Debates of April 10th, 2019

Public Safety

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

I think there are about three more members who wish to present petitions. Is there unanimous consent to allow that?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

The hon. member for Saanich—Gulf Islands.

Fisheries

[Elizabeth May, Green, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Chilliwack—Hope for his very helpful intervention.

The petition I wish to table for the residents of Saanich—Gulf Islands calls on the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans to expedite the creation of marine protected areas by eliminating some of the multilateral communication difficulties within different elements of our bureaucracy.

Canadian Heritage

[MaryAnn Mihychuk, Liberal, Kildonan—St. Paul, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to present a petition from citizens of Kildonan—St. Paul and of Canada, who point out that artifacts are maintained presently by Parks Canada and regional facilities, including in Winnipeg, and that the removal of these will cause great hardship for researchers and people interested in history and cultural artifacts. They ask the government to commit to maintaining regional facilities for artifact storage and curation in Manitoba.

Animal Welfare

[Mark Gerretsen, Liberal, Kingston and the Islands, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to present a petition similar to many that have been presented in the House over the last couple of weeks.

This one has 725 signatures on it. It asks, as the others did, for the support of the House for Bill S-214, an act to amend the Food and Drugs Act. Specifically, it asks the House and the government to ban the use of animals in the testing of cosmetic pesticides.

Immigration

[Maxime Bernier, Independent, Beauce, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to present two petitions, an electronic one, E-1906, and a paper version of the same petition. They were initiated by Mr. George Browne, a resident of Ontario. They deal with the protection of our borders and note that limited, merit-based immigration is essential to Canadians' rights and well-being. They call on the Canadian government to withdraw from the United Nations global migration compact.

The two petitions contain more than 68,000 signatures.

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. 2265 and 2271.

Question No. 2265

[Brigitte Sansoucy, NDP, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC]

With regard to infrastructure investments through the Canada Infrastructure Bank, since its creation: (a) what are the Bank's investments, broken down by (i) province, (ii) constituency, (iii) investment partners, (iv) investment projects, (v) investment amounts; and (b) how many jobs are generated by these investments, broken down by (i) province, (ii) constituency?

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Infrastructure and Communities]

Mr. Speaker, in response to part(a)(i) of the question, the Canada Infrastructure Bank invested $1.283 billion in the Réseau express métropolitain project in Montréal, a 67-kilometre, light rail, high-frequency network with 26 stations located in greater Montreal in the Province of Québec. For more information, please consult https://rem.info/en#carte.

Regarding part (a)(ii), the Réseau express métropolitain project is a 67-kilometre, light rail, high-frequency network with 26 stations. Once completed, the stations will be located in the following constituencies: Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, Laval-Les Îles, Pierrefonds-Dollard, Lac-Saint-Louis, Dorval-Lachine-Lasalle, Saint-Laurent, Mount Royal, Outremont, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce-Westmount, Ville-Marie-Le Sud-Ouest-Île-des-Sœurs and Brossard-Saint-Lambert. For more information, please consult http://www.elections.ca/res/cir/maps2/images/atlas/Montreal.pdf.

In response to part (a)(iii), the investment partners are CDPQ Infra and the Government of Québec.

Regarding part (a)(iv), the answer is the Réseau express métropolitain.

In response to part(a)(v), the investment amount is $1.283 billion in the form of a 15-year senior secured loan at a rate starting at 1%, escalating to 3% over the term of the loan.

Regarding part (b)(i) of the question, in the province of Québec, it is expected that more than 34,000 direct and indirect jobs will be created during the construction phase and more than 1,000 permanent jobs will be created once the Réseau express métropolitain starts running. For more information, please consult https://www.cdpqinfra.com/en/reseau_electrique_metropolitain.

The answer to part (b)(ii) of the question is the same as the answer to part (a)(ii).

Question No. 2271

[Erin O'Toole, Conservative, Durham, ON]

With regard to expenditures related to litigation or legal proceedings since January 1, 2016, broken down by department or agency: (a) what is the total amount spent; and (b) for each case where more than $25,000 has been spent to date, what are the details, including (i) amount spent, (ii) title of proceedings, (iii) parties involved, (iv) current status of case?

[Arif Virani, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada and to the Minister of Democratic Institutions]

Mr. Speaker, the Department of Justice is unable to provide a response as the department has an active litigation inventory of more than 35,000 cases. An extensive manual search through our records would be required and is not possible within the time allotted. An aggregate amount of the expenditures related to legal services to government programs can be found online in the Department of Justice’s public accounts: https://www.tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca/recgen/cpc-pac/2018/vol2/justice/index-eng.html.

The vast majority of the legal proceedings involving the Government of Canada are handled by Department of Justice lawyers, notaries and paralegals who are salaried public servants. For cost recovery purposes the Department of Justice records the number of hours of work performed on each file and multiplies the hours by differential hourly rates by level of counsel, notary or paralegal. It also records whether the work is performed by regional employees, for which the department pays rent to Public Services and Procurement Canada, or headquarters employees in client premises, for which the client bears the costs of rent. Recovery from different clients varies according to a range of reductions applied based upon, among other things, the different amounts of historical resources within the Department of Justice dedicated to each client. As well, many legal proceedings and litigation files have multiple clients who share the cost recoveries from the Department of Justice.

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 Questions Nos. 2266 to 2270 and 2273 could be made orders for returns, these returns would be tabled immediately.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Is that agreed?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

Question No. 2266

[Xavier Barsalou-Duval, Bloc, Pierre-Boucher—Les Patriotes—Verchères, QC]

With regard to federal spending in the constituency of Pierre-Boucher—Les Patriotes—Verchères, since 2015: what is the total amount of federal investments, broken down by year, department and project?

(Return tabled)

Question No. 2267

[Candice Bergen, Conservative, Portage—Lisgar, MB]

With regard to communications received by the Office of the Prime Minister: on what date was the Office of the Prime Minister informed that the Director of Public Prosecutions had rejected the request by SNC-Lavalin for a deferred prosecution agreement?

(Return tabled)

Question No. 2268

[Guy Caron, NDP, Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC]

With regard to transfer payments to TransCanada Corporation since November 4, 2015: (a) what is the total of transfer payments, broken down by (i) year, (ii) grant, (iii) contribution, (iv) any other form of payment, (v) ministerial portfolio, (vi) ministerial portfolio program; and (b) do the public accounts refer to these transfer payments to TransCanada Corporation, and, if not, why?

(Return tabled)

Question No. 2269

[Jamie Schmale, Conservative, Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock, ON]

With regard to the purchase of promotional products since January 1, 2017, broken down by department, agency, or Crown corporation: (a) what products were purchased; (b) what quantity of each product was purchased; (c) what was the amount spent; (d) what was the price per unit; (e) if the products were purchased in relation to a specific event, what are the details of the event; (f) in what country was each product manufactured; and (g) what is the relevant file number for each purchase?

(Return tabled)

Question No. 2270

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB]

With regard to ministers and exempt staff members flying on government aircraft, including helicopters, since January 1, 2017: what are the details of all such flights, including (i) date, (ii) origin, (iii) destination, (iv) type of aircraft, (v) which ministers and exempt staff members were on board?

(Return tabled)