Debates of Sept. 16th, 2024

Question No.2713—

[Michael Barrett, Conservative, Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON]

With regard to government support for Eastern Canada ferry services and the Wood Islands-Caribou route: (a) what is the total cost to date for the design and construction of the new ferry; (b) what are the details of all contracts over $1,000 entered into by the government related to the new ferry since November 4, 2015, including, for each, the (i) date, (ii) vendor, (iii) amount, (iv) description of the goods or services provided; (c) what is the launch date for the new vessel; (d) how far behind schedule is the design and production of the new vessel; (e) since November 4, 2015, what has been the total cost for maintenance and repair of the MV Holiday Island and MV Confederation vessels; (f) of the vessels in (e), how many hours of downtime did each vessel have during the season; (g) how many crossings were lost due to vessel downtime; (h) what is the total loss of revenue due to vessel downtime; and (i) what is the total cost to secure interim ferries for the route, including the (i) purchase, (ii) lease, (iii) rental, (iv) maintenance, (v) repairs, (vi) retrofit?

(Return tabled)

Question No.2714—

[Eric Duncan, Conservative, Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON]

With regard to federal Crown land which has been sold or donated for the purpose of building housing since January 1, 2016: (a) what are the details of all such transactions, including, for each, the (i) date, (ii) size of the land involved, (iii) sale price, if applicable, (iv) entity the land was sold or transferred to, (v) location, (vi) number of houses or units expected to be built on the land, (vii) number of houses or units built on the land to date, if known; and (b) what was the total square area of land transferred in (a), broken down by year?

(Return tabled)

Question No.2715—

[Rob Moore, Conservative, Fundy Royal, NB]

With regard to Temporary Resident Permits (TRP), broken down by year for each of the last five years: (a) how many TRPs have been issued in total and broken down by those who applied (i) abroad prior to arriving in Canada, (ii) at a point of entry, (iii) while already in Canada; (b) for each part of (a), how many and what percentage of the applications required a police certificate or a criminal records check; (c) of the applications in (b), how many (i) did not include a police certificate or criminal records check, (ii) included documents which showed crimes that were severe enough to deny the TRP application; (d) how many individuals were given a TRP despite not submitting a police certificate or passing a criminal records check; and (e) what is the breakdown of (a) through (d) by country of origin?

(Return tabled)

Question No.2717—

[Bob Zimmer, Conservative, Prince George—Peace River—Northern Rockies, BC]

With regard to the Department of National Defence and NORAD modernization: (a) how much of the $38.6 billion announced for the modernization has been spent to date, in total, and broken down by project; (b) of the 20 project timelines announced in June 2022, which ones are (i) on track for the completion of the definition phase or to be finished within the stated time, (ii) delayed; and (c) for each project which is delayed, (i) what is the new projected completion date, (ii) what is the reason for the delay?

(Return tabled)

Question No.2719—

[Bob Zimmer, Conservative, Prince George—Peace River—Northern Rockies, BC]

With regard to the Canadian High Arctic Research Station (CHARS): (a) how many employees or full-time equivalents were employed at CHARS during the last 12 months; (b) how many foreign nationals have worked or researched at CHARS, broken down by year and country of origin for each of the last eight years; (c) which countries are currently allowed to send individuals to work at CHARS; and (d) what are the pre-screening security requirements for individuals to work at CHARS?

(Return tabled)

Question No.2720—

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

With regard to the action taken by the government to recognize Machias Seal Island as a part of Canada: (a) what specific actions, if any, have been taken to recognize the island as a part of Canada, broken down by each department and agency; and (b) on what date did each action in (a) take place?

(Return tabled)

Question No.2721—

[Greg McLean, Conservative, Calgary Centre, AB]

With regard to costs incurred by the government related to court cases and hearings associated with the deportation order or former deportation order of Muhammad Zain UI Haq: what are the costs incurred to date, including any legal costs as well as costs related to administering the hearings or court cases, in total and broken down by type of cost and action related to the expense (federal appeal, lower court, etc.)?

(Return tabled)

Question No.2722—

[Blaine Calkins, Conservative, Red Deer—Lacombe, AB]

With regard to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) housing refugees in hotels, motels, dorms, or similar types of facilities in Alberta: (a) how many have been housed, broken down by year for the last two fiscal years; (b) what is the total number of refugees housed, per month, broken down by year for the last two fiscal years; (c) which hotels are being used; (d) how many hotel rooms were (i) paid for by IRCC, (ii) occupied; (e) what is the capacity of each hotel that is being occupied by refugees; (f) how many refugees are staying in each hotel; (g) what is the average length of time IRCC expects (i) an individual refugee, (ii) a refugee family, to be housed in a hotel room; (h) what is the average length of time that a refugee has been housed, funded by the government, in a hotel; (i) what is the average cost of such housing per night for each refugee; (j) what was the total cost IRCC paid hoteliers to house refugees on May 1, 2024; (k) what is the average hotel cost per refugee for daily meals and refreshments; (I) what was the total cost paid to hoteliers to feed refugees; (m) what are the countries of origin for the refugees housed; (n) what is the breakdown of refugees accommodated in Alberta by each country of origin; (o) how much federal funding was transferred to each municipality with federally-funded refugee reception centres (Edmonton, Calgary, Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, Red Deer); (p) how much federal funding has been transferred to Alberta for the purpose of dealing with the influx of refugees in the province; (q) how much federal funding was transferred to local not-for-profit, charitable, and non­governmental organizations in Alberta to deal with the influx of refugees in the cities of (i) Calgary, (ii) Edmonton, (iii) Red Deer, (iv) Medicine Hat, (v) Lethbridge, since 2022; (r) what are the names of the organizations in (q) and how much did each organization receive; (s) how many more refugees does IRCC currently project will require hotel accommodation in Alberta; (t) how many refugees have moved out of government-funded hotel rooms in Alberta and into personal accommodations; and (u) what is the summary of the terms and conditions of the financial agreement that IRCC has with hotels located in Alberta that house refugees and receive federal funding to provide this service, broken down by hotel, including the name of each hotel?

(Return tabled)

Question No.2723—

[Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

With regard to the policy on pathways to permanent residency for Hong Kong residents (hereinafter the policy), which falls under humanitarian and compassionate considerations: (a) how many applicants under the policy were approved in 2023, broken down by month; (b) how many applicants under the policy have been approved since the beginning of 2024, broken down by month; (c) what is the policy’s specific admission target; and (d) what is the policy’s maximum admission target limit for humanitarian and compassionate considerations?

(Return tabled)

Question No.2725—

[Leah Gazan, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

With regard to loans disbursed through the Canada Student Financial Assistance Program, from 2015 to present, broken down by debtors’ racial or ethnic background, gender, and immigration or citizenship status: (a) what is the average total outstanding loan balance; (b) what is the average outstanding loan balance of debtors who completed a graduate degree; (c) what is the average outstanding loan balance owed among debtors who completed a bachelor’s degree; (d) what is the average outstanding loan balance owed by debtors who completed a college or polytechnic diploma; (e) what percentage of student debtors have missed at least one payment of their scheduled repayment plan; (f) what percentage of student debtors have missed at least (i) three months, (ii) six months, of scheduled payments; (g) what percentage of student loans have fallen into a default position; and (h) what is the average time taken by student debtors to repay their loan in full?

(Return tabled)

Question No.2727—

[Brad Vis, Conservative, Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, BC]

With regard to the Aboriginal Entrepreneurship Program: (a) what is the number of businesses which have applied, as of May 23, 2024, broken down by province or territory, to the (i) Access to Business Opportunities stream, (ii) Access to Capital stream; (b) what is the total number of businesses which have received funding or assistance, broken down by province or territory, through the (i) Access to Business Opportunities stream, (ii) Access to Capital stream; (c) what is the total funding, in dollars, distributed to the (i) Access to Business Opportunities stream, (ii) Access to Capital stream, for the fiscal years 2020-21, 2021-22 and 2022-23; (d) what is the average funding amount provided to each approved applicant, broken down by province or territory, through the (i) Access to Business Opportunities stream, (ii) Access to Capital stream; (e) how does the government quantify the program's level of success; and (f) does the government have any evidence or statistics which demonstrate that the (i) Access to Business Opportunities increased Indigenous business opportunities, (ii) Access to Capital allowed Indigenous businesses to expand, and, if so, what are they?

(Return tabled)

Question No.2728—

[Shelby Kramp-Neuman, Conservative, Hastings—Lennox and Addington, ON]

With regard to the Firearms Act, the Firearms Buyback Program (hereinafter the program) and the firearms ban announced by the government on May 1, 2020: (a) what is the projected cost of the program and the firearms ban combined; (b) what is the projected launch date for the program; (c) what method will be used to confiscate firearms not voluntarily turned in once the amnesty period accompanying the firearms ban expires; (d) which agencies, departments and personnel will be called on to execute the program; (e) how many firearms were stolen from departments, agencies and personnel, broken down by year, since January 1, 2016; (f) of the firearms in (e), how many have been recovered; (g) are there short-term plans to require federal law enforcement personnel to (i) follow the same storage and transportation laws as licensed firearm owners or be charged with an offence under the Firearms Act for negligent storage and handling of a firearm if they do not, (ii) obtain a restricted possession and acquisition license prior to being issued a firearm; (h) how does the government expect the program and the ban to affect the number of annual violent firearm incidents; (i) when confiscating firearms from licensed owners, what solution will be offered when the value of the confiscated firearms substantially exceeds the proposed compensation amount that is outlined in the program; (j) is the program alone enough to substantially reduce the annual rate of violent firearm crimes that are committed; (k) what proof does the government have that the firearms banned by Order-in-Council SOR2020-96 are statistically more likely to be used in incidents of violent crime; and (I) why was the aforementioned firearms ban not done through an Act of Parliament instead of an Order-In-Council?

(Return tabled)

Question No.2729—

[Shelby Kramp-Neuman, Conservative, Hastings—Lennox and Addington, ON]

With regard to the Veteran Homelessness Program: (a) how much funding was allocated to the program in federal budgets, in total and broken down by which federal budget the funding was allocated in; (b) how much funding (i) has been allocated to date, (ii) will be allocated to each of the two funding streams; (c) how much has the government spent to date on the program, in total and broken down by the type of expenditure; and (d) how much is the government projected to spend on the program in each of the next five years?