Debates of March 21st, 2022

Question No.267—

[Daniel Blaikie, NDP, Elmwood—Transcona, MB]

With regard to the annual funding provided to Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, since fiscal year 2015-16, broken down by year and by each of the entities it owns: (a) what is the detail of the annual funding provided, broken down by its expenditures for (i) Canadian Nuclear Laboratories, (ii) Canadian National Energy Alliance; (b) what is the financial position of each owned entity, broken down by (i) total financial assets, (ii) total liabilities, (iii) total net debt, (iv) total non-financial assets, (v) total accumulated deficit, (vi) total revenues, (vii) total expenses, (viii) total surplus or deficit, (ix) accumulated deficit related to operations at the beginning and the end of the year; and (c) do the Canadian Nuclear Laboratories and the Canadian National Energy Alliance plan to release their own quarterly and annual financial statements, and if not, why not?

[Jonathan Wilkinson, Liberal, Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, AECL’s payments to its contractors are provided in its annual report, available publicly at www.aecl.ca/reports-resources/.

As part of the restructuring of AECL, in 2014 the CNL was created and operated as a wholly owned subsidiary of AECL until September 2015, at which point the shares of the CNL were transferred to a private sector contractor selected as part of a government-run procurement process for the management and operations of AECL’s sites. As such, for part of the 2015-16 fiscal year, the CNL was a wholly owned subsidiary of AECL; however, its financial statements were integrated into those of AECL. For the subsequent period, the CNL has operated as a private sector entity. As a result, AECL does not maintain the financial records of this separate private organization. Information on AECL’s financial position is provided in its annual reports, available publicly at www.aecl.ca/reports-resources/.

AECL is not responsible for either the CNL or the CNEA, both of which are private sector organizations. As such, AECL does not maintain information regarding the respective financial position of each entity.

Question No.277—

[Laurel Collins, NDP, Victoria, BC]

With regard to the government's commitment to plant two billion trees by 2030 and create almost 4,300 jobs, broken down by fiscal year and by federal riding: (a) how many jobs have been created to date, broken down by (i) seasonal employment, (ii) full-time employment, (iii) part-time employment; and (b) is the promise to create 4,300 jobs an annual commitment, or a cumulative total to be achieved by 2030?

[Jonathan Wilkinson, Liberal, Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Natural Resources, with support from the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, was mandated to develop and implement a plan to plant two billion trees over 10 years as part of a broader commitment to natural climate solutions.

The program is on track to plant two billion trees over 10 years, resulting in a permanent increase in forest cover in Canada. The program provided funding to plant 30 million trees during the 2021 season, and that number will increase as the government’s partners ramp up their activities.

The 2 Billion Trees program is a proposal-based grants and contribution program. Interested and eligible organizations are required to submit project proposals. Expert evaluation panels assess projects to ensure they meet program objectives and co-benefits, including carbon sequestration, biodiversity, habitat restoration and human well-being. Projects must also pass risk and due diligence requirements before they are retained for funding via contribution agreements. As a result, specific tree-planting locations and any related employment benefits will depend on the funding proposals put forward by provinces, territories, indigenous communities, and organizations across Canada.

Following a call for expressions of interest in February 2021, the program received 120 applications for early tree planting in 2021. NRCan has finalized most of its funding agreements to support the planting of over 30 million trees across the country, in both urban and rural areas. Many of the projects began planting in spring 2021, and planting continued through the 2021 planting season. NRCan proactively discloses these grants and contributions on Open Canada at https: //search. open.canada.ca/en/gc/.

Similar to other government grants and contribution programs, contribution agreements with federal funding recipients outline planned projects or activities. In the case of the 2 Billion Trees program, the exact number of trees planted is reported by the funding recipients on a quarterly basis and after all of their planting activities have been completed. Program recipients will have 60 days after the end of the fiscal year on March 31, 2022, to provide their final reporting. At that stage, NRCan will consolidate and validate the data and is expected to publicly disclose the results on the 2021 tree planting season in spring 2022.

Funding recipients are required to report on their program activities, including details on the number and types of jobs created. Canada’s 2 Billion Trees program will create up to 4,300 jobs across the country. The data collected from funding recipients will serve as the basis of performance reporting for the program. Details on the program’s performance indicators can be found at https://www.canada.ca /en/campaign/ 2-billion-trees/ natural-climate-solutions -fund-performance- indicators.html.

Question No.278—

[Laurel Collins, NDP, Victoria, BC]

With regard to recommendation 4.43 in Report 4 on non-tax subsidies for fossil fuels of the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development: (a) following consultations to solicit feedback, has Environment and Climate Change Canada developed clearly defined criteria to determine whether a fossil fuel non-tax subsidy is inefficient, and, if so, what are these criteria and what is the department’s definition of “inefficient”; (b) does Environment and Climate Change Canada still refuse to implement this recommendation; and (c) what is the status and expected completion date of the review of inefficient fossil fuel subsidies as part the G20 peer review process with Argentina?

[Steven Guilbeault, Liberal, Minister of Environment and Climate Change]

Mr. Speaker, Environment and Climate Change Canada is continuing its work with a number of federal departments and agencies to develop a comprehensive framework and guidance to assess whether a non-tax measure may constitute an “inefficient fossil fuel subsidy”. The department is finalizing its criteria for determining “inefficiency” and is conducting ongoing consultations as part of the process.

ECCC recognizes that the issues of economic, social and environmental sustainability are important considerations, and the framework and guidance will include those considerations. The department will assess how to strike a balance between the issues of economic, social and environmental sustainability. ECCC and the Department of Finance are working together to finalize the framework and guidance to identify and assess relevant measures in order to fulfill the G20 commitment.

Canada recently committed to accelerate the timing of its G20 commitment to phase out or rationalize inefficient fossil fuel subsidies from 2025 to 2023. A report listing Canada’s inefficient fossil fuel subsidies is being developed and will be submitted to a panel of experts as part of Canada’s G20 peer review process with Argentina.

Question No.280—

[Daniel Blaikie, NDP, Elmwood—Transcona, MB]

With regard to the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) and the one-time payment to recipients announced in the fiscal update of December 14, 2021: (a) what are the eligibility criteria for the one-time payment; (b) when does the government expect to begin making one-time payments; (c) will this one-time payment be taxable; and (d) will this one-time payment be included in the definition of income for purposes of eligibility for the GIS in 2022?

[Kamal Khera, Liberal, Minister of Seniors]

Mr. Speaker, with regard to (a), in order for individuals to be eligible for this one-time grant payment for guaranteed income supplement-Canada emergency response benefits, it is proposed that recipients must be eligible to receive the GIS or allowances in March 2022, and have received a pandemic benefit in 2020, been in receipt of GIS or allowance benefits in June 2021 and faced a reduction or loss in GIS or allowance benefits in July 2021.

With regard to (b), payments will be made in April 2022. A small number of payments, up to 1,000, will be issued in March 2022 to address the immediate financial hardship that some seniors are experiencing.

With regard to (c), the proposed one-time grant payment for GIS-CERB recipients would be non-taxable and non-reportable.

With regard to (d), the proposed one-time grant payment for GIS-CERB recipients would be non-taxable. As such, it would not be included in the definition of income for the GIS or allowance.

Question No.283—

[Colin Carrie, Conservative, Oshawa, ON]

With regard to Health Canada and the Pfizer/BioNtech Phase 3 vaccine clinical trial that was used for a population-wide approval of novel medical intervention: (a) what are, in percentages, the benefits conferred by vaccination versus control (placebo) considering all-cause morbidity (level 1 evidence of benefit or harm) in the said trial in terms of (i) adverse events, (ii) severe adverse events, (iii) serious adverse events, (iv) deaths; (b) what is, in terms of percentage, the amount that the vaccine reduced the transmission of COVID-19 in the vaccine arm compared to the placebo arm in the said trial; (c) what were the bio-markers for which trial participants were systematically tested at the commencement, during, and at the conclusion of the trial to test for the safety of the product evaluated in the said trial; and (d) what were, in terms of percentage, the absolute risk reduction provided by the vaccine?

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

Mr. Speaker, Health Canada has authorized several COVID-19 vaccines for use in Canada. Each of these underwent a careful scientific review and met our standards for safety, efficacy and quality.

Information about all of the authorized vaccines can be found on the COVID-19 vaccines and treatments portal, https://bit.ly/3EH07IB, by clicking on the individual vaccine names and then the “all resources” tab. For each of the vaccines that have been authorized, detailed information can be accessed, such as the product monograph, which is the prescribing information for consumers and health care professionals on a manufacturer insert, the summary basis of a decision, which provides a detailed overview of the data considered by Health Canada, and the terms and conditions placed on the authorizations, which are the requirements for further data submission that manufacturers are required to meet.

Note that information in the portal is being updated regularly and can be found at https://bit.ly/3lo1svI. Also, the clinical study reports related to the approval of Comirnaty can be accessed on Health Canada’s public release of clinical information website, at https://bit.ly/3GFvDHE. It has specific details related to various aspects of the review, including the summaries of clinical efficacy and safety.

Information on the questions regarding the trial, including those on adverse events and severe adverse events, the biomarkers for which trial participants were systematically tested, and on the absolute risk reduction provided by the vaccine, is all publicly available. The information can be found at https://bit.ly/3HLiZYU. Please note that how the vaccine reduced the transmission of COVID-19 in the vaccine arm compared with the placebo arm was not assessed during the said clinical trials.

For public convenience, here are some useful links. The product monograph for Comirnaty, with a date of revision of January 20, 2022, is at https://bit.ly/3uEsNQF, and the summary basis of decision for Comirnaty is at https://bit.ly/3GNlhWg.

Question No.286—

[Damien Kurek, Conservative, Battle River—Crowfoot, AB]

With regard to the impact of the federal carbon tax on registered charities: (a) why are registered charities not eligible to receive Climate Action Incentive payments even though they are forced to pay higher prices on goods as a result of the federal carbon tax; (b) what are the government’s estimates on the amount of federal carbon tax paid by charities or projected to be paid by charities, broken down by province, in (i) 2019, (ii) 2020, (iii) 2021, (iv) 2022, (v) 2023, (vi) 2024; (c) what are the government’s estimates related to (b) for charities who do work in Canada in primarily (i) urban settings, (ii) rural settings; (d) does the government have any plans to directly reimburse charities for the amount they pay in carbon taxes, and, if so, what are the plans, including the formula used to determine how much each charity will receive; and (e) what are the government’s estimates on the reductions in donations charities may receive in (i) 2022, (ii) 2023, (iii) 2024, as a result of Canadians having less disposable income because of the carbon tax and other inflationary pressures?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, under the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act, or GGPPA, all proceeds from the federal fuel charge must be returned to the jurisdiction of origin.

In the case of the two voluntary jurisdictions of Yukon and Nunavut, all direct proceeds are returned to the territorial governments, and these governments can in turn return proceeds to any sector of the economy they see fit, including the non-profit sector.

In the case of jurisdictions not meeting the federal benchmark, those being Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta, the bulk of the direct proceeds from the fuel charge is returned to households through climate action incentive payments, known as CAI payments. Remaining proceeds are being returned to small and medium-sized enterprises, or SMEs; indigenous communities; and other organizations.

Monthly fuel charge returns only account for aggregate amounts by fuel type and by jurisdiction. Typically, once the fuel charge has been paid by a fuel producer or distributor, there is no further reporting of who ultimately directly bears the cost of the federal fuel charge. The amount of the fuel charge is ultimately embedded in the price of fuels sold to consumers and other organizations.

In the four provinces where CAI payments are available, the majority of households receive more in CAI payments than they incur in carbon pricing-related costs. This would mitigate the impact of the federal carbon pricing system on disposable incomes.

Question No.287—

[Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay, Bloc, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC]

With regard to the intermodal terminal project for the storage and transshipment of propane gas that is currently being discussed and that would be located in the Municipality of Upton, Quebec: (a) has Distribution Upton requested ministerial approval for the construction of a new railroad that links with the transfer station in the Municipality of Upton; (b) has Propane Suroît requested ministerial approval for the construction of a new railroad that links with the transfer station in the Municipality of Upton; (c) does St Laurent & Atlantique have the certificates to proceed with the transshipment of propane; (d) does St. Laurent & Atlantique need to make any changes to the existing rail line for the terminal project; and (e) has St. Laurent & Atlantique filed any applications for adding rails to the proposed terminal construction site?

[Omar Alghabra, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, Transport Canada does not have information on this, as the Canadian Transportation Agency is the authorizing body. The Canadian Transportation Agency is unaware of the proposed intermodal terminal project for the storage and transshipment of propane gas. The agency confirms that to date it has not received any request from entities mentioned in the query.

With regard to part (a) and part (b), to date the agency has not received any request.

With regard to part (c), yes, St. Lawrence Atlantic Railroad (Quebec) Inc. has a valid certificate of fitness that authorizes them to operate a railway that includes the carriage, per calendar year, of less than 4,000 tonnes of toxic inhalation hazard materials, and other dangerous goods, other than crude oil, as defined in section 2 of the Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act, 1992, SC 1992, chapter 34.

With regard to part (d), as per section 94 of the Canada Transportation Act, St. Lawrence Atlantic Railroad (Quebec) Inc. has to notify the agency in writing if there are any changes to the construction or operation that may affect the liability insurance coverage. To date the agency has not received any notification of any such changes from St. Lawrence Atlantic Railroad (Quebec) Inc.

With regard to part (e), to date the agency has not received any application.

Question No.288—

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

With regard to the Federal Ministerial Coordinating Committee on PEI Potatoes: (a) what is the exact mandate of the committee; (b) what specific goals or assignments have been issued to each minister on the committee, broken down by minister; (c) what is the time period provided related to each goal or assignment in (b); and (d) what are the (i) dates, (ii) locations, (iii) ministers in attendance, for each meeting of the committee which occurred to date?

[Marie-Claude Bibeau, Liberal, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food]

Mr. Speaker, with regard to (a), the committee is a forum for exchange of information, development of strategies and coordination of activities to resolve the trade situation, while minimizing negative impacts on the P.E.I. potato sector. It is an ad hoc interdepartmental setting where ministers bring together their perspectives from their respective mandates, as well as views from their engagement on the issue, to ensure a coordinated and consistent approach to advancing government objectives.

With regard to (b), the committee members include me, as the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, under my mandate for the growth and development of a competitive, innovative, and sustainable Canadian agriculture and agri-food sector; the Minister of Official Languages and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, under her mandate to create opportunities for economic growth in the region by helping businesses become more competitive, innovative, and productive; the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, Infrastructure and Communities, under his mandate to engage with lead ministers to ensure a well-coordinated and strategic approach on key priorities that have significant provincial and territorial implications; the Minister of International Trade, Export Promotion, Small Business and Economic Development, under her mandate to engage the United States to address bilateral trade issues and protectionist measures, including with respect to the agricultural sector; and the Minister of Veterans Affairs and Associate Minister of National Defence, in his role as member of Parliament for Cardigan.

I am the government’s policy lead on the potato wart file. The Minister of Official Languages and I are co-chairs of this committee. In response to the P.E.I. potato situation, each minister is undertaking activities in line with their respective mandates and responsibilities. The committee is ensuring those activities are coordinated and complementary and are collectively advancing resolution of the situation.

With regard to (c), the creation of the committee was announced on January 7, 2022. The committee meets via video conference or teleconference approximately every two weeks, and will continue until such time as the members agree to dissolve the committee.

With regard to (d), the first meeting, and the only one to be held prior to January 27, took place January 13, 2022, via video conference. I attended with my colleagues, the hon. ministers of official languages, veterans affairs and international trade.

Question No.289—

[Ron Liepert, Conservative, Calgary Signal Hill, AB]

With regard to the government's contract with Switch Health to conduct COVID-19 PCR tests for international passengers arriving at the Calgary International Airport: (a) what is the number of COVID-19 PCR tests performed on travellers who entered Canada at the Calgary International Airport between December 1, 2021, and January 31, 2022; (b) what percentage of the tests in (a) were positive for COVID-19; and (c) what are the details of the contract with Switch Health related to the testing for international arrivals at the Calgary International Airport including (i) the value or amount, (ii) the start and end dates of the contract, (iii) whether the contract was sole-sourced or awarded through a competitive bid process, (iv) the number of PCR tests expected to be conducted under the contract?

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

Mr. Speaker, Switch Health reported results for 78,377 COVID-19 PCR tests from international arrivals entering the Calgary International Airport between December 1, 2021, and January 31, 2022. Of these tests, 4% were positive.

The scope of the contract with Switch Health and its basis of payment involves the entire testing process from start to finish, including on-site sample collection, as well as several deliverables in support of the Public Health Agency of Canada’s testing efforts and reporting requirements. These are centrally managed overhead costs and are not directly assigned to testing performed at a specified port of entry. Accordingly, PHAC is unable to confirm a specific value or amount that can be attributed definitively to the testing of travellers at the Calgary International Airport.

The Switch Health contract was awarded on February 20, 2021, with an end date of February 28, 2022. The contract originally awarded to Switch Health was done through a competitive procurement process in January 2021 that was carried out by Public Services and Procurement Canada under solicitation H1051-204342. More information can be found at https://buyandsell.gc.ca/procurement-data/tender-notice/PW-AC-007-79580.

The contract was set up to allow the flexibility to process a variable number of tests as required, based on changes to border policy in response to the changing nature of the pandemic. As such, the contracts do not contain a set number of PCR tests expected to be conducted for the Calgary International Airport.

Question No.295—

[Martin Shields, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

With regard to the government's Wellness Together website and the PocketWell application: (a) have there been any data or privacy breaches or related incidents concerning the website, application, or any data collected since January 1, 2020, and, if so, what are the details, including the (i) incident summary, (ii) type of data involved, (iii) number of users whose data was involved, (iv) corrective action taken, including whether or not the users were notified, (v) date of the incident; and (b) what specific processes are in place to deal with any data or privacy breaches concerning the website or the application?

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

Mr. Speaker, there has been no breach of Wellness Together Canada, WTC, portal or PocketWell app privacy or data. The Government of Canada commissioned the portal and app, funding both their establishment and maintenance. They are led by a consortium of established leaders in mental health and substance use care, including Stepped Care Solutions, Homewood Health and Kids Help Phone. The contract between the Government of Canada and the WTC consortium stipulates that all involved organizations, resources and third party service providers are subject to legal privacy obligations, privacy policies or contractual agreements that include appropriate privacy standards. All services must comply with applicable privacy and health information legislation to maintain the security of client information.

The WTC consortium contracts Greenspace Health to host and maintain the WTC portal platform. Privacy practices for WTC Portal and PocketWell app by Greenspace are service organization control, SOC, type 2 compliant, meeting the industry standard for best practices. SOC 2 defines criteria for managing customer data based on five trust service principles: security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality and privacy. WTC’s SOC 2 compliance means that an independent auditing firm has reviewed and examined their control objectives and activities and tested the controls to ensure operational excellence. The independent auditing firm found that WTC complies with these principles and has the proper systems and controls in place to protect client information and interests.

Specific details on response activities under Greenspace’s privacy breach policy cannot be disclosed, as protected proprietary information. However, any breach would be subject to Greenspace’s incident response plan, which structures Greenspace’s investigation and resolution of privacy and security incidents using a three-phased approach: identification and notification of relevant individuals, partners and authorities in accordance with applicable laws and contractual obligations; containment and eradication of the threat; and post-incident activity, including reporting, review and prevention.

The incident response training and testing policy requires Greenspace to be prepared to respond to all potential and actual security and privacy incidents by training an incident response team on the company’s incident response plan, and by conducting incident response exercises.

As set out in the privacy policy on the WTC portal website, while using the platform users have the option of providing information related to the state of their mental health and personal quality of life. Greenspace is compliant with all Canadian federal and provincial privacy legislation, including the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act; the Personal Health Information Protection Act, 2004, of Ontario; the Personal Information Protection Act of Alberta; the Personal Information Protection Act of British Columbia; and An Act respecting the protection of personal information in the private sector of Quebec.

Question No.299—

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

With regard to the authorizations of the collection of datasets by the Minister of Public Safety since January 1, 2016: (a) which classes of Canadian datasets were authorized for collection by the minister pursuant to section 11.03 (1) of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service Act, broken down by year and date of authorization; and (b) for each class of datasets authorized by collection, is the authorization still valid, or has it since been rescinded, and, if so, on what date was it rescinded?

[Pam Damoff, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, with the coming into force of the National Security Act, 2017, on June 13, 2019, Parliament provided CSIS with the authority to collect and retain datasets relevant to its mandate while implementing appropriate measures to ensure the privacy of Canadians.

As part of these measures, the Minister of Public Safety must determine annually, by order, the classes of Canadian datasets that the service may collect under section 11.05 of the CSIS Act. The minister may determine that a class of Canadian datasets is authorized to be collected only if the querying or exploitation of any dataset in the class could lead to results that are relevant to the performance of CSIS’s duties and functions. This includes the ability to collect intelligence regarding threats to the security of Canada, to take measures to reduce threats to the security of Canada or to collect foreign intelligence within Canada. This decision must then be reviewed and approved by the intelligence commissioner, or IC, before it can take effect.

In 2019, the Minister of Public Safety issued an order determining four classes of Canadian datasets. The IC found the minister’s conclusions to be reasonable and consequently approved the determination of these four classes. The titles of these classes of Canadian datasets are classified and have not been released publicly. In 2021, the minister again determined the same four classes with minor adjustments, to respond to recommendations from the IC. Again, in 2022, the minister issued a determination for these same four classes of Canadian datasets, which the IC again found to be reasonable. None of these determinations have ever been refused or rescinded by the minister or the IC.

CSIS is working closely with the Department of Justice to ensure correct implementation of the requirements of this new and complex authority. The service is working cautiously to implement the framework, which is built upon layers of oversight and review to ensure the privacy interests of Canadians are adequately protected as it fulfills its national security mandate

Question No.301—

[Adam Chambers, Conservative, Simcoe North, ON]

With regard to the Shared Equity Mortgage Providers Fund that launched on July 31, 2019: (a) how many applications have been (i) received, (ii) approved to date; (b) what is the total value of funds distributed to date through the program; and (c) how many units have been built under the program?

[Soraya Martinez Ferrada, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion (Housing)]

Mr. Speaker, the shared equity mortgage providers, or SEMP, fund supports existing shared equity mortgage providers. Repayable loans are offered to eligible proponents to commence new housing projects where shared equity mortgages will be provided, under stream one, or to fund lending directly through shared equity mortgage providers to first-time homebuyers, under stream two. The fund aims to assist in the completion of 1,500 new units and help at least 1,500 homebuyers buy their first home.

The program offers to eligible proponents repayable loans from one of two possible funding streams. Preconstruction loans, under stream one, provide funding for preconstruction cost loans to commence new housing projects in which shared equity mortgages will be provided to homebuyers via SEMPs. Shared equity mortgages, SEM, under stream two, provide loans to SEMPs to fund shared equity mortgages that they provide directly to first-time homebuyers.

For more details visit https://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/en/professionals/project-funding-and-mortgage-financing/funding-programs/all-funding-programs/shared-equity-mortgage-providers-fund.

In response to part (a), Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation has received nine applications under the shared equity mortgage providers fund, and five applications have been approved in the amount of $17 million.

In response to part (b), $1.3 million has been distributed to date through the SEMP.

In response to part (c), this will support the creation of 700 new housing units.

The data used in the response is as of December 31, 2021.

Question No.302—

[Ed Fast, Conservative, Abbotsford, BC]

With regard to the government's decision on whether or not to ban Huawei from Canada's 5G infrastructure: (a) what is the specific time period for the government to make a decision; and (b) will the government guarantee that a decision will be announced before April 1, 2022?