Debates of Jan. 29th, 2024

Question No.2184—

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Minister of Innovation]

Mr. Speaker, with respect to part (a) of the question, the government did not use any consultants or external advisors to assist with negotiations or the drafting of the contribution agreements with the Stellantis-LG Energy Solutions joint venture, NextStar.

With respect to part (b) of the question, no bonuses or performance awards were provided to any individuals exclusively for their work on the contribution agreements with NextStar. All executives at Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, including those who would have worked on the NextStar project, are evaluated annually for performance pay in accordance with the Treasury Board’s “Directive on Terms and Conditions of Employment for Executives”. The amount of performance pay, including at-risk and bonus pay, depends on the extent to which results were achieved, further to the Treasury Board’s “Directive on Performance and Talent Management for Executives”, as well as how the key leadership competencies and values and ethics were demonstrated.

Question No.2192—

[Matthew Green, NDP, Hamilton Centre, ON]

With regard to audits done by the Canada Revenue Agency, since 2015 and broken down by year, number of audits and size of audit: how many audits were either paused or cancelled following contact from an individual representing a company worth over $1 million annually?

[Marie-Claude Bibeau, Liberal, Minister of National Revenue]

Mr. Speaker, with respect to the above-noted question, what follows is the response from the Canada Revenue Agency, CRA, for the time period of January 1, 2015, to December 13, 2023, the date of the question.

The CRA takes its responsibility seriously when administering the Income Tax Act and the Excise Tax Act and does so by acting with integrity, in accordance with legislation, policy and audit guidelines.

Canadian taxpayers and registrants have the right to have an authorized representative interact with the CRA on their behalf. Communicating with the CRA does not influence the CRA’s processes. Regardless of the size or value of a company, the outcome of an audit is based on the application of legislation to the facts of each case.

The CRA does not systematically track taxpayer or representative contact and as a result is unable to provide the requested information.

Question No.2193—

[Matthew Green, NDP, Hamilton Centre, ON]

With regard to any polling data obtained by the Privy Council Office concerning artificial intelligence, since January 1, 2023: (a) what are the details of all polling conducted, including (i) who conducted the poll, (ii) the start and end dates of when the poll was conducted, (iii) the number of participants, (iv) the questions asked, (v) the results of the poll, (v) the value of the contract related to the poll?

[Terry Duguid, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister and Special Advisor for Water]

Mr. Speaker, since January 1, 2023, the Privy Council Office has not obtained any polling data concerning artificial intelligence.

Question No.2194—

[Laurel Collins, NDP, Victoria, BC]

With regard to any polling data obtained by the Privy Council Office concerning grocery affordability, since January 1, 2023: (a) what are the details of all polling conducted, including (i) who conducted the poll, (ii) the start and end dates of when the poll was conducted, (iii) the number of participants, (iv) the questions asked, (v) the results of the poll, (vi) the value of the contract related to the poll?

[Terry Duguid, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister and Special Advisor for Water]

Mr. Speaker, the information requested is publicly available via Library and Archives Canada and can be found at the following link: https://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/200/301/pwgsc-tpsgc/por-ef/privy_council/index.html.

Question No.2201—

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

With regard to the opening of a First Home Savings Account (FHSA): (a) how many licensed FHSA issuers have been approved by the government to date; (b) how many FHSAs have been opened to date; (c) are individuals who own residential property or properties that are not their principle residence considered a first-time home buyer for the purpose of opening an FHSA; and (d) do the individuals in (c) qualify to open an FHSA, and, if so, how many have opened an FHSA?

[Marie-Claude Bibeau, Liberal, Minister of National Revenue]

Mr. Speaker, with respect to the above-noted question, what follows is the response from the Canada Revenue Agency, CRA, as of December 13, 2023, the date of the question.

With regard to part (a), the first home savings account, FHSA, legislation does not require the CRA to license or approve financial institutions that wish to become FHSA issuers. They must meet the eligibility requirements found in the definition of qualifying arrangement under subsection 146.6(1) of the Income Tax Act. Part of those requirements involves submitting a specimen plan containing required documentation that conforms to the requirement of the act for review and approval by the CRA. To date, 29 unique FHSA issuers submitted one or more specimen plans that have been approved by the CRA.

With regard to part (b), the CRA will be unable to provide information about the number of FHSAs that have been opened to date until all FHSA annual information returns have been processed. Financial institutions will only start filing these returns after December 31, 2023. The returns are due by the end of February 2024.

With regard to part (c), for the purposes of opening an FHSA, a first-time homebuyer is an individual who did not, at any time in the current calendar year before the account is opened or at any time in the preceding four calendar years, live in a qualifying home or what would be a qualifying home if located in Canada as their principal place of residence that either they owned or jointly owned, or that their spouse or common-law partner at the time the account is opened owned or jointly owned.

An individual who owns residential property or properties that are not their principal residence at any time in the current calendar year before the account is opened or at any time in the preceding four calendar years would be considered a first-time homebuyer for the purposes of opening an FHSA.

With regard to part (d), to open an FHSA, an individual must meet all of the eligibility criteria as outlined on the CRA website entitled “Opening your FHSAs”: https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/individuals/topics/first-home-savings-account/opening-your-fhsas.html#h-1. An individual needs to meet all of the above conditions to open an FHSA. If individuals do not meet all of the conditions above, they are not a qualifying individual and cannot open an FHSA.

In the context of the administration of the FHSA program specifically, information about individuals who own residential property or properties that are not their principal residence will not be collected by the CRA.

Questions Passed as Orders for Returns

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, furthermore, if a revised response to Question No. 1888, originally tabled on December 11 and 12, 2023, and the government's responses to Questions Nos. 1943, 1944, 1946 to 1949, 1951, 1952, 1956, 1961 to 1970, 1973, 1975, 1977 to 1982, 1985 to 1987, 1990, 1991, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2012 to 2015, 2019, 2022 to 2026, 2029, 2030, 2032 to 2035, 2039, 2042 to 2045, 2047 to 2053, 2055, 2056, 2061, 2063 to 2065, 2068 to 2072, 2074 to 2078, 2081 to 2089, 2093, 2095, 2096, 2099 to 2104, 2107 to 2111, 2113, 2114, 2116, 2117, 2120, 2121, 2123 to 2128, 2131, 2132, 2134, 2135, 2137, 2138, 2140, 2147, 2148, 2151, 2152, 2155 to 2157, 2159 to 2161, 2164 to 2166, 2169, 2171, 2173, 2175 to 2177, 2180 to 2182, 2185 to 2191 and 2195 to 2200 could be made orders for returns, these returns would be tabled in an electronic format immediately.

[The Deputy Speaker, Chris d'Entremont]

Is that agreed?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

Question No.1888—

[Rachel Blaney, NDP, North Island—Powell River, BC]

With regard to sexual misconduct complaints within the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) for calendar years 2022 and 2023: (a) what is the current total number of complaints received by the (i) chain of command, (ii) Military Police, (iii) Military Police Complaints Commission; (b) of the complaints received in (a), what specific administrative actions were taken, including the (i) initial counselling, (ii) recorded warning, (iii) counselling and probation, (iv) release from the CAF; (c) how many complaints are before a military tribunal; (d) broken down by province or territory, what is the total number of cases that have been transferred to (i) the RCMP, (ii) provincial police forces, (iii) municipal police forces; (e) what is the total number of cases that have been declined or sent back to the military; and (f) of the cases in (d) and (e), what is the average number of days for the relevant jurisdiction to accept or reject the case?

(Return tabled)

Question No.1961—

[Chris Warkentin, Conservative, Grande Prairie—Mackenzie, AB]

With regard to the replacement of the structure at Rideau Hall known as "the Barn": (a) what were the total expenditures related to the completion of the Barn; (b) what is the breakdown of (a) by the amount spent on (i) labour, (ii) materials, (iii) design, (iv) consultants, (v) other expenses, broken down by type; (c) what are the details of all contracts signed in relation to the project, including, for each, the (i) date, (ii) vendor, (iii) amount, (iv) detailed description of what goods or services the vendor provided, including to which part of the construction or design they contributed, (v) manner in which the contract was awarded (sole-sourced, competitive bid); (d) what is the square footage of the new Barn, in total and broken down by each floor and section of the Barn; (e) what are the intended, as well as potential, uses of the Barn; (f) what are the Barn's amenities; (g) how much do each of the Barn's features and amenity cost, broken down by feature or amentiy; (h) for each expenditure related to the Barn, who approved each expenditure; (i) what was the Barn's budget or projected cost when the design was approved in 2019; and (j) how much over budget was the Barn's final cost and what is the explanation for the overage?

(Return tabled)

Question No.1962—

[Tom Kmiec, Conservative, Calgary Shepard, AB]

With regard to the processing times for applications submitted to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, as of October 30, 2023: (a) what are the processing times for the temporary programs, broken down by month in 2023 for (i) study permits, (ii) work permits, (iii) temporary residents; and (b) what are the processing times for permanent residency programs, broken down by month in 2023 for (i) privately sponsored refugees, (ii) federal government assisted refugees, (iii) the live-in caregiver program, (iv) the caring for children program, (v) spouses and partners, (vi) children and other family class applicants, (vii) parents and grandparents?

(Return tabled)

Question No.1963—

[Tom Kmiec, Conservative, Calgary Shepard, AB]

With regard to the First-Time Home Buyer Incentive (FTHBI) announced by the government in 2019, from September 1, 2019, to date: (a) how many applicants have applied for mortgages through the FTHBI program, broken down by province and municipality; (b) of those applicants, how many have been approved and accepted mortgages through the FTHBI program, broken down by province and municipality; (c) of those applicants in (b), how many approved applicants have been issued the incentive in the form of a shared equity mortgage; (d) what is the total value of incentives (shared equity mortgages) under the program that have been issued, in dollars; (e) for those applicants who have been issued mortgages through the FTHBI, what is the value of each of the mortgage loans; (f) for those applicants who have been issued mortgages through the FTHBI, what is the mean value of the mortgage loan; and (g) what is the total aggregate amount of money lent to home buyers through the FTHBI to date?

(Return tabled)

Question No.1964—

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

With regard to meetings between the government and Trane Technologies or Brookfield Renewable Partners: (a) has the Prime Minister, any cabinet minister, or any ministerial staff had meetings with Trane Technologies or Brookfield Renewable Partners executives or employees, since November 4, 2015, and, if so, how many times; and (b) what are the details of all such meetings including, for each, the (i) date, (ii) names and titles of the attendees, (iii) purpose of the meeting, (iv) location, (v) type of meeting (in person, hybrid, virtual), (vi) agenda items, (vii) costs associated with the meeting, if known?

(Return tabled)

Question No.1965—

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

With regard to the government’s decision to deploy Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) equipment and personnel to the Indo-Pacific from March to October 2023: (a) how many CAF personnel were deployed; (b) what other CAF assets were deployed; (c) what is the estimated cost of the deployment; and (d) what is the percentage of time since October 21, 2019, that His Majesty’s Canadian Ships spend patrolling Canadian waters compared to international waters, broken down by ship?

(Return tabled)

Question No.1966—

[Scot Davidson, Conservative, York—Simcoe, ON]

With regard to contracts provided by the government to Trane Technologies or Brookfield Renewable Partners since January 1, 2021, broken down by department, agency, Crown corporation, or other government entity: (a) what is the total amount spent on contracts; and (b) what are the details of all such contracts, including (i) the amount, (ii) the vendor, (iii) the date and duration, (iv) the description of goods or services provided, (v) the specific goals or objectives related to the contract, (vi) whether or not the goals or objectives were met, (vii) whether the contract was sole-sourced or awarded through a competitive bidding process?