Scott Reid on Questions Passed as Orders for Returns

With regard to the large white elm tree that is located near the southeast corner of the Centre Block of Parliament: (a) when does Public Services and Procurement Canada plan to cut it down; (b) when does Public Services and Procurement Canada plan to begin excavation or other operations that it believes necessitate the removal of the tree; (c) when was the decision made to cut it down; (d) when was the decision to cut it down announced publicly; (e) by what method was the decision to cut it down announced publicly; (f) what are the details of the public announcement made by Public Services and Procurement Canada respecting the decision to cut it down, including additional information that was made publicly available in support of the announcement; (g) what information informed the recommendation to cut it down, including the titles, authors, publications or applicable media, publishing dates, and applicable Internet addresses of all reports or other documents used to prepare the recommendation; (h) what analysis was done respecting the possibility of maintaining and protecting the tree during the excavation and other operations related to the Centre Block Rehabilitation Program and phase 2 of the Visitors’ Welcome Centre complex, including the titles, authors, publications or applicable media, publishing dates, and applicable Internet addresses of all reports or other documents used in the analysis; (i) was the Minister of Public Services and Procurement consulted on the decision to cut it down; (j) did the Minister of Public Services and Procurement authorize the decision to cut it down or, if not the Minister, who authorized the final decision to cut it down; (k) what are the details of the public consultation process that preceded the decision to cut it down, including time range, available methods of public input, public meetings held, attendance of public meetings, documents provided to the public, and advertising and public notice of the consultation process; (l) what are the details of the Parliamentary consultation process initiated by the Minister that preceded the decision to cut it down, including time range, available methods of Parliamentarian input, meetings held with Parliamentarians, documents provided to Parliamentarians, and advertising and notice to Parliamentarians of the consultation process; (m) what are the details of all meetings and communications respecting the tree since October 20, 2015, including dates, times, locations or methods, and participants, that occurred between the Greenspace Alliance of Canada's Capital and (i) the Minister of Public Services and Procurement, (ii) exempt staff in the Office of the Minister of Public Services and Procurement, (iii) employees of Public Services and Procurement Canada; (n) what are the projected costs of cutting it down, extricating the root system, and removing the resulting debris from the Parliamentary Precinct; (o) what are the projected costs of the planned carvings of the tree to be procured from the Dominion sculptor; (p) what is the name and firm, if applicable, of the arborist hired by Public Services and Procurement Canada to inspect and report on the tree; (q) when did the arborist hired by Public Services and Procurement Canada to inspect and report on the tree deliver the report to Public Services and Procurement Canada; (r) is the arborist’s report delivered to Public Services and Procurement Canada available on a public Internet site, and, if so, what is the Internet address at which the report is available; (s) what are the details of the arborist’s report on the tree that was delivered to Public Services and Procurement Canada, including (i) figures or estimates respecting the tree’s age, (ii) general health and condition, (iii) arboreal disease status, (iv) life expectancy, (v) response to past or ongoing treatment for arboreal disease, (vi) resilience against future arboreal disease, (vii) resilience against close-proximity construction or excavation, (viii) structural integrity, (ix) present, future, and contingent maintenance and care requirements; (t) what information is held by Public Services and Procurement Canada with respect to treatment provided to the tree for arboreal diseases; and (u) what information, not held by Public Services and Procurement Canada, was provided to or consulted by the department with respect to treatment provided to the tree for arboreal diseases?