Debates of Dec. 13th, 2022

Question No.940—

[Adam van Koeverden, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health and to the Minister of Sport]

Mr. Speaker, there are different types of cannabis production authorized under the Cannabis Act and its regulations.

A federal licence is required to cultivate, process and sell cannabis for medical or non-medical purposes. Federal licence holders can conduct related activities such as possession, transportation, storage, destruction, research and development, and sale of bulk cannabis to other federal licence holders, and they supply the commercial market in Canada. More information on these licence holders can be found online at the following heading: Licensed cultivators, processors and sellers of cannabis under the Cannabis Act.

The personal registration program allows for individuals to have authorizations to produce, or to have someone produce on their behalf, a limited quantity of cannabis for their own medical purposes. These individuals are given a medical authorization from a health care practitioner. Access to cannabis for medical purposes is a constitutionally protected right, and this program has been put in place as a result of successive court decisions.

It is important to note that all persons authorized to produce cannabis for medical purposes are only authorized to produce and possess cannabis for their own medical use, or for the individual that they are designated to produce for, and it is illegal for them to distribute or sell cannabis to anyone else. The distribution and sale of illegal cannabis is illegal under the Cannabis Act and subject to law enforcement.

Health Canada publishes data on cannabis for medical purposes online at the following location: https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/drugs-medication/cannabis/research-data/medical-purpose.html

With regard to part (a) of the question, table 2 of the published data on cannabis for medical purposes includes the number of active personal and designated production registrations by month, beginning in October 2018, broken down by province and territory.

With regard to part (b) of the question, table 3 of the published data on cannabis for medical purposes indicates the average authorized amount of dried cannabis for medical purposes associated with active registrations, listed in grams per day. This table includes the average for clients registered with licence holders and the averages in each province and territory for the amounts associated with personal and designated production registrations.

With regard to part (c) of the question, Health Canada does not have data on the amount of cannabis that is produced under personal and designated production registrations as registrants are not required to report on how much cannabis they have grown under their registration.

With regard to part (d)(i), individuals who are authorized to produce a limited quantity of cannabis for their own medical purposes, or those who are designed to produce on their behalf, are not authorized to sell the cannabis they produce. With regard to part (d)(ii), Health Canada does not have access to information regarding how much cannabis is being sold on the black market. With regard to part (d)(iii), individuals are authorized to grow up to a maximum number of plants based on the daily dosage authorized by their health care practitioner and factoring in whether they are growing indoors, outdoors or partially indoors and partially outdoors. Some individuals may choose to grow less than their authorized amount. Registered individuals are not authorized to sell their cannabis to licence holders or any other individuals, as it is solely for the purpose of their own medical use.

Questions Passed as Orders for Returns

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

Mr. Speaker, furthermore, if the government's responses to Questions Nos. 918 to 925, 928, 931 to 934, 936 to 939 and 941 could be made orders for return, these returns would be tabled immediately.

[The Deputy Speaker, Chris d'Entremont]

Is that agreed?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

Question No.918—

[Lori Idlout, NDP, Nunavut, NU]

With regard to the Specific Claims Research, Development and Submission Program for fiscal years 2020-21, 2021-22, and 2022-23, broken down by fiscal year: (a) how many applications for funding were received from (i) claims research units, (ii) bands and First Nations, (iii) Indigenous representative organizations; (b) how much funding was requested by each applicant type in (a); and (c) how much funding has been delivered to each applicant type in (a)?

(Return tabled)

Question No.919—

[Tom Kmiec, Conservative, Calgary Shepard, AB]

With regard to requests made under the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), since January 1, 2020, broken down by year: (a) how many requests were received by IRCC; (b) of the requests in (a), in how many instances was (i) the information provided to the requestor within 30 days, (ii) an extension required; and (c) of the extensions in (b)(ii), how many were for a period of over (i) 30 days, (ii) six months, (iii) one year?

(Return tabled)

Question No.920—

[Tom Kmiec, Conservative, Calgary Shepard, AB]

With regard to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC): (a) how many IRCC employees or full-time equivalents are currently on “Other Leave With Pay” (code 699); (b) what is the breakdown of (a) by continent and region of the world that the employee works from; (c) how many IRCC employees are currently working from home as opposed to working from an IRCC office location; and (d) what is the breakdown of (c) by continent and region of the world?

(Return tabled)

Question No.921—

[Tom Kmiec, Conservative, Calgary Shepard, AB]

With regard to deportation orders issued by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada or the Canada Border Services Agency, since January 1, 2016, broken down by year the order was issued: (a) how many deportation orders were issued; (b) of the orders in (a), how many (i) resulted in the individual being deported, (ii) have since been rescinded, (iii) are still awaiting enforcement; and (c) what is the average and median amount time between the issuing of a deportation order and the individual being deported?

(Return tabled)

Question No.922—

[Tony Baldinelli, Conservative, Niagara Falls, ON]

With regard to the Tourism Relief Fund (TRF): (a) how much of the $500-million fund has been disbursed to the tourism sector as of October 25, 2022; (b) what are the details of all funding provided through the TRF, including the (i) recipient, (ii) location, (iii) amount provided; (c) how much funding has been distributed, broken down by province or territory and by type of tourism related business; (d) how many applications have been received, broken down by month since the TRF became available; (e) how many applications have been rejected or denied; (f) how many applications are currently being reviewed and finalized; and (g) how much money remains available in the TRF for eligible tourism applicants?

(Return tabled)

Question No.923—

[John Nater, Conservative, Perth—Wellington, ON]

With regard to the current backlog of applications received by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, broken down by immigration stream and type of application: (a) what is the length of the backlog; and (b) what is the number of backlogged applications?

(Return tabled)

Question No.924—

[Tako Van Popta, Conservative, Langley—Aldergrove, BC]

With regard to contracts provided by the government to McKinsey & Company since March 1, 2021, broken down by department, agency, Crown corporation, or other government entity: (a) what is the total amount spent on contracts; and (b) what are the details of all such contracts, including (i) the amount, (ii) the vendor, (iii) the date and duration, (iv) the description of goods or services provided, (v) the topics related to the goods or services, (vi) the specific goals or objectives related to the contract, (vii) whether or not the goals or objectives were met, (viii) whether the contract was sole-sourced or awarded through a competitive bidding process?

(Return tabled)

Question No.925—

[Brian Masse, NDP, Windsor West, ON]

With regard to the Connecting Families initiative announced in budget 2017 and the Connecting Families 2.0 program announced on April 4, 2022, broken down by fiscal year and by province or territory: (a) what was the total number of households deemed eligible for these initiatives; (b) of the households in (a), how many are eligible because they receive (i) the maximum Canada Child Benefit, (ii) the maximum Guaranteed Income Supplement; (c) how many households were advised that they were eligible for this program; and (d) what is the total number of households enrolled in these programs?

(Return tabled)

Question No.928—

[René Villemure, Bloc, Trois-Rivières, QC]

With regard to all the communications and correspondence (emails, letters, text messages, Teams messages, etc.) related to the leases and contracts awarded by the federal government in connection with the Roxham Road crisis, since December 1, 2021, broken down by date: (a) what communications and correspondence were exchanged between Pierre Guay, the company Importations Guay Ltée and the company Groupe I.G.L. Inc. and (i) the Department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, (ii) the Canada Border Services Agency, (iii) the Department of Public Safety, (iv) the RCMP, (v) Public Services and Procurement Canada, (vi) the Office of the Prime Minister; (b) what communications and correspondence were exchanged between Public Services and Procurement Canada and the (i) Department of Public Safety, (ii) Department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, (iii) Canada Border Services Agency; and (c) what communications and correspondence were exchanged between the Office of the Prime Minister and (i) Public Services and Procurement Canada, (ii) the Department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, (iii) the Department of Public Safety, (iv) the Canada Border Services Agency?

(Return tabled)

Question No.931—

[Leah Gazan, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

With regard to the Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care Plan, broken down by province and territory, since their respective agreements were announced: (a) how many new childcare spaces have been created; (b) how many early childhood educator jobs have been created; (c) how much of the federal investment has been delivered; (d) to date, what is the average savings per child (i) with a 50 percent average fee reduction, (ii) at $10 per day; and (e) which jurisdictions have submitted annual progress reports and have made these reports available to the public?

(Return tabled)

Question No.932—

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

With regard to the sales of surplus Crown assets (Treasury Board code 4843, or similar), since January 1, 2019: (a) what are the details of all assets sold, including, for each sale, the (i) price or amount sold for, (ii) description of goods, including the volume, (iii) date of the sale; and (b) for each asset in (a), (i) on what date, (ii) at what price, was it originally purchased by the government?