Debates of May 4th, 2018

Question No. 1575

[Tom Kmiec, Conservative, Calgary Shepard, AB]

With regard to any savings found as part of the expenditure review laid out in the 2017 Budget: (a) what is the total amount of savings found, broken down by department or agency; and (b) what are the details of savings found including (i) program from which savings was found, (ii) manner in which savings were achieved (e.g. selling of inventory, service contract renegotiation, etc), (iii) amount of savings derived from (ii)?

(Return tabled)

Question No. 1576

[David Yurdiga, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB]

With regard to application processing and wait times at the Department of Citizenship and Immigration, from the date an application is received by the Department to the date it is processed, as of the most recently available statistics: (a) what is the average wait time for an individual who applies for a work permit in Canada; (b) what is the average wait time for an individual who applies for a visitor visa in Canada; (c) what is the average wait time for an individual who applies for a student visa in Canada; and (d) what is the average processing time for an application made under the spousal sponsorship program?

(Return tabled)

Question No. 1577

[David Yurdiga, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB]

With regard to the revocation of citizenship by the government, since December, 2016, and broken down by month: (a) how many individuals have had their citizenship revoked and in each instance what was the (i) origin of citizenship of the individual, (ii) age of the individual, (iii) sex of the individual, (iv) specific reason for their citizenship revocation; and (b) for each of the reasons listed in (a)(iii), was is the total number given, broken down by reason?

(Return tabled)

Question No. 1578

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

With regard to addressing irregular border crossings by asylum seekers: (a) what is the protocol that RCMP officers are to follow when individuals irregularly cross the border; (b) how are RCMP officers prepared to be qualified to work at the border, particularly at Roxham Road, broken down by (i) type of training, (ii) training provider, (iii) training content, (iv) date of last training given, (v) cost; (c) since 2016, how many individuals have been sent to the entry points of the border between Quebec and the United States, broken down by (i) agency and department, (ii) quarter, (iii) administrative region; and (d) for 2018, how many individuals are being sent or will be sent to the entry points of the border between Quebec and the United States, broken down by (i) agency and department, (ii) quarter, (iii) administrative region?

(Return tabled)

Question No. 1579

[Ziad Aboultaif, Conservative, Edmonton Manning, AB]

With regard to state and official visits to Canada by heads of state and heads of government, since November 4, 2015: (a) who has made a state or official visit to Canada; (b) for each visit, what are the dates, locations and nature (i.e., state or official) of the visit; (c) for each visit, did the Prime Minister meet with the visitor(s); (d) if the answer to (c) is negative, for a particular visit, what was the Prime Minister’s itinerary for the dates of the visit; and (e) for each visit, what other ministers met with the visitor(s)?

(Return tabled)

Question No. 1580-

[Ziad Aboultaif, Conservative, Edmonton Manning, AB]

With regard to at-risk and bonus payments to employees of the federal public service, broken down by year for fiscal years 2015-16 and 2016-17 and by department or agency: (a) how many federal public servants received at-risk payments; (b) how many federal public servants received bonus payments; (c) what amount was allocated in each department’s budget for at-risk payments; (d) what amount was allocated in each department’s budget for bonus payments; (e) what was the cumulative amount of at-risk payments paid out in each department; (f) what was the cumulative amount of bonus payments paid out in each department; (g) how many public servants were eligible for at-risk pay but did not receive it; (h) what were the reasons given for each public servant who received an at-risk payment; (i) what were the reasons given for each public servant who received a bonus payment; and (j) what were the reasons given for each public servant who was eligible for an at-risk payment but did not receive it?

(Return tabled)

Question No. 1581-

[Ted Falk, Conservative, Provencher, MB]

With regard to expense claims for the Minister of Natural Resources, since November 4, 2015: (a) what are the details of expenditure, including (i) total office expenditure, (ii) total travel expenditure, (iii) total staff expenditure, broken down by individual staff members, (iv) total other expenditure; and (b) what is the itemized breakdown of each expense referenced in (a), including (i) airfare, (ii) other transportation, (iii) accommodation, (iv) per diems, (v) other; and (c) what is the total monthly breakdown of expenditure for the Minister of National Resources?

(Return tabled)

Question No. 1582-

[Ted Falk, Conservative, Provencher, MB]

With regard to all infrastructure funding from the government to projects in the province of Manitoba since November 4, 2015: (a) how much money has the federal government committed; (b) of the figure identified in (a), how much has been delivered; (c) what is the list of projects for which money has been committed, detailed by (i) name, (ii) riding in which the project is located, (iii) amount committed, (iv) amount disbursed to date, (v) project description; (d) for each of the projects identified in (c) where funding has been committed but not delivered, why has the funding not been delivered; (e) for each of the projects identified in (d), when is funding expected to be disbursed; (f) what infrastructure funding has been cancelled, broken down by riding; (g) what was the rationale provided for the cancellation of each item identified in (f)?

(Return tabled)

Question No. 1583-

[Rhéal Fortin, Québec debout, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

With regard to management positions within the government: (a) what is the representation of francophones in senior positions (EX 01, EX 02, EX 03, EX 04 and EX 05), broken down by job classification in departments, government and special operating agencies and Crown corporations; and (b) what is the representation of bilingual individuals in senior positions, broken down by mother tongue and province of work?

(Return tabled)

Questions Passed as Orders for Returns

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I ask that all remaining questions be allowed to stand at this time.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Is that agreed?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

The House resumed consideration of the motion that Bill C-48, An Act respecting the regulation of vessels that transport crude oil or persistent oil to or from ports or marine installations located along British Columbia's north coast, be read the third time and passed.

Oil Tanker Moratorium Act

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

We will now go on to five minutes of questions and comments following the speech by the member for Courtenay—Alberni.

Questions and comments, the hon. parliamentary secretary to the government House leader.

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

Mr. Speaker, to reinforce the importance of the commitment made by the Prime Minister in the lead-up to the election in terms of having a moratorium put in place, this proposed legislation would fulfill that particular commitment. However, the government as a whole, in dealing with our natural resources and working with the many different stakeholders, from indigenous peoples to provincial entities, has recognized how important it is that we move forward in terms of both economic development and ensuring the interests of our environment.

Would the member not acknowledge that we can, in fact, do both at the same time and that it is indeed in the national interest?

[Gord Johns, NDP, Courtenay—Alberni, BC]

Madam Speaker, yes, we absolutely can. In fact, we are doing that right now where I live in coastal British Columbia. We have 100,000 jobs in tourism that rely on clean oceans and a healthy environment.

As New Democrats, we would like to see a transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy. We wish that the government would have pursued those same ambitious goals the Liberals talked about in 2015 in their campaign. However, when we look at the bill before us, the Prime Minister made a commitment: crude oil supertankers just have no place on B.C.'s north coast. I could not agree more, but the Prime Minister seems to believe that they belong on B.C.'s south coast.

There is no wall between the north coast and the south coast. The water does not go through a filter or anything like that. Our tides move. Our currents move. The wind moves water. Water moves. Our fish move. They migrate from the north to the south. Our whales migrate from the north to the south. There is no wall between the north and south coasts.

We need to protect our coasts. Therefore, I wish that this proposed legislation expanded beyond the north coast and included the south coast and was bold in protecting coastal waters.

There was an oil spill off the coast of Washington State, and that oil spill ended up on the west coast of Vancouver Island. That is how far it travelled, and this was a small oil spill. When we talk about the environment and the economy, yes, we can do both, but we do not need supertankers moving crude oil to protect the environment and grow the economy.