Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate and thank the member for Vancouver East for her contribution to this debate. We can see from her passion that she will make incredible contributions to this House. On this side of the House, members can see that we have no substantive disagreement with the motion before the House.

Income Tax Act  Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my friend opposite from Durham for his comments in respect to the legislation before the House. While I take his comments to heart, I do not necessarily agree with his characterization that this side of the House is one of “tax-and-spend”, to use his nomenclature.

Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply  Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise and congratulate my friend from Ajax on his return to the House. In my particular case, when I refer to him as my friend, indeed he really is a friend of mine that I have known for two decades. I would never have imagined at the time that I would have the opportunity to serve with my friend in this particular place.

Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, I first want to congratulate my friend from Mount Royal for his maiden address in the House of Commons. He has some big shoes to fill as well, given his predecessor who occupied the seat before him. My questions deal with the issues that the member raised in his address.

Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, it is my understanding, then, that these particular organizations are the only ones that are being dealt with under the current appropriation. Are there plans by the ministry to deal with other agencies that are also working on this particular file somewhere down the line?

Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply  Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to join the debate with respect to the Speech from the Throne, but before I do that, as this is the first time I am rising in debate, I want to first pay tribute to the residents of Scarborough—Agincourt for returning me to this place, despite the fact that I had some health challenges earlier this year.

Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply  Mr. Speaker, first of all, I want to congratulate the new member for Ottawa West—Nepean. I want to welcome her to the House and let her know that she is filling some very big shoes, given who the previous member was for Ottawa West—Nepean. I want to pay tribute to the hon. John Baird for his tremendous service in this House.

Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply  Mr. Speaker, let me first congratulate you on the assumption of your role in the chair. I look forward to working with you, along with all hon. members, in your new role. Let me also congratulate the member for LaSalle—Émard—Verdun on your election and for your maiden speech in the House.

Questions Passed as Orders for Returns  With regards to the government’s telecom services, including cell phones, land lines, voice-over-internet, and other, for each fiscal year from 2011-2012 to the present: (a) how much has the government paid for telecom services, broken down by (i) the names of the telecom providers, (ii) the amount paid to each provider, (iii) the number of land lines provided by each provider, (iv) the number of cell phone lines provided by each provider, (v) the number of voice-over-internet lines provided by each provider; (b) how much has the government paid in late fees and to which providers; (c) has the government conducted any internal surveys of telecom services, and, if so, what were the results, broken down by (i) the tracking number and name of the survey, (ii) the questions asked, (iii) the answers provided, (iv) the tracking number and title of any briefing notes created from the survey; (d) how many calls has the telecom help desk received; (e) for each answer provided in (d), (i) what were the most common issues, (ii) where were the calls made, broken down by department; (f) how much has the government collected in fees for 1-900 or 1-800 numbers, broken down by (i) the number, (ii) the amount per number; (g) how much has the government paid for downloading applications on phones, broken down by (i) application, (ii) individual cost; (h) how much has the government paid for texting services, broken down by (i) the name of the service, (ii) the cost; (i) has the government completed any studies on the use of cell or voice-over-internet technology for government employees; and (j) if the answer to (i) is in the affirmative, (i) what are the names and tracking numbers of these studies, (ii) what were the conclusions of these studies, (iii) what are the briefing notes and tracking numbers associated with these studies?

Questions Passed as Orders for Returns  With regard to the government's Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA): (a) how much money does the government project to collect over the next ten years for the fee associated with this program, broken down by (i) annual amount, (ii) country of origin; (b) what programs or rules are in place which would allow the fee to be waved; (c) how much does the government project this program will cost for each of the next ten years, broken down by individual expense; (d) whom did the government consult before putting this program in place; (e) which countries' travellers will be required to get ETA before flying; (f) will individuals entering Canada by means other than by airplane be required to get an ETA, and, if so, how will the government enforce this requirement; (g) what fines or other measures are in place in cases where companies do not ensure that passengers have complied with the rules for ETA; (h) does the new ETA requirement conflict with any other travel agreements Canada currently has; (i) what is the expected impact on the Canadian tourism industry; (j) what factors were taken into account when deciding on the seven dollar fee, broken down by (i) cost, (ii) the results for any business case for these studies; (k) how long does an ETA remain valid; (l) how many full-time employees will review the ETAs, broken down by (i) the number of full-time employees assigned to the ETA file, (ii) the number transferred from different divisions, (iii) the divisions from which employees were transferred, (iv) the location where the full-time employee will be working; (m) what will be the anticipated processing time of an ETA; (n) will there be an additional cost for rush processing times; (o) what contracts have been awarded in relation to this project, broken down by (i) the name of the company, (ii) the amount of the contract, (iii) the dates of the contract, (iv) the description of the work being provided, (v) whether the contract was tendered, (vi) the country where the company will complete the work; (p) will dual Canadian citizens be required to get an ETA to travel to Canada; and (q) will permanent residents of Canada be required to get an ETA when returning to Canada?

The Budget  Mr. Speaker, I want to also thank the hon. member for Prince Edward—Hastings for his contribution to the debate on budget 2015. My question relates to his party's support, or lack of support, for the opposition day motion that was introduced by our party this week with respect to government spending on advertising.

Tourism  Mr. Speaker, the government has spent nearly three-quarters of a billion dollars on partisan ads, yet last week's budget included no new money to help promote Canada as a tourism destination in the U.S. Instead, after years of cuts and neglect, the budget included only a vague commitment to consult with important stakeholders.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I wanted to follow on the comments from my friend from Winnipeg North. Is this not ultimately a function of transparency? Is it a function of the fact that the government is afraid of a motion that proposes transparency in government advertising? I want to specifically focus on the excellent piece of legislation, the private member's bill from the member for Ottawa South, Bill C-544, and particularly the proposal to bring in an advertising commissioner, a newly appointed position, under the rubric of the Auditor General.

Questions Passed as Orders for Returns  With regard to the government’s Email Transformation Initiative: (a) how many and which departments have migrated to the one email platform, including the date of the migration; (b) what is the date for the expected migration of the remaining departments, agencies or boards; (c) what was the original date planned for the migration of each government body; (d) how much does the government expect to forgo in savings because of any delays; (e) what are the projected savings arising from the move to one email platform, broken down by (i) department, (ii) total government savings; (f) for departments that have already migrated to the one email platform, (i) what are the recorded Treasury Board transfers for the department to Shared Services Canada, (ii) what are the recorded Treasury Board savings for each department, (iii) what is the amount of reduction to the departments’ estimates for 2015-2016; (g) what penalties were charged to Bell Canada and CGI Information Systems for not being able to meet their targets; (h) what is the cost of the contract to both Bell Canada and CGI Information Systems, including (i) how much has currently been paid, (ii) how much is expected to be paid at the completion of the project, (iii) the maximum amount that is allowed under the contract, (iv) the original maximum amount allowed at the signing of the contract; (i) how much has been budgeted for the migration to one email platform; (j) how much was budgeted at the start of the program; (k) what will be the ongoing operational cost to operate the one email platform; (l) what is the static operational cost of operating all email platforms before the migration; (m) for departments that have migrated to the one email platform, what are the issues logged by the IT help desk, including (i) the type of issue, (ii) the length of time on the IT help line, (iii) the cost of any outside contractors hired to address excess volumes; and (n) what are all the contracts associated with the migration and the implantation to the one email platform, including (i) the name of the company, (ii) the amount of the contract, (iii) the amount that has already been paid under the contract, (iv) if the contract is tendered, (v) the length of the contract?

Questions Passed as Orders for Returns  With regard to PPP Canada: since its creation, (a) what are the date and the details of the agenda of each Board of Directors' meeting; (b) for each meeting, which members of the board attended; (c) which board members declared conflicts of interest during any meeting, specifying the issue on the agenda with respect to which the conflict was declared; (d) what projects have been announced by PPP Canada; (e) which of the projects in (d) had board approval; (f) how much funding was announced for each project; (g) when was the project announced; (h) how much has been paid for the project and to whom; (i) for each project in (d), was a cost-benefit analysis and an analysis of the advantage of using P3 done for the project and, if so, what were the projected savings; (j) where are PPP Canada's unspent funds currently held, including (i) amounts, (ii) terms, (iii) the details of the contracts of all investments; (k) what travel has the board of directors done, including the location and the cost, broken down by (i) travel, (ii) hotel, (iii) per diem, (iv) any other expenses; (l) what were the costs for any announcements made by PPP Canada, including (i) cost of staff travel, (ii) cost of room rentals, (iii) cost of staging equipment or contract, (iv) cost for any writing services paid for by PPP Canada (such as for speeches, press releases, media advisories, backgrounders, and websites), (v) cost of press release distribution, (vi) date of the event, (vii) cost of any food, (viii) any additional costs; and (m) how much has PPP Canada spent on hospitality, including, for each event (i) amount spent, (ii) nature of the event, (iii) date, (iv) authorizing authority, (v) location, (vi) vendor?