Debates of April 25th, 2023

Question No.1313—

[Greg Fergus, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister and to the President of the Treasury Board)]

Mr. Speaker, the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics, or ETHI, and the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs, or PROC, are currently studying the issue of foreign election interference. It would be appropriate to note the testimony from the national security and intelligence adviser, or NSIA, during her appearance on March 1, 2023, at PROC and at the Standing Committee on National Defence, or NDDN, on December 8, 2022, during which the NSIA said, “We have not seen money going to 11 candidates”.

As previously announced, the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians, or NSICOP, will complete a review to assess the state of foreign interference in federal electoral processes.

The National Security and Intelligence Review Agency, or NSIRA, will review how Canada’s national security agencies handled the threat of foreign interference during the 43rd and 44th federal general elections.

Additionally, an independent special rapporteur has been mandated to identify any outstanding issues requiring attention, recommend any additional mechanisms or transparent processes and identify innovative approaches and improvements in the way public agencies work together to combat foreign interference in our electoral processes.

Question No.1315—

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Regina—Qu'Appelle, SK]

With regard to foreign diplomats interfering in Canadian elections, since January 1, 2016: how many foreign diplomats have been expelled or had their credentials revoked as a result of interference or suspected interference in Canadian elections, broken down by year and by the country represented by the diplomat?

[Rob Oliphant, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, Canada expects all foreign representatives to exercise their functions in keeping with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, or VCDR, and the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, or VCCR, including respecting applicable Canadian laws and regulations and avoiding interference in internal affairs. The context for a decision to declare a foreign representative persona non grata, under either article 9 of the VCDR or article 23 of the VCCR, varies from case to case, and each decision would be based on specific circumstances. The Vienna conventions provide that the receiving state, which is Canada, does not have to explain its decision to the sending state. In order to protect this prerogative, data with respect to the concerns giving rise to persona non grata declarations cannot be disclosed.

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 the government's responses to Questions Nos. 1302, 1303, 1306, 1307, 1309, 1311, 1312 and 1314 could be made orders for return, these returns would be tabled immediately.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

Is that agreed?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

Question No.1302—

[Blake Richards, Conservative, Banff—Airdrie, AB]

With regard to vacancy rates in government owned office buildings in the National Capital Region with over 100,000 square feet of office space, broken down by building: what is the (i) name, (ii) location, (iii) total square footage, (iv) total square footage of usable office space, (v) current number of employees, (vi) square footage of occupied office space, (vii) square footage of vacant or unoccupied office space?

(Return tabled)

Question No.1303—

[Eric Melillo, Conservative, Kenora, ON]

With regard to the processing of requests made under the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act: (a) what is the policy or standard practice, broken down by department, agency, Crown corporation, or other government entity, with respect to consultations concerning personal or third-party information of former members of Parliament; (b) during the course of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police's processing of an access to information request related to their file on the Trudeau Report (A-2021-02029), why were consultations about the information of the former member for Thornhill, the Hon. Peter Kent, referred to the current member for Markham—Thornhill, the Minister of International Trade, Export Promotion, Small Business and Economic Development; and (c) on what date was the Privacy Commissioner of Canada informed about the incident in (b)?

(Return tabled)

Question No.1306—

[Colin Carrie, Conservative, Oshawa, ON]

With regard to gloves in the National Emergency Strategic Stockpile (NESS) which are manufactured by Sinopharm International Corporation and its subsidiaries, since November 2019: (a) how many units of these gloves did the NESS, or its parent organization and procuring body, acquire, broken down by month; (b) how many units of these gloves did the NESS 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.1307—

[Robert Gordon Kitchen, Conservative, Souris—Moose Mountain, SK]

With regard to the National Housing Council, since its creation: (a) what was the council's annual budget and expenditures, broken down by year; (b) what is the breakdown of (a) by item and type of expenditure; (c) what were the locations of each council meeting, broken down by the meeting date; (d) for each year, what were the council's total expenditures on (i) travel, (ii) hospitality; and (e) how is the council composed, including (i) how the members and the chairs of the council are chosen, (ii) the number of members, (iii) the financial compensation rates, including annual amounts and per diem rates, if applicable?

(Return tabled)

Question No.1309—

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

With regard to the processing of immigration applications at Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, for all streams, broken down by stream and by country of origin: (a) what are the current application processing service standards; (b) what are the actual current application processing times; (c) what percentage of applications are meeting the processing service standards; (d) where standards are not being met, what efforts are being undertaken by the department to improve processing times; (e) what are the acceptance and refusal rates; (f) what accounts for discrepancies in acceptance rates and processing times across geographic regions; and (g) how many applications are currently in the backlog and how long have these applications been in the system?

(Return tabled)

Question No.1311—

[Arnold Viersen, Conservative, Peace River—Westlock, AB]

With regard to the report that Employment and Social Development Canada provided to the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) on November 5, 2021, concerning allegations of forced labour within the supply chains for the production of personal protective equipment: (a) what specific allegations were contained in the report; (b) what is the summary of the report; (c) what is the website link where the report is available; and (d) what actions did the CBSA take in response to the report, broken down by the date the actions were taken?

(Return tabled)

Question No.1312—

[Rob Morrison, Conservative, Kootenay—Columbia, BC]

With regard to the government's plan to increase the tax on alcohol as of April 1, 2023: has Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada or Pacific Economic Development Canada conducted any analysis on the negative impacts this increase will have on British Columbia wineries, and, if so, what are the details, including the findings?

(Return tabled)

Question No.1314—

[Tony Baldinelli, Conservative, Niagara Falls, ON]

With regard to the government's plan to increase the tax on alcohol as of April 1, 2023: has Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada or the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario conducted any analysis on the negative impacts this increase will have on Niagara wineries, and, if so, what are the details, including the findings?

(Return tabled)

Questions Passed as Orders for Returns

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I ask that all remaining questions be allowed to stand.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

Is that agreed?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.