Debates of Jan. 30th, 2023

Question No.1073—

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

With regard to Export Development Canada's (EDC) forgiveness of loans worth $822,161,848 in the 2021-22 fiscal year: (a) how many businesses received loan forgiveness; (b) what is the breakdown of (a) by province or territory; (c) what were the names of the businesses that received loan forgiveness; (d) what was the total value of loan forgiveness that each business received; (e) which of these businesses had previously received loan forgiveness from EDC; (f) which of these businesses lobbied the government for loan forgiveness; and (g) which of these businesses have received procurement contracts with the government in the last five years?

(Return tabled)

Question No.1077—

[Dane Lloyd, Conservative, Sturgeon River—Parkland, AB]

With regard to the statement from the then Minister of Public Services and Procurement, Filomena Tassi, on April 7, 2022, that "With respect to Supermax, following allegations of forced labour from the supplier, we terminated all contracts with the supplier. In fact, as soon as we heard these allegations, we stopped shipments from entering Canada": (a) what specific shipments were stopped from entering Canada and on what dates were they stopped; (b) what action, if any, did the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) take under the authority found in the Canada—United States—Mexico Agreement Implementation Act to ban or stop the import of Supermax gloves into Canada; (c) if no action was taken in relation to (b), why not; (d) has the labour program at Employment and Social Development Canada assisted the CBSA in making an assessment on whether Supermax gloves are produced with forced labour, and, if so, what was the assessment; (e) has the government consulted allies and treaty partners who have already banned Supermax, in order to make an informed determination on Supermax's goods within Canada, and, if so, which countries has the government consulted; and (f) why are Supermax products still being sold in Canada by numerous medical supply distributors and what measures, if any, is the government taking to close the loopholes being used by these distributors?

(Return tabled)

Question No.1080—

[Frank Caputo, Conservative, Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC]

With regard to the government's requirement that assistant deputy ministers confirm and sign off on the integrity of their department's greenhouse gas emissions data, broken down by year and reporting cycle, since the requirement came into effect in 2019: (a) which department's data was signed off on by the assistant deputy minister; and (b) for each instance where the assistant deputy minister signed off of the data, what was the date, broken down by department?

(Return tabled)

Question No.1081—

[Richard Cannings, NDP, South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC]

With regard to efforts that focus on education, training and economic opportunities for Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people, broken down by fiscal year since 2014-15: (a) how much funding has been dedicated through the (i) First Nations and Inuit Youth Employment Strategy, (ii) Indigenous Skills and Employment Training Program, (iii) Women’s Employment Readiness pilot program, (iv) Women Entrepreneurship Strategy; and (b) how much of the funding in (a) has been committed?

(Return tabled)

Question No.1083—

[Raquel Dancho, Conservative, Kildonan—St. Paul, MB]

With regard to the government's response to Order Paper question Q-896 regarding Bill C-21, An Act to amend certain Acts and to make certain consequential amendments (firearms): (a) what are the names, titles, and organizations representing each of the 77 stakeholders who attended the roundtables and who are mentioned in the response; (b) what are the names, titles, and organizations representing each of the 36 entities who submitted written responses; and (c) what is the detailed breakdown of the replies to the 134,917 completed questionnaires received by the government, including the number of each possible response received to each question, broken down by question?

(Return tabled)

Question No.1084—

[Dane Lloyd, Conservative, Sturgeon River—Parkland, AB]

With regard to gloves in the National Emergency Strategic Stockpile which are manufactured by Supermax Corporation Berhad and its subsidiaries, including Supermax Healthcare Canada, since November 2019: (a) how many units of these gloves did the National Emergency Strategic Stockpile, or its parent organization and procuring body, acquire, broken down by month; (b) how many units of these gloves did the National Emergency Strategic Stockpile contain each month; and (c) how many units of these gloves were shipped to each provincial and territorial government, broken down by month, quarter and year?

(Return tabled)

Question No.1085—

[Kelly Block, Conservative, Carlton Trail—Eagle Creek, SK]

With regard to government purchases of personal protective equipment (PPE) that was made with forced or child labour, since January 1, 2020: (a) what safeguards, if any, were in place to ensure that the government was not purchasing PPE that was made with forced or child labour; (b) has the government received any reports of PPE it procured that was made with forced or child labour, and, if so, what are the details, including (i) the manufacturer, (ii) the value of the purchase, (iii) the description of PPE purchased, including the volume, (iv) the date on which the government became aware, (v) whether the report was investigated, and, if so, what was the outcome, (vi) the date on which the investigation into a report was completed; (c) for each situation in (b) where the government was found to have procured PPE made with forced or child labour, what corrective action, if any, was taken by the government; and (d) has the Canada Border Services Agency seized or intercepted any PPE entering Canada, and, if so, what are the details of each instance, including, for each, the (i) date, (ii) manufacturer, (iii) description of goods seized, including the volume?

(Return tabled)

Question No.1086—

[Kelly Block, Conservative, Carlton Trail—Eagle Creek, SK]

With regard to the decision made by Public Services and Procurement Canada on November 10, 2021, to hold deliveries from Supermax Healthcare Canada to the government: (a) what are the details of the allegations that were shared with the government, including the (i) specific claims of forced labour, (ii) steps taken to authenticate those claims, (iii) details of any consultations with the Government of Malaysia to investigate the claims, (iv) details of any engagement or consultations with the United States and other trading partners to validate the claims, (v) description, including dates of all actions taken in response to the allegations; (b) what is the government's rationale for not cancelling the existing contract; (c) was there an analysis conducted as to whether this was in violation of tariff #9897 which prohibits goods mined, manufactured or produced wholly or in part by forced labour; (d) if the answer to (c) is affirmative, was this shared with a minister's office and, if so, which minister's office; (e) how many of these goods allegedly made with forced labour entered Canada and were sold by Canadian or international distributors; (f) what are the names of the other six suppliers that had allegations made against them; (g) what are the details of the investigations into such suppliers, including who was consulted, and how the investigations were conducted; (h) why was the decision made to maintain the two existing contracts with Supermax; (i) what are the details of the contracts in (h) including, (i) the value of the contract, (ii) whether it was signed, (iii) whether there was an open procurement process, (iv) the volume of goods, (v) steps taken to ensure that the goods were not manufactured with unethical labour at any point in the Supermax supply chain; (j) did the government hire any third parties or consult with any other government or non-governmental organization to validate the letter that was received by Supermax which defined their policies, audit and investigation strategies, and, if so, what are the details, including which parties were consulted; and (k) what are the government's estimates of the total volume of Supermax Healthcare Canada products that have entered the Canadian market through contracts between the government of Canada and Supermax Healthcare Canada, since March 17, 2020?

(Return tabled)

Question No.1088—

[Tom Kmiec, Conservative, Calgary Shepard, AB]

With regard to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC): (a) what is the breakdown of the 6,800 health care sector workers who were granted permanent residency under the Guardian Angels initiative, between December 2020 and August 2021, by specific health care related job; (b) of the workers in (a), how many are (i) medical doctors, (ii) nurses, (iii) personal support workers, (iv) others, broken down by occupation; and (c) what definitions and job descriptions does IRCC use for each occupation in (b)?

(Return tabled)

Question No.1089—

[Michelle Ferreri, Conservative, Peterborough—Kawartha, ON]

With regard to Passport Canada, as of December 8, 2022: (a) how many passport applications are currently in the queue, waiting to be processed; and (b) of the applications in (a), how many were received more than 17 weeks ago?

(Return tabled)

Question No.1090—

[Kelly Block, Conservative, Carlton Trail—Eagle Creek, SK]

With regard to Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) and the awarding of a contract to Sinclair Technologies Inc. in the amount of $549,637.00 for a radio frequency filtering system for the RCMP: (a) is PSPC aware that Sinclair Technologies Inc. has been controlled by Hytera Communications since Hytera's acquisition of Norsat International in 2017, and, if so, on what date did PSPC become aware; (b) which federal departments or agencies, if any, conducted a national security review of this contract; (c) did PSPC seek the advice of the Minister of Public Safety before awarding this contract, and, if so, did the Minister or his office approve this contract; (d) what changes, if any, did PSPC make with respect to the awarding of contracts with national security implications, following the tabling of the report from the Standing Committee on Government Operations entitled "Ensuring Robust Security in Federal Purchasing" in June, 2021; (e) how is the awarding of contracts to companies controlled by Chinese state-owned enterprises consistent with Canada's Indo-Pacific Strategy; (f) how is the awarding of contracts to companies controlled by Chinese state-owned enterprises consistent with the Communique from the Five Country Ministerial held on September 12 and 13, 2022; and (g) what was the government's rationale for awarding this contract to Sinclair Technologies Inc. rather than to a Canadian-owned firm?

(Return tabled)

Question No.1092—

[Adam Chambers, Conservative, Simcoe North, ON]

With regard to the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy: (a) how many complaints did the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) receive concerning recipients misusing the subsidy; (b) of the complaints in (a), how many did CRA investigate; (c) what were the findings of the investigations in (b); and (d) how many fines have been issued to recipients who misused the subsidy?

(Return tabled)

Question No.1093—

[Eric Melillo, Conservative, Kenora, ON]

With regard to the Canada Revenue Agency: what is the total number of employees or full-time equivalents in each division and section of the agency (human resources, administration, corporate tax processing, etc.), broken down by year, since 2016?