Question No. 1103

[Craig Scott, NDP, Toronto—Danforth, ON]

With regard to details of Bill S-7, the Combatting Terrorism Act: (a) when will cooperation protocols or memoranda of understanding relating to enforcement of the new ‘leaving the country’ Criminal Code offences be ready; (b) what agencies will be part of the protocols or memoranda, and what subject matter will be covered; (c) will the Security Intelligence Review Committee (SIRC) have any vetting or review functions with respect to the protocols or memoranda, and will any other review mechanism for the operation of the protocols or memoranda be put in place; (d) is either (i) an exit control system being planned, or (ii) an information system to allow the government to be aware of when people are leaving being planned; (e) is it the intention of the government to reform the passenger information system for departing airplanes so that passenger lists are available to Canadian agencies before planes leave the ground, in order to permit the arrest of persons leaving contrary to the ‘leaving the country’ offences in Bill S-7; (f) is a reform of the no-fly list being envisaged as one method of enforcing the ‘leaving the country’ offences in Bill S-7; (g) how is it envisaged that investigative hearings will be used to discern an individual’s intention of leaving the country for purposes of terrorism, and is it envisaged that neighbours, family members, friends and acquaintances in the community of a suspect will be the subjects of investigative hearings for this purpose; (h) how would hearings that deal with recognizance with conditions produce evidence of intention to leave the country; (i) can a person suspected of wanting to leave, or wanting to attempt to leave, the country in violation of the new ‘leaving the country’ offences in Bill S-7 be preventively detained and subjected to recognizance with conditions that include a prohibition on leaving Canada and measures such as confiscating the suspect’s passport for up to 12 months; (j) is the above interaction of the leaving the country offences and recognizance with conditions a planned use of the recognizance with conditions provisions; and (k) can a person be subjected to preventive detention or recognisance with conditions in an effort to prevent terrorist activity that another person--other than the person subjected to the conditions--may engage in, even if there is no concern that the person subjected to the conditions will herself or himself commit terrorist activity?