Debates of Sept. 18th, 2023

Question No.1673—

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

With regard to the government’s response to the Hong Kong Pathway lifeboat scheme and intimidation of the Hong Kong Canadian community: (a) will the government consider improving the policies of the Hong Kong Pathway Stream B to (i) expand and extend its scope, (ii) waive the requirement for a police certificate; (b) what is the timeline for the government to make changes related to (a); (c) what measures will the government take to prevent intimidation by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and ensure public safety in the Hong Kong Canadian community; and (d) what steps will the government take to investigate and prevent CCP infiltration and intimidation in Canada and when will each of these measures be implemented?

(Return tabled)

Question No.1674—

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

With regard to the special measures program for Afghanistan announced by the government: (a) what is the number of visible minorities that have been evacuated thus far, in total; (b) how many of the evacuees in (a) were (i) Afghan Hindus, (ii) Sikhs, (iii) Christians; (c) are there currently Afghan allied interpreters still in Afghanistan awaiting evacuation, and, if so, how many; and (d) what is the government doing to accelerate evacuation efforts for Afghan nationals whose safety remains at risk while waiting in limbo across third party countries such as India and Pakistan?

(Return tabled)

Question No.1675—

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

With regard to the Special Economic Measures Regulations and pursuing the forfeiture of assets of sanctioned Russians: (a) what is the total number of individuals sanctioned to date; (b) among the sanctioned individuals, how many (i) have known assets in Canada, (ii) do not have any known assets in Canada; (c) of those with known assets in Canada, how many have had their assets seized; (d) what is the total number of entities that have been sanctioned to date; (e) among the sanctioned entities, how many (i) have known assets in Canada, (ii) do not have any known assets in Canada; (f) of those with known assets in Canada, how many have had their assets seized; and (g) what is the current value of assets seized to date from (i) individuals, (ii) entities?

(Return tabled)

Question No.1676—

[Alex Ruff, Conservative, Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound, ON]

With regard to the inconsistencies in the reporting of data by certain departments and agencies in the government's response to Order Paper question Q-1385 on security clearance denials: (a) has the government provided direction to all departments to (i) collect and record data on security clearances, (ii) standardize responses, and, if so, what are the details; and (b) why were certain departments and agencies permitted to provide the response (i) "In processing Parliamentary Returns, the Government applies the Privacy Act and the principles set out in the Access to Information Act, and certain information has been withheld on the grounds that the information constitutes personal information," (ii) "In processing Parliamentary Returns, the government applies the principles set out in the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act. Information has been withheld on the grounds that its disclosure could reasonably be expected to be injurious to the conduct of international affairs, the defence of Canada or any state allied or associated with Canada, or the detection, prevention or suppression of subversive or hostile activities," while other departments provided the exact information and numbers requested?

(Return tabled)

Question No.1678—

[Alex Ruff, Conservative, Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound, ON]

With regard to the Special Immigration Measures for Afghan Nationals who assisted the Government of Canada: (a) broken down by unique email address, how many applications were received via email or webform for this program, to date; (b) how many application names did not appear on Department of National Defence (DND) or Global Affairs Canada (GAC) referral lists; (c) were the applicants in (b) notified that their application was not referred to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada; (d) if the answer to (c) is affirmative, what recourse options are available to the applicant to demonstrate their eligibility; and (e) what guidance or internal policy has DND and GAC used to determine eligibility of Afghan Nationals that applied for this program?

(Return tabled)

Question No.1679—

[Brian Masse, NDP, Windsor West, ON]

With regard to government funding in the constituencies of Windsor West, Essex and Windsor—Tecumseh: what is the total amount spent since the fiscal year 2020-21 up to and including the current fiscal year, broken down by department or agency, initiative, and amount?

(Return tabled)

Question No.1681—

[Laurel Collins, NDP, Victoria, BC]

With regard to the Accelerated Investment Incentive, broken down by fiscal year since 2018: (a) how many corporations in the oil and gas sector have (i) qualified for the incentive, (ii) received an incentive; (b) how much foregone revenue to the federal government due to the incentive was related to the oil and gas sector; (c) how much foregone revenue to the federal government under the incentive was from eligible Canadian development expenses or Canadian oil and gas property expenses; and (d) what was the average tax deduction received?

(Return tabled)

Question No.1682—

[Alex Ruff, Conservative, Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound, ON]

With regard to the findings from the 2023 Auditor General Report 2 titled “Connectivity in Rural and Remote Areas” that “59.5% of households had access to Internet coverage at the target speeds” in rural and remote areas: (a) after the completion of the Universal Broadband Fund, what percentage of rural and remote communities will still need connectivity to meet the 50/10 goal; (b) by 2026, what is the estimated percentage of rural and remote households that will be connected to the 50/10 goal based on funded and projected projects; (c) what improvements are planned for the Internet Service Availability map to ensure that it is up to date and accurate; (d) when will each of the improvements in (c) be implemented; (e) does the National Broadband Internet Service Availability Map share a data source with the Ontario New Interactive High-Speed Internet Map; and (f) what is the breakdown of the submissions received by (i) consumers, (ii) providers on the feedback section of the government’s web page titled “High-speed Internet for all Canadians”, broken down by geographic area the submission was from and by the nature of the feedback?

(Return tabled)

Question No.1683—

[Brian Masse, NDP, Windsor West, ON]

With regard to funding allocated to all Great Lakes programs and organizations: what was the total amount of funding allocated since the 2012 fiscal year up to and including the current fiscal year, broken down by year, organization, amount and purpose of intended funding?

(Return tabled)

Question No.1684—

[Mel Arnold, Conservative, North Okanagan—Shuswap, BC]

With regard to the budget 2021 allocation of $647.1 million over five years, plus $98.9 million in amortization as part of the Pacific Salmon Strategic Initiative (PSSI): (a) how many hatchery operations have been funded under the PSSI pillar of enhanced hatchery production; (b) what are the names and locations of the hatcheries funded by PSSI for each year since 2021; (c) how many individual commercial salmon licenses have been retired each year since 2021 under the PSSI pillar of "harvest transformation''; (d) how much was paid for each license retirement; and (e) how many more individual commercial salmon licenses does the PSSI deem necessary to retire?

(Return tabled)

Question No.1685—

[Mel Arnold, Conservative, North Okanagan—Shuswap, BC]

With regard to the budget 2021 allocation of $647.1 million over five years, plus $98.9 million in amortization as part of the Pacific Salmon Strategic Initiative (PSSI): (a) how many employees have been hired to work in the PSSI, for each year since 2021; (b) how many employees have transferred from other government departments or entities to work in the PSSI, for each year since 2021; (c) what is the total amount of salaries and benefits for PSSI employees, for each year since 2021; (d) how many more employees does the Department of Fisheries and Oceans plan to hire to work in the PSSI; (e) what is the breakdown of the locations of PSSI employees by region; (f) how many contractors have been hired to support PSSI activities, for each year since 2021; and (g) what are the details of each contract supporting PSSI activities, including the (i) vendor, (ii) date, (iii) value, (iv) description of goods or services?

(Return tabled)

Question No.1687—

[Mel Arnold, Conservative, North Okanagan—Shuswap, BC]

With regard to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans' management of fisheries from 2016 to 2022: (a) what was the total number of fisheries managed by the department each year; (b) in how many fisheries did the department reduce licenses each year, and, for each reduction, what was the total number of licenses reduced per fishery and per year; (c) in how many fisheries did the department reduce total allowable catch each year and for each reduction, what were the total reductions of total allowable catch per fishery per year; (d) in how many fisheries did the department reduce quotas each year and for each reduction, what were the total reductions of quota per fishery per year; and (e) how much compensation was disbursed for reductions of (i) licenses, (ii) total allowable catch, (iii) quotas?

(Return tabled)

Question No.1688—

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

With regard to the cost of fighting wildfires since 2012: (a) broken down by year from 2012 to 2022, what was the total federal expenditure each year for (i) international assistance provided to provinces and territories, (ii) assistance from the Canadian Armed Forces provided to provinces and territories, (iii) assistance from other federal departments and agencies provided to provinces and territories, broken down by department and agency, (iv) fighting wildfires inside national parks, (v) fighting wildfires on Indian reserves, (vi) fighting wildfires on other federal lands; and (b) what is the total federal expenditure in each category in (a) between January 1, 2023 and June 30, 2023?