Debates of Sept. 16th, 2024

Question No.2901—

[Kyle Seeback, Conservative, Dufferin—Caledon, ON]

With regard to individual expense receipts submitted by a board of director, chair, or Chief Executive Officer, at lnvest in Canada, since 2018: what are the details of all items expensed, including the (i) dollar value of each expense, (ii) product or service expensed, (iii) name of the venue for the product or service expensed, (iv) name of the city in which it was expensed, (v) reason for the expense, (vi) name and title of the individual it was expensed under, (vii) date?

[Maninder Sidhu, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Export Promotion]

Mr. Speaker, with regard to parts (i) to (vii), Invest in Canada undertook an extensive preliminary search 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. Invest in Canada concluded that producing and validating a comprehensive response to this question is not possible in the time allotted and could lead to the disclosure of incomplete and misleading information.

Invest in Canada is governed by a board of directors whose representatives are primarily from the private sector. The board of directors is responsible for supervising and managing the Invest in Canada hub’s business and affairs and for advising the minister and the chief executive officer on matters relating to the Invest in Canada hub’s mandate. Board members are appointed by the Governor in Council.

The total number of members who have served on the board since 2018 is 15. The board and its committees meet virtually and in person three to four times annually.

Invest in Canada is guided by the guidelines and regulations set by the Treasury Board Secretariat for the management and governance of departmental corporations. The organization’s travel policy and hospitality policy articulate the travel parameters for the chief executive officer and the board.

Current executive and board of director disclosures are publicly available online at https://open.canada.ca/en.

Question No.2903—

[Leah Gazan, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

With regard to the National Research Council (NRC) buildings located at 435 and 445 Ellice Avenue, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, that were declared surplus in 2012: (a) at what point in time was it determined that the property, including both (i) the laboratory building, (ii) the office tower, would be maintained under federal government ownership; (b) whereas the removal of the laboratory building from the market was justified on the grounds of urgent need for laboratory space on behalf of the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, what has been the primary use of the laboratory since COVID-19 cases have declined nationally; (c) is the NRC considering placing this property on the market for private purchase at any time in the future; (d) what commitments did the NRC make to the Manitoba Metis Federation (MMF) concerning its intent to sell the property, including either (i) the laboratory building, (ii) the office tower; (e) what was the cause of delays on the approval of the MMF’s draft offer to purchase the office tower for $3,660,000 submitted in February 2021; (f) why did the NRC seek bids other than that offered by the MMF for the office tower following March of 2022; and (g) did the NRC engage in any negotiations with other potential bidders while the property, including both (i) the laboratory building, (ii) the office tower was for sale, and, if so, what are their names?

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

Mr. Speaker, with regard to (a), in July 2020 the federal government confirmed that the two properties on the National Research Council Canada, or NRC, Ellice Avenue site would be retained for Canada’s use in support of the response to pandemic preparedness by the Public Health Agency of Canada, PHAC. In fall 2020 the NRC began exploring options to sever the property, retaining the laboratory building for PHAC while enabling the office tower to be available as a separate property. In April 2022, the NRC confirmed to an interested third party that the office tower would be retained by the federal government.

With regard to (b), the NRC uses the laboratory building to support its Medical Devices Research Centre. In addition, PHAC leases space in both the laboratory and the office building.

With regard to (c), the NRC has not identified this property for purchase at this time.

With regard to (d), there was no commitment made to the Manitoba Métis Federation, the MMF, regarding the sale of the laboratory building. In fall 2020 the NRC agreed to explore the possibility of severing the property so that the office tower could be sold as a separate property. In April 2022, the NRC confirmed in writing that the office tower was not available for a separate sale.

With regard to (e), the NRC did not accept the MMF’s draft offer to purchase the office tower in February 2021, as there had been no severance of the property, making the office tower not available to be sold.

With regard to (f), the NRC did not seek other bids for the purchase or sale of any buildings on the Ellice Avenue property following March of 2022.

With regard to (g), the NRC has not engaged in any negotiations with any other potential bidders for the property, since the Government of Canada declared the Ellice Avenue property as critical to retain for PHAC’s needs in support of pandemic response.

Questions Passed as Orders for Returns

[Chris Bittle, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Housing]

Mr. Speaker, if a revised response to Question No. 2626, originally tabled on June 27, and the government's responses to Questions Nos. 2700, 2702, 2706 to 2711, 2713 to 2715, 2717, 2719 to 2723, 2725, 2727 to 2738, 2740, 2741, 2743, 2745, 2746, 2748 to 2752, 2754, 2755, 2758, 2759, 2761, 2763, 2764, 2767 to 2769, 2772, 2775, 2781, 2784 to 2787, 2789, 2790, 2793, 2796 to 2798, 2801, 2802, 2804, 2806, 2807, 2809, 2810, 2813, 2816, 2818, 2822 to 2826, 2829, 2831, 2834, 2835, 2837, 2839 to 2842, 2844 to 2848, 2850, 2852, 2855 to 2858, 2860, 2863 to 2871, 2873 to 2875, 2877 to 2866, 2891 to 2894, 2896, 2900, 2902 and 2904, could be made orders for return, these returns would be tabled in an electronic format immediately.

[The Speaker, Greg Fergus]

Is that agreed?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

Question No.2626—

[Kelly Block, Conservative, Carlton Trail—Eagle Creek, SK]

With regard to the 2023 Canadian federal worker strike: (a) what was the total amount mistakenly paid out to striking employees; and (b) what is the amount that has not been collected back by the government?

(Return tabled)

Question No.2700—

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

With regard to the approval rate for French-speaking international students: how many study permit applications, other than extension applications, did Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada process in (i) 2023, (ii) 2024 to date, in total and broken down by country of residence?

(Return tabled)

Question No.2702—

[Lori Idlout, NDP, Nunavut, NU]

With regard to federal housing investments in the territories, since February 1, 2006, broken down by city and year: how much federal funding was provided to support the construction of (i) non-profit or community housing, (ii) cooperative housing, (iii) purpose-built rental housing, and how many units were developed?

(Return tabled)

Question No.2706—

[Bonita Zarrillo, NDP, Port Moody—Coquitlam, BC]

With regard to the electoral district of Port Moody—Coquitlam, broken down by fiscal year since 2021-22: what are the details of all federal transit infrastructure investments, including direct transfers to municipalities, regional district associations or First Nations, national parks, etc.?

(Return tabled)

Question No.2707—

[Bonita Zarrillo, NDP, Port Moody—Coquitlam, BC]

With regard to all federal funding committed to the creation and maintenance of housing stock in the federal electoral district of Port Moody—Coquitlam, broken down by fiscal year since 2021-22: (a) what is the total amount committed, broken down by funding stream; (b) what was the total amount spent; (c) how much new housing stock was created; and (d) of the housing stock in (c), how much is (i) purpose-built rental housing, (ii) non-profit or community housing, (iii) cooperative housing, (iv) affordable housing for seniors?

(Return tabled)

Question No.2708—

[Bonita Zarrillo, NDP, Port Moody—Coquitlam, BC]

With regard to consultations undertaken by the government on the Canada Disability Benefit, held between November 15, 2023, and January 4, 2024: (a) what are the details of all such consultations, including the (i) date of the consultation, (ii) organizations that were consulted, (iii) recommendations that were made; (b) what are the details of all opportunities for public consultation, including (i) online engagement, (ii) in-person consultation; and (c) what are the details of all reports, discussion documents, or documents including recommendations for the Canada Disability Benefit, including the (i) title of the document, (ii) identifying number, (iii) date of the document, (iv) recommendations within the document?

(Return tabled)

Question No.2709—

[Bonita Zarrillo, NDP, Port Moody—Coquitlam, BC]

With regard to all federal grants and loans given to Starlight Investments, since January 1, 2006: (a) how much federal funding has been provided, broken down by (i) province and territory, (ii) fiscal year, (iii) funding type; and (b) how many housing units have been built as a result of the funding, broken down by (i) purpose-built rental housing, (ii) cooperative housing, (iii) non-profit or community housing?

(Return tabled)

Question No.2710—

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

With regard to the Security Infrastructure Program (SIP) and the Expanded Security Infrastructure Program (ESIP), broken down by program, fiscal year and province or territory, since 2015-16: (a) how many applications were (i) received, (ii) funded, (iii) denied funding; (b) which projects were denied funding broken down by the reason they were denied; and (c) for each of the 600 approved projects under SIP, and the 173 approved projects under ESIP, (i) under what stream was the project approved (regular SIP, ESIP or the Severe Hate-Motivated, Incident stream), (ii) what was the total cost approved for the project, (iii) what was the total amount of federal funding delivered, (iv) what protection measures were funded by the project, (v) which eligible recipient classes did the project qualify under, (vi) if the recipient was a place of worship, what was the listed spiritual or religious belief that the organization identified in the application, (vii) what were the demographic groups identified as primarily benefiting from the project?

(Return tabled)

Question No.2711—

[Gerald Soroka, Conservative, Yellowhead, AB]

With regard to government procurement from entities currently banned from receiving investment in the United States by executive order due to posing security threats: (a) has any department, agency, Crown corporation or other government entity, purchased any materials, goods, software or services from the following entities, (i) China Head Aerospace Technology Co., (ii) China Telecommunications Corporation, (iii) Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Co. Ltd., (iv) Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd., (v) ZTE Co. Ltd., since 2016; (b) if the answer for any of the entities listed in (a) is affirmative, what are the details of all such purchases on contract, including, for each, the (i) name of the department, agency, Crown corporation or other government entity that made the purchase, (ii) date, (iii) vendor, (iv) value or amount, (v) description of the goods or services, including the quantity of each, if applicable, (vi) manner in which the contract was awarded (sole-sourced, competitive bid), (vii) start and end dates, if applicable; and (c) what measures or policies are in place to ensure that purchases from these entities do not compromise Canada's national security and align with international commitments and sanctions?

(Return tabled)