Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, we have seen the government interfere in the process with the combat ships by allowing unqualified BAE to bid on the project. The RFP has now undergone 52 amendments, and counting. Why have there been so many amendments so close to the original RFP closing date?

Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, how many of these amendments are coming from DND and how many specifically from procurement?

Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, the U.K. Royal Navy has refused to consider the BAE T26 design, the same design for which the government is delaying the process to allow it to bid, costing taxpayers money and potential jobs. Was it DND's decision to delay the project to allow the T26 to be added, or was it the procurement department?

Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, it is the joint responsibility of the Minister of National Defence and the Minister of Public Services and Procurement for this project. Can he please tell us if it was defence that delayed the project to allow the T26 design to be added, or did this come from procurement?

Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, regarding the CSC, our procurement minister has said that only designs from ships already in service or mature existing designs will be accepted, because it means there will be less risk and vessels can be built faster. Why has the government then delayed the project to allow BAE to add to its bid for a ship that only exists on paper?

Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, I would like to ask the minister who is violating the procurement minister's rules on only accepting bids for existing ships or mature ships on design to delay the process to allow BAE to submit a bid for a project that only exists on paper.

Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, I wish we could get an answer on that. I will skip over to the next one. The lobbying commissioner's website shows that BAE has lobbied the defence minister's office on at least four occasions. We did an access to information request, and the minister of defence's office has stated that it has never met with BAE or anyone connected with BAE regarding the CSC.

Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, Irving Shipbuilding president Kevin McCoy has warned of significant layoffs at the Halifax Shipyard if the gap is too large between when construction ends on the six Arctic patrol ships and when work begins on the combat supply vessels in early 2022. The government is currently still delaying these projects, despite massive costs to the defence budget and a significant possibility that hundreds of workers will lose their jobs because of the government's decision.

Questions on the Order Paper  With regard to funding for the implementation and administration of various measures to crack down on tax evasion, combat tax avoidance and enhance tax collections in Budget 2016 for the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) and referenced in Supplementary Estimates (B) 2016-2017: (a) how many full time equivalents (FTEs) were created from this additional funding; (b) what percentage of all FTEs within CRA are dedicated to tax evasion and what was the percentage before the additional funding for tax evasion; (c) of these FTEs, how many employees are targeted toward offshore tax cheats; (d) of the new hires at CRA responsible for going after tax evasion, what is the breakdown by area of focus; and (e) how many new FTEs have been dedicated to address the back-log of low-complexity, medium complexity and high complexity assessment objections?

Questions on the Order Paper  With regard to the government’s claim that the February 7, 2017 Bombardier bail-out will result in 1300 new jobs: (a) what were the calculations used to come to that conclusion; (b) what evidence was given to come to that conclusion; (c) what branch within Bombardier will these jobs be in; (d) how many of these jobs are full-time; and (e) how many of these jobs are part-time?

Questions on the Order Paper  With regard to the Phoenix Pay System and Public Services and Procurement Canada since June, 2016: (a) how much has been spent on researching other payment delivery systems; (b) how many meetings have been held on other payment delivery systems; and (c) for the meetings in (b), what are (i) the names and titles of the staff members that have been present at those meetings, (ii) the dates of the meetings?

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, I want to thank my colleague from Edmonton—Wetaskiwin for bringing forward this motion. I have had the honour and pleasure of knowing the member and his son Jaden for many years, since before he joined the House, and Debi as well. I am very impressed and grateful for the work the member has done on this issue.

Public Service Labour Relations Act  Madam Speaker, I do enjoy the time I spend with my colleague from Regina—Lewvan on the committee on operations and estimates. I will be honest. I cannot answer to something that happened in the past when I was not here. The bill before us today is specifically about whether we should allow secret ballots for certification.

Public Service Labour Relations Act  Madam Speaker, I think it is probably due to the fact that my hon. colleague is no longer an RCMP member. The fact that he has now left is probably why the rankings have dropped so much.

Public Service Labour Relations Act  There is a lot of work to be done with the RCMP, Madam Speaker. There are thousands of wonderful members. There is obviously work to be done, and we look forward to members on both sides of the House working with the RCMP and moving forward to improve the force.