Debates of May 8th, 2017

Firearms

[Cathay Wagantall, Conservative, Yorkton—Melville, SK]

Mr. Speaker, I rise to present a petition with regard to the Canadian Firearms Advisory Committee, which was created to ensure that the views of Canadians were heard when changes were considered to firearms policies, laws, and regulations and that the committee would include firearms experts and representatives of the gun industry in Canada to advise the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness on those views when considering these items.

The majority of the new members of the Canadian Firearms Advisory Committee have publicly stated that they are in favour of stricter gun controls or are in fact members of the Coalition for Gun Control. Only two members of this committee have a firearms background.

These Canadian citizens are petitioning that law-abiding target shooters, hunters, trappers, farmers, and collectors have increased representation on the Canadian Firearms Advisory Committee.

Autism

[Nathaniel Erskine-Smith, Liberal, Beaches—East York, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Canadian Autism Leadership Summit took place in Ottawa a month ago. I rise today to continue to raise awareness of this important cause and to present a petition created by a young constituent from Beaches—East York. Emily Kalbun has been hard at work to not only raise awareness but to invite a direct change for autistic children, based on her own experience. Her petition, which gathered close to 1,500 signatures, is calling for autism treatment and therapy to be treated as a free, essential service.

Algoma Passenger Rail Service

[Carol Hughes, NDP, Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing, ON]

Mr. Speaker, as members know, I have risen in the House on a number of occasions on petitions similar to this one, which is a petition to the Minister of Transport from people who used to take the Algoma passenger train. The petition is signed by people from Sault Ste. Marie, Richards Landing, Aweres, Echo Bay, and North Bay.

They emphasize the importance of this rail and the fact that it used to get a $2.2-million subsidy and the economic return was over $48 million. They emphasize that the few industrial roads they are able to use are maintained only when and if industries need them. The roads are not for public use, and not everybody can access them.

The petitioners also indicate that the cancellation infringes on the federal government's obligation of consultation with first nations. They are asking the Minister of Transport to put the Algoma passenger train back in service in order to ensure the mission of Transport Canada to serve the public interest through promotion of a safe, secure, efficient, and environmentally responsible transportation system in Canada.

There was also a huge fundraiser in Sault St. Marie just last month, with Ian Tamblyn, which raised quite a bit of money for this. The petitioners are serious about getting the train back on track, and they are hoping that the Minister of Transport will look at this file much more closely.

Questions on the Order Paper

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, the following questions will be answered today: Nos. 943, 944, 946, and 948.

Question No. 943

[Mel Arnold, Conservative, North Okanagan—Shuswap, BC]

With regard to the government and Department of Fisheries and Oceans’ public consultation sessions related to the review of the Fisheries Act in the 2016-17 fiscal year: (a) what were the locations and dates of all consultation sessions proposed and held; (b) who were the participants in each session; (c) what were the total expenditures of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans associated with each session, broken down by item and type of expense; and (d) what were the total expenditures of other departments associated with each session, broken down by item and type of expense?

[Terry Beech, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary for Minister of Fisheries]

Mr. Speaker, the Government of Canada committed to review and restore confidence in Canada’s environmental and regulatory processes and initiated a comprehensive review of these processes. The review was focused on the federal environmental assessment processes; modernizing the National Energy Board; and restoring lost protections and introducing modern safeguards to the Fisheries Act and the Navigation Protection Act. Consultation with Canadians was at the core of this review. The first public consultation event on these four reviews, led by Natural Resources Canada, was an online questionnaire that was available from June 20 to August 31, 2016, for all Canadians to participate. With respect to the review of the changes to the Fisheries Act, a total of 467 participants provided their opinions as part of this online questionnaire.

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans undertook a subsequent public consultation that focused on the 2012 amendments to the Fisheries Act. This included online consultation held from October 16 to November 25, 2016, and consideration of over 360 pieces of relevant correspondence, including over 156 written submissions, received by the department between April 2016 and February 2017. The online consultation received more than 15,000 visits, and 1,682 participants registered to contribute to the online consultation process.

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans did not undertake any face-to-face consultation sessions related to the review of the changes to the Fisheries Act during the 2016-17 fiscal year. In-person consultations are planned for 2017-18 fiscal year.

With regard to (a), Natural Resources Canada received feedback through the online questionnaire about the Fisheries Act from individuals from every province between June 20 and August 31, 2016. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans heard views and opinions through the online consultation held from October 16 to November 25, 2016. The Department considered all relevant correspondence received by the Department between April 2016 and February 2017 from individuals from every province and territory across the country.

With regard to (b), participants from various sectors of Canadian society, including indigenous peoples, the general public, government--i.e., federal, provincial, and municipal governments--non-government organizations, academia, law associations, and industry associations participated in Natural Resources Canada’s online questionnaire and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans’ online consultation.

With regard to (c), The total expenditures of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans associated with the online public consultation related to the review of the Fisheries Act for the 2016–17 fiscal year was $203,378.44 plus applicable taxes. This included the following activities: preparation of the strategy and plan, $33,780.00; creation, development, and testing of the online engagement platform, $67,657.50; conducting the initial round of online consultation, $20,775.00; preparation of consultation summary and analysis, $17,285.00; preparation of the reports and searchable database file, $57,970.00; and translation of the report into French, $5,910.94.

With regard to (d), the total expenditures for Natural Resources Canada’s online questionnaire related to the review of the changes to the Fisheries Act for the 2016–2017 fiscal year was $8,280.00 for the preparation of consultation summary and analysis. Questionnaire design, programming, hosting, and weekly reporting were carried out using existing departmental resources. Translation of the report into French was an additional $3,113.05.

Question No. 944

[Mel Arnold, Conservative, North Okanagan—Shuswap, BC]

With regard to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans’ funding in the fiscal year 2016-17 to review the Fisheries Act and to enhance monitoring and reporting of existing projects permitted under the Fisheries Act: (a) what government and non-government entities received funding for these activities; (b) what were the amounts of funding delivered to each entity; (c) for what activities or services was each disbursement of funding intended; and (d) what was detected by the enhanced monitoring and reporting of existing projects permitted under the Fisheries Act?

[Terry Beech, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary for Minister of Fisheries]

Mr. Speaker, with regard to (a), (b), and (c), with respect to the funding that supported the review of the changes to the Fisheries Act in fiscal year 2016-17 and to enhance monitoring and reporting of existing projects authorized under the Fisheries Act, $4,985,822 was allocated.

For government entities, $2,685,822 was allocated. One portion of the disbursement was for departmental support of the review, including to support the minister; engagement with provinces/territories, indigenous groups, and the Canadian public; the management of the funding program to support the participation of indigenous groups; and analysis of input, including the report of the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans. A second portion was for departmental support of departmental and ministerial communication and support in the development of web-based information for public consultation and communication. A third portion was for departmental staff to support the development of enhanced monitoring and reporting processes and approaches. This included funding related to salaries, benefit programs, internal costs, and accommodation and operating costs.

For non-government entities, $2,300,000 was allocated. One portion was for operating costs associated with the development of the online public consultation tool. Funding for the development of the online public consultation tool was contracted out. Costs associated with this consultation have been detailed in response to Question No. 943 on March 31, 2017. A second portion was for funding the participation of indigenous groups in the form of contribution funding. Details of recipients, amounts of funding, and activities were provided in response to Question No. 945 on March 22, 2017.

With regard to (d), in the fiscal year 2016-17 the funding allowed for work focused on a comprehensive analysis of monitoring data collected for 2015-16. The goal of this analysis was to assess current monitoring practices, understand the data that is collected during existing monitoring activities, and identify areas for modernization and improvement of monitoring practices. Preliminary results from the analysis indicate that most project proponents are complying with the provisions of the Fisheries Act and with regulatory requirements imposed by the department. Where compliance concerns were identified, the department worked with proponents to address the issues through voluntary compliance measures. The department is currently updating its procedures to produce quantitative reports on compliance rates.

Question No. 946

[Bev Shipley, Conservative, Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON]

With regard to debt and deficit forecasts: (a) what is Canada’s current annual debt and deficit forecast, broken down by year for the next 40 years; (b) does Finance Canada have debt and deficit forecast models in the event of a lowering of Canada’s credit rating; (c) if the answer to (b) is affirmative, what are the projections of the forecast models, broken down by revised credit rating?

[Bev Shipley, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, with regard to (a), the Department of Finance presented its “Update of Long-Term Economic and Fiscal Projections” in December 2016. The projections can be found at www.fin.gc.ca/ pub/ltefp-peblt/ report-rapport-eng.asp. The department will publish updated long-term projections in the fall. Budget 2017 presented updated budgetary balance and debt forecast until 2021-22 and can be found at www.budget.gc.ca /2017/home-accueil-en.html.

With regard to (b), members may refer to pages 261-264 of budget 2017 for analysis of the sensitivity of the budgetary balance to various economic shocks, including changes in interest rates.

With regard to part (c), part (c) is not applicable.

Question No. 948

[Mark Warawa, Conservative, Langley—Aldergrove, BC]

With regard to the government’s projection presented on page 253 of Budget 2017 showing a 4% increase in Goods and Services Tax (GST) revenues from 2016-17 to 2021-22: (a) upon what basis is the government’s projection based; (b) how much of this forecasted increase will result from an increase in the GST rate; and (c) how much of this forecasted increase is the result of provincial carbon taxes, prices and levies?

[Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, with regard to (a), the government’s projection of goods and services tax revenues published in budget 2017 is based on projected growth in taxable consumption, projected growth in the GST/HST credit, and year-to-date results.

With regard to (b), the federal GST rate of 5% is maintained over the projection period; therefore, none of the increase in GST revenues is due to a change in the federal GST rate.

With regard to (c), overall, GST revenues are projected to grow broadly in line with forecasted nominal gross domestic product, or GDP . By definition, this would reflect the impact of carbon taxes on prices, although a separate estimate of the GST revenue impact is not available.

Questions Passed as Orders for Returns

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, if the government's responses to Questions Nos. 938 to 942, 945, and 947 could be made orders for returns, these returns would be tabled immediately.

[The Speaker, Geoff Regan]

Is that agreed?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

Question No. 938

[Ben Lobb, Conservative, Huron—Bruce, ON]

With regard to the acquisition of cardboard cutouts of the image of the Prime Minister or any Cabinet Minister, since November 4, 2015: (a) how many cardboard cutouts has the government purchased; (b) whose image is on the cutouts; (c) how much did they cost and what are the expenses associated with them, broken down by individual purchase; and (d) who approved the purchase of the cardboard cutouts?

(Return tabled)

Question No. 939

[Dave MacKenzie, Conservative, Oxford, ON]

With regard to processing times for refugee applications: (a) what is the average processing time for refugee applications from the moment of initial contact with the Canadian government through the final notification that the application was either granted or denied; (b) what are the various steps which every refugee application must go through; and (c) what is the average processing time broken down by individual step referred to in (b)?

(Return tabled)

Question No. 940

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

With regard to the development of Snapchat filters developed by or for the government, including agencies, crown corporations, and other government entities, since November 4, 2015: (a) what amount has been spent developing the filters; (b) what is the description or purpose of each filter; and (c) for each filters developed, what are the details, including (i) the amount spent on development, (ii) the date of launch, (iii) analytic data or usage rates, (iv) campaign which filter was developed for, (v) locations where filters were available?

(Return tabled)

Question No. 941

[Kevin Sorenson, Conservative, Battle River—Crowfoot, AB]

With regard to mandate letters for the Minister of Democratic Institutions: (a) how many mandate letters has the current Minister received; (b) what are the dates on which each letter was received; (c) what are the contents of each of the letters; and (d) if copies of the letters are available online, what is the address where each letter is located?

(Return tabled)

Question No. 942

[Matthew Dubé, NDP, Beloeil—Chambly, QC]

With respect to the acquisition and retention of data, including associated data, metadata, bulk data, or any other kind of data by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS): (a) how many internal data repositories does CSIS have access to; (b) what are the different kinds of internal data repository to which CSIS has access; (c) are there any data repositories that have been accessed by CSIS, whether internal or external, that are housed within servers that do not belong to CSIS; (d) what is the difference, according to CSIS, between the terms “associated data” and “metadata”; (e) what is the exhaustive list of organizations with which CSIS shares information, including bulk data, metadata, associated data and any other data to which CSIS has access; (f) what is the exhaustive list of organizations, including telecommunications companies, financial institutions, government departments, and other organizations, with which CSIS communicates for purposes other than the sharing of information; (g) when were Cabinet Ministers informed of CSIS’s collection of bulk data, and with relation to their notification, (i) who were those Ministers, (ii) what were the forms of communication through which they were informed, (iii) what were the dates on which each Minister was informed, starting from January 1, 2006, until December 31, 2016, inclusively; (h) when were Cabinet Ministers informed of the methodologies employed by CSIS for the purpose of the collection of bulk data, (i) who were those Ministers, (ii) what were the forms of communication through which they were informed, (iii) what were the dates on which each Minister was informed, starting from November 4, 2015, until the present time; (i) with respect to the bulk data that CSIS has collected or otherwise has or has had access to, does it include (i) communications metadata, (ii) travel information, (iii) passport data, (iv) law enforcement wiretaps, (v) arrest records, (vi) financial transactions, (vii) information collected from social media, (viii) medical data, (ix) other kinds of bulk data that CSIS have access to; (j) what are the descriptions of all the different methods through which this bulk data is collected; (k) what is the exhaustive list of sources of bulk data that CSIS has access to, and how many times were bulk data collected starting from January 1, 2006, until December 31, 2016, inclusively; (l) how many judicial warrants were given to CSIS for the purpose of acquisition of bulk data starting from January 1, 2006, until December 31, 2016, inclusively, and when were these warrants received by CSIS; (m) how many (i) telecommunications companies, (ii) financial institutions, (iii) medical institutions, (iv) airports, (v) other companies, were compelled or requested to provide access to bulk data, associated data, metadata or any other kind of data to CSIS; (n) what are the kinds of leverage that CSIS employs in order to request or compel the acquisition of data from external data suppliers, (i) how many judicial warrants were obtained by CSIS for the collection of such data from private entities, (ii) has CSIS ever collected or had access to any such data without obtaining judicial warrants beforehand; (o) how many government departments or agencies were compelled or requested to (i) transfer bulk data, associated data, metadata or any other kind of data to CSIS, (ii) grant access to such data to CSIS, starting from January 1, 2006, until December 31, 2016, inclusively; (p) how many judicial warrants were obtained by CSIS for the collection of such data from government departments or entities, and has CSIS ever collected or had access to any such data without obtaining judicial warrants beforehand; (q) how many investigations has the use of bulk data helped in during the period starting from January 1, 2006, until December 31, 2016, inclusively, and how many individuals were the subjects of these investigations; (r) how many datasets or data repositories are housed within the Operational Data Analysis Centre, and how many of these data sets or data repositories include bulk data; (s) how many datasets or data repositories are housed in internal CSIS servers; (t) what are the approximate percentages of (i) bulk data, (ii) associated data, (iii) metadata, (iv) any other data that are housed within the servers mentioned in (s); (u) what is the description of the SMART data collection methodology employed by CSIS, and what kinds of data does this methodology collect; (v) what are all the steps involved in obtaining validation of authority to collect any kind of data; (w) has all information collected by CSIS since November 3, 2016, passed the “strictly necessary” test, as stipulated in Section 12(1) of the CSIS Act; (x) has all information retained by CSIS since November 3, 2016, passed the “strictly necessary” test, as stipulated in Section 12(1) of the CSIS Act; and (y) in light of the ruling by the Federal Court of Canada on the illegality of the retention of associated data by CSIS, delivered on November 3, 2016, what are the changes that CSIS has undertaken in order to ensure that the policies and practices of CSIS comply with the Court’s ruling?

(Return tabled)