Debates of Nov. 6th, 2024

Medical Assistance in Dying

[Damien Kurek, Conservative, Battle River—Crowfoot, AB]

Mr. Speaker, it is once again an honour to present a petition signed by many Canadians. In particular, testimony was heard before a parliamentary committee with regard to expanding euthanasia, where a representative from the Collège des médecins du Québec recommended that MAID should be expanded to include babies from birth to one year of age who come into the world with severe deformities and very serious syndromes.

The petitioners are very concerned about the proposal for the legalized killing of infants. It is deeply disturbing to Canadians and goes against the values Canadians hold dear. The petitioners emphasize that infanticide is always wrong.

I am proud to present this petition in the House here today.

Canada Revenue Agency

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

Mr. Speaker, the first petition I am presenting is from constituents concerned about the penalties associated with paper filings of tax returns. The petitioners note that tax filing is a requirement for most Canadian citizens, regardless of their ability to use or access online platforms. The paper filing has been available for decades, and the recent decision that CRA will no longer print line-by-line instructions in the paper package and will impose financial penalties for paper filing of certain taxes, including business filing and HST returns, unequally disadvantages vulnerable Canadians.

The petitioners call on the Government of Canada to remove all penalties associated with paper filing and to make available print copies of the line-by-line instructions for tax filing for anyone who requests it.

Medical Assistance in Dying

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

Mr. Speaker, the final petition I will present today is similar to that presented by a colleague. It raises concerns about proposals for the radical further expansion of what is already the most extreme, most liberal euthanasia regime on the planet.

The petitioners are deeply concerned about a proposal to allow involuntary euthanasia for infants. They believe that killing children is always wrong, and they call on the House to reject these dangerous, violent, extreme proposals for further expansion of this regime.

Questions on the Order Paper

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

Mr. Speaker, the following questions will be answered today: Nos. 2986, 2988 and 2991.

Question No.2986—

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

With regard to the Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA) contribution room being included on the Notice of Assessment (NOA) until February 2011: (a) what was the CRA's justification for removing the TFSA contribution room from the NOA; (b) has the CRA examined other methods to communicate the TFSA contribution room to those without access to the internet or phone services, and, if so, what methods have been examined, and why have they been implemented or not; (c) has the CRA received any complaints regarding the removal of the TFSA contribution room from the NOA since 2011; and (d) if the answer to (c) is affirmative, how many complaints were received, broken down by (i) province, (ii) federal riding adjusted to 2024 boundaries, (iii) communication medium (email, phone call, letter, etc.)?

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

Mr. Speaker, with respect to the question noted above, what follows is the response from the Canada Revenue Agency, CRA.

With regard to part (a), the TFSA contribution room was removed from the T1 notice of assessment, NOA, after 2011. At the time of this decision, the CRA was focused on enhancing the information available on My Account for individuals, found at https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/e-services/digital-services-individuals/account-individuals.html. The CRA aimed to make it a quality service for Canadians to obtain up-to-date details about their TFSA transactions and available contribution room.

As financial institutions are only required to file TFSA records by the end of February of the following year, and since information is subject to change due to late-filed or amended records, the TFSA contribution room on the T1 NOA could be outdated when the notice was issued or become outdated by the time an individual was ready to make a TFSA contribution. The CRA opted to encourage TFSA holders to refer to My Account to obtain their contribution room, as it is continuously updated as new or amended records are processed.

In all cases, it continues to be important for individuals to track transactions completed since January of the current year, as this information will not be reflected on My Account until the following year once it is reported by financial institutions.

With regard to part (b), taxpayers who cannot access their TFSA contribution room information online can either call or write to the CRA to request a paper copy of their TFSA room statement or TFSA transaction summary.

With regard to parts (c) and (d), while the CRA’s service feedback system is a case management system that allows the CRA to track complaints submitted by Canadians for specific programs, it does not detail complaints that are specifically associated with the removal of the TFSA contribution room from the NOA. Therefore, it is not possible for the CRA to provide a breakdown by province, by federal riding boundaries or by communication medium to resolve complaints as information for the removal of TFSA contribution room from the NOA is not captured. For these reasons, the CRA is unable to provide a response in the manner requested.

Question No.2988—

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

With regard to the Prime Minister's announcement that Mark Carney would chair the Prime Minister's economic growth task force: (a) what measures, if any, are in place to ensure that Mr. Carney is not in a conflict of interest, including, but not limited to, any requirements to divest assets, put assets in a blind trust, or recuse himself from any advice that could impact the economic well-being of Brookfield Asset Management; (b) has the government received a list of assets, investments, and sources of revenue from Mr. Carney to ensure that he is not asked for advice on any issue which could have a financial implication for him; and (c) what measures, if any, are in place to ensure that Mr. Carney is not asked for advice for which his answer could cause a personal financial benefit?

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

Mr. Speaker, Mark Carney has not been appointed to a position in the federal public administration and consequently is not a public office holder, as defined by the Conflict of Interest Act.

Question No.2991—

[Lori Idlout, NDP, Nunavut, NU]

With regard to government contracts with healthcare agencies to serve rural and remote Indigenous communities at Indigenous Services Canada, broken down by fiscal year, since 2017-18: (a) what is the total number of contracts signed; (b) what are the details of all contracts signed, including the (i) agency contracted, (ii) value of the contract, (iii) number of healthcare practitioners provided, (iv) duration of the contract; and (c) what is the total amount of extra costs incurred as a result of relying on contracted services instead of employing healthcare practitioners directly?

[Jenica Atwin, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Indigenous Services]

Mr. Speaker, with regard to government contracts with health care agencies to serve rural and remote indigenous communities, Indigenous Services Canada, ISC, does not systematically track this information in a centralized repository.

ISC undertook an extensive preliminary search in order to determine the amount of information that would fall within the scope of the question and the amount of time that would be required to prepare a comprehensive response.

The information requested is not systematically tracked in a centralized database, and producing a comprehensive response to this question would require a manual collection of information that is not possible in the time allotted and could lead to the disclosure of incomplete and misleading information.

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 response to Questions Nos. 2987, 2989, 2990, 2992 and 2993 could be made orders for return, these returns would be tabled in an electronic format immediately.

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

Is that agreed?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

Question No.2987—

[Don Stewart, Conservative, Toronto—St. Paul's, ON]

With regard to temporary resident visas and permits, or other types of visitor entry authorizations: (a) how many visas expire, between September 2024 and December 2025, broken down by type of visa; (b) how many visitors are currently in Canada without a temporary resident visa, in total and broken down by type of permit or other authorization; and (c) of the visitors in (b), how many have permits or authorizations scheduled to expire between September 2024 and December 2025, broken down by month and type of permit or authorization?

(Return tabled)

Question No.2989—

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

With regard to statistics on child care spaces operating as part of the government’s Early Learning and Child Care (ELCC) Agreements: (a) how many child care spaces in the program are priced at or below the $10 per day level, broken down by province or territory; (b) how many child care spaces in the program exceed the $10 per day level, but receive a subsidy to lower the daily fee, broken down by province or territory; and (c) how many child care spaces does the government estimate there are in each province or territory that are operating without ELCC subsidized daily fee reductions?

(Return tabled)

Question No.2990—

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

With regard to the requirements outlined in the Early Learning and Child Care Agreements for provinces and territories to report certain statistics and results related to agreement participation to Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) by October 1 of each year: what are the details, including the statistics and results, of the information that was reported to ESDC for the time period covered by the filing with the October 1, 2023, deadline, broken down by province or territory?

(Return tabled)

Question No.2992—

[Lindsay Mathyssen, NDP, London—Fanshawe, ON]

With regard to government contracts with healthcare agencies to service the health and well-being of military members at the Department of National Defence and in the Canadian Armed Forces, broken down by fiscal year, since 2017-18: (a) what is the total number of contracts signed; (b) what are the details of all contracts signed, including the (i) agency contracted, (ii) value of the contract, (iii) number of healthcare practitioners provided, (iv) duration of the contract; and (c) what is the total amount of extra costs incurred as a result of relying on contracted services instead of employing healthcare practitioners directly?

(Return tabled)

Question No.2993—

[John Williamson, Conservative, New Brunswick Southwest, NB]

With regard to the Small Craft Harbours (SCH) program, broken down by year for each year from the 2019-20 fiscal year through the 2024-25 fiscal year: (a) what are the details of all project expenditures made by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) under the SCH program, including, for each, the (i) date, (ii) amount, (iii) location, (iv) project description or summary, (v) constituency, (vi) summary of what the amount was used for; (b) what is the amount of fixed annual funding allocated by the DFO to each harbour, broken down by location and constituency; (c) what specific criteria and metrics are used by the DFO to determine how much funding is allocated to each harbour; (d) what specific formula or grading system is used to determine how much funding each harbour is eligible for; (e) using the formula or grading system in (d), what grade or score did each harbour receive, broken down by location, and how much potential funding would be allocated to the harbour associated with such a grade or score; and (f) what are the details of all project applications received under the SCH program since January 1, 2019, which have not yet been funded, including, for each, the (i) date received, (ii) name of the harbour associated with the application, (iii) location, (iv) amount requested, (v) reason for which the funding has yet to be provided, (vi) funding expected to be provided in the future?

(Return tabled)

Questions Passed as Orders for Returns

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I would ask that all remaining questions be allowed to stand at this time.

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

Is that agreed?