Charlie Angus

[Petitions, May 31st, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, I rise to table petitions by people from Sault Ste. Marie. They want their voice heard in the House of Commons about the abandonment of passenger rail service.

The provincial Liberals shut down the Northlander. We have seen the refusal of the federal government to support the Algoma passenger train service.

The petitioners have pointed out to me, for example, on the shutdown of the Northlander, that at Thanksgiving time Madeleine Meilleur shouted out to northerners, “Buy a car.” That attitude is certainly dismissive of northerners. They call on the government to work to build proper public transit in northern and rural regions.

[Questions Passed as Orders for Return, May 29th, 2017]

With regard to Indigenous Affairs and First Nations Inuit Health Branch: (a) with respect to First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada and Assembly of First Nations v. Attorney General of Canada (representing the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada), Canadian Human Rights Tribunal File No. T134017008, what are the total legal costs incurred by the government in this matter since January 25, 2016; (b) with respect to Budget 2017, (i) how much of the 50 million dollars announced for the ASETS program is new funding, how much of it is reallocations, and where are the reallocations coming from, (ii) how much of the money to reduce employment barriers for First Nations youth is from unspent funding in this program area, (iii) how much of the money·allocated to Indigenous tourism is new money or just a reallocation from the broader spending on attracting international tourists, (iv) what percentage of the back-log of post-secondary students will be addressed by the additional funding in PSSP · and how many students will still remain on the backlog, (v) what are the details of the 4 billion dollar investment for infrastructure, broken down by year for the last ten years, and by program type, (vi) what is the number of homes that will be built with the 300 million dollars for Northern housing housing broken down by year, as well as by new homes, lots, and renovations, (vii) what are the details of the funding for each individual area, broken down by year, by chronic and infectious diseases, by maternal and child health, by primary care, by mental wellness, by home and palliative care, by non-insured health benefits, and by drug strategy; (c) if the department cannot provide the information requested in (b)(v), (i) is it because there is currently no identified plan for these investments and where they will flow, (ii) then how was this investment figure calculated; and (d) with respect to the FNIB program, what is the rriost current rate of denials for each level of appeals, broken down by type?

[Questions Passed as Orders for Return, May 29th, 2017]

With regard to the Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement (IRSSA) and the Independent Assessment Process (IAP): (a) following Justice Perrell’s ruling in January 2014 requiring the government to disclose additional documentation that includes police investigations, transcripts of criminal proceedings, and transcripts of civil proceedings (i) what is the number and full list of Narratives that were modified, (ii) what is the number and full list of person of interest reports that were modified, (iii) what is the number of IAP claims, broken down by school, that had been adjudicated under the previous unmodified narratives and person of interest reports, (iv) what is the number of cases, broken down by school, that were re-adjudicated since the narratives and person of interest reports were modified, (v) what steps were taken by federal officials, for each IRS where the narrative and POI reports changed, to determine if individual IAP claims had been denied that might otherwise be supported on this new evidence, (vi) what is the number of survivors or his/her claimant counsel who were contacted or notified of the modifications to the narratives or person of interest reports; (b) regarding civil actions related to Indian Residential Schools predating the IRSSA (i) what is the number of civil cases the government is aware of, (ii) what is the number of civil cases the government was involved in, (iii) what is the number of civil cases the government has court transcripts or documentation of, (iv) what is the number of civil cases that were settled, (v) what is the number of civil cases the government has placed any kind of privilege over the documents (civil pleadings and transcripts of examinations for discovery) related to the case, (vi) what is the number of civil cases the government has not provided the documentation (civil pleadings and transcripts of examinations for discovery) to the IAP or to the NTCR (vii) what is the full list of reasons the government has failed to provide this documentation, (viii) were there any terms under which any plaintiff in those civil actions were not allowed to provide his/her civil pleading and/or the transcript of his/her examination for discovery to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, (ix) if the settlement agreement was signed before the IRSSA, what steps have been taken by federal officials to permit each plaintiff to file his/her civil pleadings and transcripts of examinations for discovery with the NCTR, (x) if no steps have been taken, what steps are currently being taken, (xi) if steps are not being taken, is direction from the court being sought by the Attorney General, (xii) which federal officials have possession of the transcripts of examinations for discovery, (xiii) what is going to be done with those transcripts when the IRSSA is completed if directions have not been sought from the Court, (xiv) will the Government fund the plaintiff lawyers to communicate with each plaintiff or his/her Estate on this question of the transcripts being filed with the NCTR, (xv) are the Churches in any way constraining the Attorney General of Canada from ensuring that the stories of IRS survivors who were plaintiffs in civil actions, are allowed to be filed with the NCTR; (c) regarding conversation, consultations, or discussions between defendants in the IRSSA such as the government and any church (i) have any conversations, consultations, or discussions occurred over any individual cases in the IAP, (ii) if they occur how common are they, (iii) if they occur what are the matters that are discussed, (iv) if they occur, does this happen when allegations are raised about any current or previous members of either defendant during the IAP hearings; (d) regarding documentation of the IAP (i) what is the number of IAP decisions that have been redacted, (ii) what is the number of IAP transcripts that have been created, (iii) what is the number of IAP transcripts that have been redacted to remove the names of alleged perpetrators; and (e) regarding the IRSSA database (i) what is the number of school narratives in this database, (ii) what is the number of school narratives in this database that have been redacted to remove personal information?

[Questions Passed as Orders for Return, May 29th, 2017]

With regard to the FEDNOR, for each fiscal year from 2009-10 to 2017-18: (a) what is the organization’s total approved budget; (b) with respect to the budget in (a), how much was actually spent; (c) with respect to the budget in (a), how much lapsed funding was eligible to be carried over to future years; (d) how much was allocated to the Northern Ontario Development Program; (e) how much was actually spent on the Northern Ontario Development Program; (f) how much was allocated to the Community Futures Program; (g) how much was actually spent on the Community Futures Program; and (h) what were the Full Time Equivalent staffing levels of the organization?

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, May 1st, 2017]

With regard to the procurement of temporary personnel services, broken down by department, agency and crown corporation, by region and by year for every year from 2011-2012 to 2016-2017: (a) what are the total expenditures for such services, broken down by fiscal year; (b) what amount is spent by each department or government institution, broken down by fiscal year; (c) which companies received contracts to provide temporary personnel services; (d) what is the combined annual total of all contracts awarded to each company in (c); (e) which companies received sole sourced contracts, broken down by dates and amounts; (f) why were their contracts not competitively sourced; (g) how many people were hired by temporary employment agencies to work for federal department and government institutions across Canada, broken down by fiscal year; (h) how many employees were hired, broken down by fiscal year and by department and government institution; (i) what is the average length of time an employee remains on contract; (j) how many workers, in number and percentage of overall hires, begin on contract and are eventually offered full time positions within the federal civil service; (k) what is the business case for using temporary workers instead of permanent members of the civil service; (l) what savings does the government make in salary, pension and benefits by using temporary workers rather than permanent workers, as a total amount and on an average per worker basis; and (m) what is the average hourly amount a temporary agency receives based on the hourly wage a temporary worker is paid for their labour?

[Indigenous Affairs, April 12th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, it is a simple question for the Prime Minister. Will he ask his justice minister why they are so determined to deny justice to the survivors of that brutal institution? It is a simple question.

[Indigenous Affairs, April 12th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, a political decision was made in the office of the justice minister to suppress 12,000 pages of police evidence documenting the rape, the torture, and the abuse of children at St. Anne's Indian Residential School in Fort Albany. Justice officials trashed the legal proceedings and the credibility of survivors and fought to have legitimate cases thrown out.

Will the Prime Minister of this country instruct his justice minister to end the cover-up and turn over the memos so we can find out who in her office is responsible, and will he ask her why? Why are they—

[Questions Passed as Orders for Return, April 3rd, 2017]

With regard to the answer to Order Paper question Q-616 on the budgets of Indigenous and Northern Affairs and for Health Canada’s First Nations and Inuit Health Branch (FNIHB): (a) how do the departments follow Treasury Board Secretariat policies of internal control, as well as provisions in the Financial Administration Act, if they do not track base spending and sunsetting funds; (b) how do the departments project future funding if they are not tracking what funds are sunsetting and what funds are in base spending; (c) how do the departments determine necessary additional budget investments without tracking what funding sunsets; (d) how does the Department of Indigenous and Northern Affairs provide information about base spending on the sections of its website entitled (i) National First Nations Consolidated Infrastructure Investment Report 2014-15, (ii) National First Nations Infrastructure Investment Plan 2015-2016, if it claims to not track base spending; (e) how did the Department of Indigenous and Northern Affairs calculate, in its answer to Order Paper question Q-616, the spending above the two per cent cap both for the 22% figure and the 16% figure; (f) what are the details of the calculation in (e); (g) what is the formula with which the calculation in (e) was made; (h) what is the amount of money that is the two per cent base spending for 2016-2017 that the Department used to calculate its answer to Order Paper question Q-616; (i) what is the amount of money from budget 2016-2017, broken down by program, that the Department of Indigenous and Northern Affairs used in its answer to Order Paper question Q-616 to calculate the amount above the two per cent cap the government would be spending; (j) did the Department of Indigenous and Northern Affairs use the same formula to provide the amount the Department spent above the two per cent cap for each year since 1994; (k) for each year since the two per cent cap was put in place, what amount of money in both dollars and percentage was above the level of funding that would have been provided under the two per cent funding cap as calculated with the formula used in the answer to section (d) of Order Paper question Q-616; (l) did the Office for the Coordination of Parliamentary Returns (OCPR) at the Privy Council Office (PCO) assign Order Paper question Q-616 regarding analysis conducted by the Department of Indigenous and Northern Affairs to the Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs; (m) what is the title of the individual who put together the response; (n) on what date was the response finalized; (o) did OCPR assign any part of the analysis of Order Paper question Q-616 to the Department of Finance; and (p) did anyone from either the Office of the Prime Minister, the Office of the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, or the Minister’s office provide any advice or instruction regarding the response to Order Paper question Q-616 and, if so, what are the details of these communications, including (i) the titles of the individuals who provided the advice or instruction, (ii) the specific advice or instructions that were given?

[Questions Passed as Orders for Return, March 20th, 2017]

With regard to the budgets of Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada and Health Canada’s First Nations and Inuit Health Branch, broken down by each program and sub-program for the 2016-2017 fiscal year: (a) what amount of money has been reallocated to each program and sub-program area; (b) what amount of money has been reallocated from each program and sub-program area; (c) what are the reasons for each reallocation in (a) and (b); (d) what is the impact, actual or anticipated, of each reallocation in (a) and (b); (e) what are the identified shortfalls within each program and sub-program; (f) what amount was allocated for child welfare, broken down by where it was allocated from (i.e. Main Estimates, Budget 2016, etc.); (g) what amount of money was allocated and spent on Jordan’s Principle as of January 26, 2016; (h) what is the government’s definition of Jordan’s Principle; (i) are there any group cases for Jordan’s Principle that exist in Saskatchewan and Manitoba and, if so, which ones; (j) what process has the government used to assess that the need for implementing Jordan’s Principle is 127 million dollars per year; (k) what is the amount allocated to the First Nations Mental Wellness Continuum; (l) what amount of money has been identified as needed for the full implementation of the First Nations Mental Wellness Continuum; and (m) how many mental wellness teams have been identified as needed to reach every First Nations community in Canada?

[Questions on the Order Paper, March 20th, 2017]

With respect to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's 94 calls to action: (a) what is the itemized list of each of the 45 calls to action which the government believes fall under federal jurisdiction; (b) what is the itemized list of all actions the government has taken to implement each call to action under federal jurisdiction; (c) what is the itemized list of explanations for delays by the government in implementing each call to action under federal jurisdiction; (d) what is the itemized list of projected timelines for the government to fully implement each call to action; and (e) what concerns does the government have with respect to the full implementation of the calls to action within federal jurisdiction, broken down by call to action?