Debates of June 5th, 2023

(Return tabled)

Question No.1408—

[Lisa Marie Barron, NDP, Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC]

With regard to government funding for the removal of wrecked, abandoned or hazardous vessels, broken down by fiscal year and department or agency since 2011-12: (a) what are the details of all projects or initiatives led by First Nations, Inuit or Métis communities or organizations, including the (i) group receiving funding, (ii) date the funding was received, (iii) total amount of funds committed, (iv) location of the vessel or vessels identified for removal, (v) current status of the vessel or vessels; and (b) what is the total number of Indigenous-led projects or initiatives that were denied funding for the removal of the vessels?

(Return tabled)

Question No.1410—

[Kerry-Lynne Findlay, Conservative, South Surrey—White Rock, BC]

With regard to individuals who entered Canada through land crossings in British Columbia: (a) how many individuals entered through irregular or illegal crossings, in total and broken down by month since January 1, 2022; and (b) what is the breakdown of (a) by approximate geographic location of the crossings?

(Return tabled)

Question No.1411—

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB]

With regard to the Department of National Defence (DND) and the government’s announcement in August 2019 titled “Canada negotiates new armoured combat support vehicles”: (a) on what date will the 360 light armoured vehicles (LAV) from General Dynamic Land Systems Canada be put into service; (b) what are the names of each variant type of LAV purchased; (c) how many of each variant type was purchased; and (d) on what date is DND expected to complete the sign off or final approvals for the LAVs which are still at General Dynamic Land Systems Canada?

(Return tabled)

Question No.1412—

[John Brassard, Conservative, Barrie—Innisfil, ON]

With regard to the increase in the number of public service employees between 2016 and 2023: (a) what was the total number of public service workers as of (i) January 1, 2016, (ii) January 1, 2023, in total and broken down by department or agency; and (b) what was the total number of positions added to the public service between January 1, 2016, and January 1, 2023, broken down by occupational group, level, Treasury Board classification, and department or agency?

(Return tabled)

Question No.1414—

[Dean Allison, Conservative, Niagara West, ON]

With regard to government contracts with Baylis Medical since January 1, 2020, broken down by department, agency, Crown corporation, or other government entity: (a) what are the details of all such contracts, including, for each, the (i) date of the contract, (ii) value, (iii) description of the goods or services provided, including the quantity and whether the goods were manufactured by Baylis Medical or by a third party, (iv) manner in which the contract was awarded (sole-sourced, competitive bid, etc.), (v) date on which the goods or services were delivered; and (b) for each of the contracts in (a), did the company live up to its contractual obligations, and, if not, what corrective action was taken by the government?

(Return tabled)

Question No.1415—

[Warren Steinley, Conservative, Regina—Lewvan, SK]

With regard to carbon offsets purchased by the government, since January 1, 2016, broken down by year: (a) how much was spent by each department, agency, Crown corporation, or other government entity; and (b) what are the details of each purchase, including, for each, the (i) date, (ii) cost, (iii) amount of emissions that the purchase was meant to offset, (iv) vendor?

(Return tabled)

Question No.1417—

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

With regard to expenditures related to the Prime Minister's trip to Montana in April 2023: (a) what were the total costs incurred by the government for (i) accommodations, (ii) per diems, (iii) other expenses, for the flight crew and government officials who travelled to Montana in connection with the Prime Minister's trip; (b) in what city or town did the flight crew and government officials stay at in Montana; (c) how much did the Prime Minister reimburse the government in relation to the flight for this vacation; (d) did the Prime Minister reimburse any other expenses related to this vacation and, if so, how much and what was the reimbursement for; (e) did any government officials travel to Montana in a method other than on the Challenger flight which carried the Prime Minister and, if so, how many officials travelled through other means, and how much was spent on their airfare; and (f) are there any costs incurred or expected to be incurred by the government related to the trip that are not included in the response to (a) and, if so, what are those costs or expected costs, broken down by item and type of expense?

(Return tabled)

Question No.1419—

[Laila Goodridge, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB]

With regard to the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF): (a) what is the number of individuals in the CAF, broken down by type (civilian, military, reserve) and branch as of (i) January 1, 2016, (ii) January 1, 2020, (iii) January 1, 2023; and (b) what is the number of individuals at each military rank as of (i) January 1, 2016, (ii) January 1, 2020, (iii) January 1, 2023?

(Return tabled)

Questions Passed as Orders for Return

[Mark Gerretsen, Liberal, Kingston and the Islands, ON]

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

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Chris d'Entremont]

Is that agreed?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

Wildfires in Canada

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Chris d'Entremont]

I wish to inform the House that I have received notice of a request for an emergency debate. I invite the hon. member for South Okanagan—West Kootenay to rise to make a brief intervention.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise to ask for an emergency debate on the urgent and escalating wildfire situation in Canada.

I want to first say that our hearts are with the 30,000 Canadians who are still out of their homes and the many hundreds who have lost everything in these fires. I thank the firefighters on land and in the air for their brave and dangerous work keeping all of us safe.

More than 400 fires are burning right now across the country from Vancouver Island to Nova Scotia. More than 3.6 million hectares have been torched so far this year, and it is only the first week of June. We have a long, hot fire season ahead of us.

Local and provincial first responders have been overwhelmed. It is clear that we need to re-evaluate the federal role in wildfire protection and response to develop a more proactive process, instead of the present reactive one, and we must do as much of this as possible as quickly as possible in the next few weeks, before summer truly arrives.

This process and support to affected parts of the country should be informed by the urgent debate of Parliament, so I therefore ask for an emergency debate tonight here in the House of Commons.

Speaker's Ruling

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Chris d'Entremont]

I thank the hon. member for South Okanagan—West Kootenay for his intervention. The Speaker is prepared to grant an emergency debate concerning the wildfire situation across Canada. This debate will be held later today at 10 p.m., pursuant to the order made on November 15, 2022.

Housing

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Chris d'Entremont]

I wish to inform the House that I have received three notices for requests for an emergency debate concerning the same subject. I invite the hon. members for Regina—Qu'Appelle, Calgary Forest Lawn and Parry Sound—Muskoka to rise and make brief interventions.

The hon. member for Calgary Forest Lawn.

[Jasraj Singh Hallan, Conservative, Calgary Forest Lawn, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I am rising today to also request an emergency debate for the very serious matter we see happening across Canada today, which is the housing crisis. It is one that the housing minister refuses to acknowledge as something we are going through today.

New IMF data was released. It shows that Canadian households face the greatest risk of mortgage defaults as households struggle to cope with increasing interest rates. These high interest rates were caused by high inflationary deficit spending by the government. It made the Governor of the Bank of Canada raise the rates, causing Canadians headaches and all sorts of hardships when it comes to the housing crisis.

The finance minister, in November, said she did not want to throw fuel onto the inflationary fire, but then, with the recent budget, threw 68 billion dollars' worth of fuel on that inflationary fire. That made the inflation problem worse and will possibly have the Bank of Canada raise its interest rates once again, which would cause even more hardships.

We know that nine out of 10 young people cannot imagine home ownership. Newcomers do not even dream of ever owning a home, as the cost of living is growing because of the inflationary deficit spending by the Liberal government.

I would also implore you, when considering this decision, to also consider that we are on the reading stage of the budget, so it only limits the scope. We want to expand it because of how serious the housing crisis is and how much worse it is going to get when people start defaulting on mortgages, according to RBC and this IMF report.

I am requesting an emergency debate on this very serious matter.