Debates of May 10th, 2013

Question No. 1268

[Frank Valeriote, Liberal, Guelph, ON]

With regard to the Privy Council Office, since January 1, 2008, how many Access to Information Requests have had a deadline extension because the request was deemed to “unreasonably interfere with operations”?

[Peter Van Loan, Conservative, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, in accordance with subsection 9(1)(a) of the Access to Information Act, the Privy Council Office extended 467 access to information requests for operational reasons between January 1, 2008, and March 26, 2013.

Question No. 1269

[David McGuinty, Liberal, Ottawa South, ON]

With regard to the Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism’s visit to Iraq: (a) what is the complete list of everyone who accompanied the Minister; (b) what was the time, date, location and nature of all government business conducted by the Minister; and (c) what was the total cost of this trip, including but not limited to, airline tickets, accommodations, meals and security for the Minister and everyone who accompanied him?

[Rick Dykstra, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, with regard to (a), the delegation that accompanied the Hon. Jason Kenney, Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism throughout his visit to Iraq included Christopher Mahon, minister’s office, Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Canada; Dominic Roszak, minister’s office, Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Canada; and John Milner, security officer, Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

With regard to (b), the time, date, location, and nature of all government business conducted by the minister were as follows: Wednesday, March 6: 08:30, arrive at British Embassy, breakfast and informal briefing by head of mission and Iraq program manager; 10:30, installation ceremony of new Chaldean Patriarch, Louis Raphael I Sako; 12:00, depart for lunch reception at Palestine Hotel; 14:00 , depart lunch reception for meeting with Vice-President Kudhair al-Khuzaie; 14:30, call on Vice-President Kudhair al-Khuzaie; 15:10, call on Speaker of Iraqi Council of Representatives, Osama al-Nujaifi; 16:10, visit to Our Lady of Salvation Syriac Catholic Cathedral, where officials were met by Bishop Afram Yousif Abba; 17:00, delivery of Sako’s first divine liturgy at St. Joseph’s Cathedral Church; 19:15, dinner with Dindar Najman Duski, Minister of Displacement and Migration, at Rasheed Hotel.

Other meetings occurred, for which no information is available in the department about time, date, location and nature. They include meetings with Mohammed al-Doreky, Deputy Minister, Foreign Affairs, Government of Iraq, and Dr. Ali Allq, Secretary General, Council of Ministers Secretariat, Government of Iraq.

With regard to (c), we do not have the final cost. Total cost will be available via proactive disclosure as per Treasury Board guidelines.

The security officer travelled directly from Ottawa. The RCMP assumes this cost. Any additional information cannot be provided owing to security-related issues.

Question No. 1270

[David McGuinty, Liberal, Ottawa South, ON]

With regard to the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade and all Canadian missions since January 1, 2008: (a) has there been a gap of more than two months between the departure of an existing Ambassador and the arrival of the replacement; (b) in how many cases has the department had to send departmental officers or former officers hired on contract to fill in these gaps; (c) what has been the cost of these temporary deployments; and (d) what was the cause of each of these gaps?

[John Baird, Conservative, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, with an international network of more than 171 offices in 104 countries, the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade regularly manages the movement of people to best protect and promote Canada’s interests and values around the world. This includes, of course, heads of mission, or HoMs--ambassadors, high commissioners and consuls general. Due to several complexities, some beyond our control, there are from time to time short-term gaps between the departure of a HoM and the arrival of his or her replacement.

During these periods, we put in place contingency plans to ensure that mission business can continue as normal. Often chargés d’affaires--people already posted at missions--assume the duties of a HoM. Since January 1, 2008, there were 31 instances in which it took two months or more for a departing HoM to be fully replaced. Of these, 18 were covered by departmental staff and 13 were filled by short-term contract officers. The total cost of these 31 temporary assignments, including travel, accommodation, per diems and contract salaries, is estimated at $857,385.77.

As mentioned, there are various complexities in posting HoMs abroad. While a detailed breakdown on the cause of each gap cannot be released for privacy reasons, some of the reasons in the above-mentioned cases include, but are not limited to, internal strife or civil war, health or other personal reasons forcing early or unforeseen departures, changes to the network of missions and delays in receiving agrément from host countries.

Question No. 1271

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

With regard to the Property Value Protection Program associated with the low-level radioactive waste clean-up in the Port Hope area, as of March 15, 2013, what are the total legal costs incurred by the government for all claims that have entered into arbitration?

[David Anderson, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Natural Resources and for the Canadian Wheat Board]

Mr. Speaker, as of March 15, 2013, the total legal costs incurred by the Government of Canada through the Department of Justice for property value protection program claims that have entered into arbitration under the Port Hope area initiative is $170,545.

Question No. 1276

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Wascana, SK]

With regard to government communications: (a) for each news release containing the phrase “Harper government” issued by the Economic Development Agency of Canada for Quebec Regions since February 6, 2006, what is the (i) headline or subject line, (ii) date, (iii) file or code number, (iv) subject matter; (b) for each news release mentioned in (a), was it distributed (i) on the website of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for Quebec Regions, (ii) on Marketwire, (iii) on Canada Newswire, (iv) on any other commercial wire or distribution service, specifying which service; and (c) for each news release distributed by a commercial wire or distribution service mentioned in (b)(ii) through (b)(iv), what was the cost of that service?

[Denis Lebel, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, with regard to (a) and (b), links to all Canadian Economic Development Agency for the Regions of Quebec, CED-Q, press releases can be found by doing a search on the following websites: for CED-Q, http://www.dec-ced.gc.ca/eng/media-room/media.html; for Marketwire, http://www.marketwire.com/?lang=en-US.

With regard to (c), CED-Q has a contract with Marketwire. Rates vary depending on the distribution.

Question No. 1280

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

With regard to the response to Order Paper question Q-1125 in which it is stated that, “the Department of Finance has conducted a costing analysis of Bill C-463”, what details can the Department of Finance provide regarding the full version of this costing analysis, including the methodology used to conduct the costing analysis?

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

Mr. Speaker, the Department of Finance Canada has estimated the cost of Bill C-463 using the public use micro-data files of Statistics Canada’s 2010 travel survey of residents of Canada. The data contain information on the number of non-business person-trips taken across three provincial boundaries by mode of transportation, as well as information on travel expenditures.

Using these data, the Department of Finance’s cost estimate for the proposal in Bill C-463 was based on the following information for bus, train and airplane modes of transportation: the estimated number of domestic travellers whose travel expenses would qualify for the deduction proposed in Bill C-463; the estimated cost of domestic travel, which was estimated for 2017 using projections of the Consumer Price Index; the average marginal federal personal income tax rate; and the percentage of expenses eligible for the deduction as proposed in Bill C-463.

As indicated in the response to Question No. Q-1125, these calculations result in an estimated cost for the proposal in Bill C-463 of about $215 million in 2017. It is unclear to what degree the proposal would induce individuals to travel more or change their travel plans, but any increase in eligible travel would increase this cost.

Question No. 1281

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

With respect to Bill C-463, what is the Department of Finance’s estimate of the amount of increased economic activity that would be generated if the number of eligible travellers increased by (i) 5%, (ii) 10%, (iii) 15%, (iv) 20%, (v) 25%?

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

Mr. Speaker, the Department of Finance is not in a position to estimate any potential increase in economic activity that would result from this proposal.

As noted in the Department of Finance’s response to Question No. Q-1125, it is estimated that the cost of the proposal would be about $215 million in 2017. It is unclear to what degree the proposal would induce individuals to travel more or change their travel plans, but any increase in eligible travel would increase the cost of the proposal. As an example, if the number of eligible travelers would increase by 25% as a result of the proposal, the cost would increase to about $270 million.

Questions Passed as Orders for Returns

[Kellie Leitch, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development and to the Minister of Labour]

Mr. Speaker, if Questions Nos. 1260, 1263, 1264, 1265, 1273 and 1290 could be made orders for return, these returns would be tabled immediately.

[The Speaker]

Is that agreed?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

Question No. 1260

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

With respect to requests made by the government to Library and Archives Canada (LAC): (a) since 2006, what information and services have been requested of LAC in any way, broken down by department or Crown corporation and (i) date of inquiry, (ii) date of response, (iii) purpose of inquiry, (iv) nature of response, (v) relevant programs at LAC used to provide response; (b) for services enumerated in (a) that have been provided by LAC and that are no longer available, what alternatives is the government using or considering to fulfill those needs in their absence, broken down by department or Crown corporation and (i) date of inquiry, (ii) date of response, (iii) purpose of inquiry, (iv) nature of response, (v) service supplier, (vi) total cost; (c) what internal correspondence discussing alternative solutions or service providers exists; and (d) what contracts have been put to tender or signed relating to these alternative solutions or service providers?

(Return tabled)

Question No. 1263

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

With regard to the Transport Canada announcement on Tanker Safety Systems on March 18, 2013 in Vancouver, British Columbia: (a) what were the costs for the Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, his staff and departmental staff to travel to the announcement, including air and ground transportation; (b) what were the costs for the Minister of Natural Resources, his staff and departmental staff to travel to the announcement, including air and ground transportation; and (c) which bases in British Columbia keep major oil spill response ships?

(Return tabled)

Question No. 1264

[Scott Andrews, Liberal, Avalon, NL]

With regard to air, highway, rail, or marine transportation in Labrador, for each fiscal year since 2000-2001, what are the details of all (i) direct expenditures, (ii) contributions to third parties, (iii) transfers to other orders of government, (iv) cost-sharing agreements with the provincial government of Newfoundland and Labrador, specifying the amount, source, purpose, and recipient of each such expenditure, contribution, transfer or agreement?

(Return tabled)

Question No. 1265

[Frank Valeriote, Liberal, Guelph, ON]

With regard to the Port Hope Area Initiative Management Office: (a) what is the source of its funding; (b) how much has it spent each year since 2008; (c) how much has it spent on communications each year since 2008; (d) how much has it spent on travel and hospitality each year since 2008; (e) how much has it spent on sponsorship of events each year since 2008; (f) how much has it spent on promotional materials each year since 2008; and (g) what is the annual salary of the Project Director?

(Return tabled)