Celina Caesar-Chavannes

[Canadian Youth Ambassador Program, September 29th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, this is the perfect time to be young. Yesterday, the member for London—Fanshawe, the member for Simcoe North, and I attended the launch of the EF Canadian youth ambassador program, which will send 30 Canadian youth to represent Canada at the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge.

I invite all members to participate in this program and to nominate students from their riding.

I am also proud to stand here as one of many in our caucus who are setting up local youth councils in our ridings to hear the priorities of our young people.

I therefore encourage the students in Whitby to submit their applications to my office before tomorrow's deadline.

[Business of Supply, September 29th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her very informative speech. The first part of the motion speaks about the doubling of Canada's exports over the past decade and our being the second largest exporter of arms to the Middle East. Our colleague described how the industry is a vital and important part of Canadian GDP and of our capacity to help with human rights across the world. I am wondering if my hon. colleague could further elaborate on this point.

[Business of Supply, September 29th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague made a powerful and informative statement this morning as to what the government was currently doing. She mentioned the burden that an additional committee would create. Could she expand a bit more on that topic?

[Questions on the Order Paper, September 19th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, the response from the Privy Council Office is as follows. During the transitional phase of the new Senate appointments process, the independent advisory board for Senate appointments reviewed all 284 candidacies received. A merit-based review was completed to assess the suitability of each of the recommended candidates, in accordance with the terms of reference, and members identified a list of priority candidates they deemed best met the criteria. Members used the nominations, reference letters, resumés or biographies, and personal statements as the basis for their assessment.

Each provincial advisory board of federal and ad hoc members from that province then met to discuss their short lists and to deliberate on the recommendations to the Prime Minister. In discussing their individual assessments, members noted an interesting level of consistency in assessments and in highly rated candidates. No interviews were conducted as part of the transitional process, therefore no costs were incurred.

The advisory board established a list of five qualified candidates for each of five vacancies, for a total of 25 recommended candidates, and provided their advice to the Prime Minister, in accordance with the terms of reference. Recommended candidates were not prioritized; the proposed candidates were listed in alphabetical order. The advice included a short synopsis detailing the merits of each recommended candidate, as well as more detailed information from their candidacy submission.

Information regarding the specific details of the advisory board’s recommendations constitutes advice to the Prime Minister and therefore has been protected under the guiding principles of the Access to Information Act which the government applies, along with the Privacy Act, when processing parliamentary returns.

[Questions on the Order Paper, September 19th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, with regard to part (a) of the question, the Privy Council Office has no information on the number of guests invited to events during the visit who are not employees of the Canadian government. Invitations to events would have been issued by the host government and/or organization.

With regard to part (b) of the question, the cost of attendance for non-government employees at the events organized by the Government of the United States and/or any third party was covered by the host government and/or organization.

[Questions on the Order Paper, September 19th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister’s Office did not issue any contracts from November 4, 2015 to present.

[Questions on the Order Paper, September 19th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, the response from the Privy Council Office is as follows.

The government verified that each individual being appointed to the Senate met their constitutional residency requirement prior to their appointment. The government requested copies of valid photo identification indicating the individual’s address, as well as copies of bills, statements, or other documentation in the individual’s name, indicating their place of residence. In the case of appointment recommendations for the province of Quebec, the government used the information provided to verify whether the individual resided in one of the vacant senatorial divisions.

[Business of Supply, June 13th, 2016]

Madam Speaker, I have a 17-year-old daughter, like many people in Whitby, which is a bedroom community with a lot of families.

I would like to ask the hon. Minister of Justice what impact decriminalization would have on our young people in school. Alternatively, what is the impact of taking the cautious steps that she has outlined and waiting until it is legalized?

[Questions on the Order Paper, June 10th, 2016]

:Mr. Speaker, with regard to parts (a) through (e) of the question, the Privy Council Office has no information to provide regarding the log books for the personal use of ministerial executive vehicles for the period of November 4, 2015 to April 22, 2016. When processing parliamentary returns, the government applies the Privacy Act and the principles set out in the Access to Information Act, therefore certain information has been withheld on the grounds that it constitutes personal information.

[Business of Supply, June 9th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for his statement. Again, I believe he could find consensus on all sides of the House that we believe that the atrocities against vulnerable populations by ISIS/ISIL are deplorable.

However, I asked this earlier today. I saw that the former government, when it had the opportunity to do so, put forth motions related to ISIS. Where they talked about the threat of ISIS to vulnerable populations and its barbaric acts, they did not include the word genocide. I would ask the member why they did not do that when they had the opportunity.