Mr. Speaker, the following questions will be answered today: Questions Nos. 1697, 1700, 1701 and 1708.

With regard to the emergency COVID-19 funding to front-line organizations supporting those experiencing gender-based violence provided through Women and Gender Equality Canada: (a) how many women’s shelters were funded through the program; (b) how many women’s shelters will lose funding when the funding stream expires in September; (c) on average, how much did each shelter receive each year under the program; and (d) will the government extend the funding stream to ensure the continuation of critical and often life-saving services for those experiencing gender-based violence? With regard to the government forgiving student loans owed since November 4, 2015: (a) how many student loans have been forgiven through (i) the Severe Permanent Disability Benefit, (ii) the Canada Student Loan Forgiveness for Family Doctors and Nurses, (iii) forgiveness in cases of death; and (b) what new criteria has the government established to qualify individuals for student loan forgiveness outside of those listed in (a)? With regard to appointments and meetings attended by the Minister of Veterans Affairs and Deputy Minister of Veterans Affairs, since January 1, 2021: (a) what is the total number of meetings held on the subject matter of (i) women veterans, (ii) Indigenous veterans, (iii) 2SLGBTQ+ veterans, (iv) the table of disabilities, (v) entitlement eligibility guidelines, (vi) research priorities, and (vii) award funding; and (b) what are the details of all meetings listed in (a), including the (i) date, (ii) names and titles of the government representatives in the meeting, (iii) names of the organizations or groups in attendance, (iv) location of the meeting, (v) length of the meeting? With regard to the government’s safer supply program: (a) what were the projections showing a reduction of overdoses that were used to justify implementing the program; (b) off of what methodology were the projections in (a) based; (c) what is the government’s explanation for why the number of overdoses increased following the implementation of the program; and (d) when did the government first become aware that its projections showing that overdoses would decrease were flawed and inaccurate?

Mr. Speaker, if the government's responses to Questions Nos. 1694 to 1696, 1698, 1699, 1702 to 1707 and 1709 could be made orders for return, these returns would be tabled in electronic format immediately. The Deputy Speaker: Is that agreed? Some hon. members: Agreed.

I wish to inform the House that, because of the ministerial statements, Government Orders will be extended by 28 minutes.

Mr. Speaker, I ask that all remaining questions be allowed to stand. The Deputy Speaker: Is that agreed? Some hon. members: Agreed.

With regard to the Minister for Fisheries, Oceans, and the Canadian Coast Guard’s decision to extend consultations on the open-net pen aquaculture transition: (a) what is the new timeline to introduce a plan for workers and coastal communities who will be affected by open-net pen finfish aquaculture closures; (b) what are the details of consultations leading up to the extension decision, and all consultations scheduled for the summer of 2023, including the (i) date of the consultation, (ii) organizations or the individuals being consulted; (c) what resources has the department allocated for the purposes of this consultation, including the (i) number of staff, (ii) budget, (iii) administrative resources; and (d) what is the number of full-time staff and budget allocated for the purposes of implementing a timely real-jobs plan for all those impacted? With regard to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) and the Small and Medium Business Enterprises Directorate, broken down by year, from November 2015 to date: (a) how many audits were completed; (b) what is the number of auditors; (c) how many new files were opened; (d) how many files were closed; (e) of the files in (d), what was the average time taken to process the file before it was closed; (f) of the files in (d), what was the risk level of non-compliance of each file; (g) how much was spent on contractors and subcontractors; (h) of the contractors and subcontractors in (g), what is the initial and final value of each contract; (i) among the contractors and subcontractors in (g), what is the description of each service contract; (j) how many reassessments were issued; (k) what is the total net revenue collected; (l) how many taxpayer files were referred to the CRA’s Criminal Investigations Program; (m) of the investigations in (l), how many were referred to the Public Prosecution Service of Canada; and (n) of the investigations in (m), how many resulted in convictions? With regard to the Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA), broken down by province or territory: (a) what is the total number of businesses that received the CEBA loan; (b) what is the total loan amount provided to small businesses; (c) what is the total number of CEBA loans that have (i) been paid back in full, (ii) been paid back in part, (iii) not been paid back at all; (d) what is the total amount of CEBA loans that have been forgiven based on (i) repayment based on terms of the loan, (ii) reasons outside of the terms of the loan; and (e) what is the total number of small businesses that the government expects to miss the deadline for repayment? With regard to immigration, asylum, and refugee measures and programs established since September 2001: (a) what is the number of Afghan nationals that have been admitted to Canada, in total, and broken down by year, month, and program or measure; (b) what is the total number of Afghan nationals that have been granted permission to travel to or enter Canada by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC); (c) what is the total number of applications from Afghan nationals that have been accepted by IRCC; (d) what is the total number of Afghan nationals contained within the applications in (c); (e) with respect to the applications in (c), what is the number that received a negative decision from IRCC, broken down by year, month, and program or measure; (f) with respect to the applications in (e), what (i) is the number of Afghan nationals contained within the applications, broken down by year, month, and program or measure, (ii) were the reasons provided for the negative decisions, (iii) is the number of applications that received each reason, broken down by year, month, and program or measure; (g) what is the number of Afghan nationals that have been granted permission to travel to or enter Canada by IRCC, broken down by year, month, and program or measure; (h) what is the number of applications from Afghan nationals that have been accepted by IRCC, broken down by year, month, and program or measure; (i) what is the date of the establishment of each program or measure; (j) what is the date of each program or measure’s closing to applications; and (k) what is the date of each program or measure’s termination? With regard to the investments in budget 2023 concerning the implementation of the Canadian Dental Care Plan: (a) what is the projected number of individuals who would qualify for this plan because they have an annual family income of less than (i) $90,000, (ii) $70,000; (b) what is the projected number of individuals listed in (a) who are (i) seniors over the age of 65, (ii) children under the age of 12, (iii) people living with a disability; (c) what is the estimated number of individuals, broken down by province or territory; and (d) what is the total number of individuals eligible for the Canadian Dental Care Plan, broken down by federal electoral district? With regard to the Veteran and Family Well-Being Fund, broken down by fiscal year and by province or territory: (a) what are the details of all organizations that have received funding, including (i) the name of organization, (ii) the amount received, (iii) the type of organization, (iv) the number of veterans and equity-seeking Veterans on the board of the organization, (v) the number of veterans and equity-seeking Veterans as staff in the organization, including CEO and owners, (vi) the number of veterans and equity-seeking veterans as volunteers in their programs, (vii) the number of veterans and equity-seeking veterans who used the programs and/or services, (viii) whether the organization reported on how the funding was applied and lessons learned; (b) for organizations listed in (a), which organizations qualified for funding because their application provided curated and specialized programs or services to equity-seeking groups, including (i) women, (ii) 2SLGBTQ+, (iii) homeless, (iv) Indigenous veterans, and (v) racialized veterans; (c) what metrics and analytical tools, including Gender-based Analysis Plus, does the government use to assess applications, and does the government apply considerations based on the (i) impact on single veterans, (ii) impact on veterans and their families, (iii) innovation to address unmet needs, as defined by research and veterans themselves, (iv) financial risk and ability to administer and deliver services, and (v) ability to provide a safe and welcoming space for marginalized veterans and equity seeking groups; (d) what staff level, working groups, panels, or review bodies assess applications for funding, and are veterans represented in these decision making bodies; (e) what is the total number of applications that were received; and (f) of the applications in (c), reflected as a number and a percentage, what is the total number of applications that were denied funding? With regard to the staffing of Canadian Armed Forces clinics: (a) broken down by each base and location, what is the number of (i) military psychiatrists, (ii) civilian psychiatrists employed directly by the Department of National Defence (DND), (iii) psychiatrists from Calian Group Ltd, (iv) military psychologists, (v) civilian psychologists employed directly by the DND, (vi) psychologists from Calian Group Ltd, (vii) military medical doctors, (viii) civilian medical doctors employed directly by the DND, (ix) medical doctors from Calian Group Ltd, (x) military medical social workers, (xi) civilian medical social workers employed directly by the DND, (xii) medical social workers from Calian Group Ltd, (xiii) military registered nurses specializing in mental health, (xiv) civilian registered nurses specializing in mental health employed directly by the DND, (xv) registered nurses specializing in mental health from Calian Group Ltd, (xvi) military addictions counsellors, (xvii) civilian addictions counsellors employed directly by the DND, (xviii) addiction counsellors from Calian Group Ltd; (b) for each position listed in (a), what is the (i) current average full-time equivalent salary, (ii) average number of patients treated per month; and (c) what are the details of all personnel provided by Calian Group Ltd, specifically the (i) number of personnel provided broken down by job title, (ii) statements of work by job title, (iii) responsibilities of position, (iv) position or supervisor title to whom they report, (v) average full-time equivalent salary broken down by job title? With regard to the government’s purchase of 88 F-35A fighter jets from Lockheed Martin, announced on January 9, 2023: (a) what studies and reports were completed by the government to determine the lifecycle costs and economic impact of this purchase; (b) what were the details of each study or report in (a), including the (i) date of the report, (ii) author, (iii) cost of producing the report, (iv) conclusions concerning the lifecycle cost or economic impact; (c) what lifespan did the government use to determine its estimates of operation and support costs; and (d) does the cost modelling done by the government include upgrades and overhaul in its per-unit acquisition cost? With regard to the real property portfolio of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF), broken down by facility or building: (a) what is the current number of work orders for maintenance; (b) for each work order in (a), what are the details, including the (i) type of request, (ii) estimated cost for repair or maintenance, (iii) date the work order was made, (iv) date the work order is expected to be closed; (c) what reports has the Department of National Defence commissioned regarding the costs of maintenance and repair at CAF facilities; and (d) what are the details of all reports listed in (c), including the (i) author of the report, (ii) cost to procure the report, (iii) conclusions of the report, including the estimated deferred maintenance costs? With regard to federal spending in the constituency of London—Fanshawe, in each fiscal year since 2020-21, inclusively: what are the details of all grants and contributions and all loans to any organization, group, business or municipality, broken down by the (i) name of the recipient, (ii) municipality in which the recipient is located, (iii) date the funding was received, (iv) amount received, (v) department or agency that provided the funding, (vi) program under which the grant, contribution or loan was made, (vii) nature or purpose? With regard to the Universal Broadband Fund announcement by the government on August 28, 2023, specifically relating funding recipient Rogers – UBF-05530 in the amount of $79,052,000 to bring high speed internet access to 28,269 households: (a) how many of the 28,269 individual households are each located in (i) Ancaster, (ii) Binbrook, (iii) Branchton, (iv) Campbellville, (v) Carlisle, (vi) Copetown, (vii) Dundas, (viii) Freelton, (ix) Grassie, (x) Jerseyville, (xi) Kilbride, (xii) Lynden, (xiii) Millgrove, (xiv) Mount Hope, (xv) Pleasant View Survey, (xvi) Rockton, (xvii) Sheffield, (xviii) Stoney Creek, (xix) Strabane, (xx) Troy, (xxi) Waterdown; and (b) how much of the allotted $79,052,000 for this project is allocated to be used in (i) Ancaster, (ii) Binbrook, (iii) Branchton, (iv) Campbellville, (v) Carlisle, (vi) Copetown, (vii) Dundas, (viii) Freelton, (ix) Grassie, (x) Jerseyville, (xi) Kilbride, (xii) Lynden, (xiii) Millgrove, (xiv) Mount Hope, (xv) Pleasant View Survey, (xvi) Rockton, (xvii) Sheffield, (xviii) Stoney Creek, (xix) Strabane, (xx) Troy, (xxi) Waterdown? With regard to the President of the Treasury Board's directive to find specific cuts within departments by October 2, 2023, broken down by department: (a) were any third-party management firms contracted to assist with identifying spending cuts; and (b) what are the details of all contracts in (a), including the (i) name of the firm contracted, (ii) value of the contract, (iii) deadline to submit deliverables, (iv) titles of any reports or summary documents produced?

moved: That, given that the government has announced a “temporary, three-year pause” to the federal carbon tax on home heating oil, the House call on the government to extend that pause to all forms of home heating. He said: Mr. Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the member for Peterborough—Kawartha. “A Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian.” Those were the words of the Prime Minister, and that is the principle of my motion today. It reads, “That, given that the government has announced a ‘temporary, three-year pause’ to the federal carbon tax on home heating oil, the House call on the government to extend that pause to all forms of home heating.” It is very simple. How does anyone argue with that? If the Prime Minister has now caved on the carbon tax for those heating with oil, then he ought to be intellectually consistent and do it for all forms of heating for all Canadians. We know that the Prime Minister has decided to create two classes of citizens. He, under pressure and under duress, decided to pause the carbon tax on home heat until after the election, at which point he intends to quadruple it. In the meantime, there will be a temporary carve-out. Asked why there was a double standard and why this carve-out applied only to about 3% of households, the Minister of Rural Economic Development said that other Canadians could have had the break too, but they did not elect enough Liberals. In addition to that being a bloody-minded, divide-and-conquer approach to politics, it is actually inaccurate, because many did elect Liberal MPs and are still forced to pay the tax on the heat. These are people in Liberal-held ridings who will be excluded and will be forced to pay the higher tax on the heat as the temperatures go down and the snow starts to fall. Are these citizens less Canadian than those who are getting the pause? Is the malnourished senior in the Liberal riding of Sudbury who heats with gas any less Canadian than those who get the pause? Is the single mom in the Liberal ridings of Thunder Bay any less Canadian as she is forced by the Prime Minister's tax to skip meals so her kids do not have to? Is the welder in North Bay any less Canadian, as he cannot gas up his truck to go visit his dying relatives in other parts of the province, any less Canadian? Of course they are not, but the Prime Minister thinks they are. Once again we see his divide-to-distract strategy. He thinks that if people are afraid of their fellow Canadians, they might forget that they cannot afford to gas their car or heat their home. We have seen this divide-and-conquer strategy of the Prime Minister over many years. We saw how he called small businesses “tax cheats”. We saw how he called anyone who disagreed with him a “small fringe minority”, even though he later had to apologize for those comments. Recently, we saw how he tried to besmirch Muslims, Sikh and Christian parents, calling them “hateful” simply because they wanted to protect their children. We see, again and again, how the Prime Minister tries to demonize hunters, calling them “American” and saying that people who live in Cape Breton and hunt or who live in northern Canada and hunt for sustenance are the reason we have record gang shootings in downtown Toronto. That has become his go-to approach, and here we have it again with a “two classes of citizens” approach to his carbon tax. Let us not forget that his plan is to quadruple the carbon tax if he is re-elected. My plan is the opposite. I propose, with this motion, a compromise in the meantime. What I propose is that we take the tax off so Canadians could keep the heat on this winter, and then, when Canadians go to the polls, we could have a carbon tax election where people choose between his plan to quadruple the tax on gas, heat and groceries, and my common-sense plan to axe the tax and bring home lower prices. The Prime Minister, in his desperation yesterday, would not even show up and defend this approach in the House. He was in Ottawa and he was in the building, and he would not—

Mr. Speaker, the leader of the Conservative Party has been told on many occasions that he cannot do indirectly what he cannot do directly. I would ask that the member recognize that members on all sides of the House, at times, cannot be in the House for a multitude of different reasons.

I will caution the hon. leader about that. The hon. leader of the official opposition.

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister's strategy is to hide and divide: to hide from debate and divide the population. That is how he thinks he will cling to power, but here is the problem: He can run away from debating me all he wants, but he cannot run away from his own party. His former environment minister Catherine McKenna said that he had broken her heart. A Liberal senator, Paula Simons, said that he betrayed her, because he had assured her that the carbon tax was going to make people better off but later admitted that people heating with oil were made far worse off by his carbon tax, thus needing a pause from that tax. Liberal Senator Percy Downe wrote a spectacular piece just yesterday, in which he said: The opportunity for [the Conservative leader to form] government was created by a lack of fiscal responsibility in the [Liberal] government, and the damage it caused our economy is now showing up in the opinion [polls]. Within the Liberal Party, many members who are in favour of fiscal responsibility...have given up on this current iteration of the Liberal Party. He goes on: Originally, these centralist liberals assumed that [the Prime Minister] and his crowd needed to be educated on the economic issues of the day. That naiveté was replaced with the realization that they were not a serious government when it came to the economy, that they simply didn’t care and would throw money at anything that crossed their mind. The resulting interest rate hikes, increasing cost of living, and huge debt didn’t seem to concern them. The Liberal senator goes on to say that the Prime Minister should be fired and replaced with a new Liberal leader. Meanwhile, the incoming Liberal leader, Mark Carney, is now firing shots at the Prime Minister, claiming that he would not have allowed two classes of Canadians on the carbon tax question. This is carbon tax chaos. Canadians are paying the price, and all of it proves that the Prime Minister is not worth the cost. He is not worth the cost of heat. He is not worth the cost of food. He is not worth the cost of housing. However, apparently, he is worth the cost to the NDP. The NDP was elected by good, solid, decent working-class folks in places like Vancouver Island, Skeena—Bulkley Valley and Timmins. I have met these these people, folks who pack their lunch, get out of bed every morning, work hard and build our country. However, they have been betrayed by the NDP, which now works for the Prime Minister and has sold out the working-class rural people of this country who were the foundation of that party. It now has a decision to make. The NDP leader says that he disagrees with the dual-class citizenship approach of the Prime Minister on the carbon tax. I am giving him a chance to prove it. We have a motion before the House that simply says to give everyone the same tax-free heat this winter. The NDP leader has already stated that he agrees with that point of view, but he has to check with his boss, the leader of the Liberal Party, the Prime Minister of Canada. Everyday people in Timmins, in Kapuskasing, in Smithers, British Columbia, and in countless other NDP communities will be watching on Monday to find out whether the NDP leader votes for them or for the Prime Minister. If he does not vote for the people he represents, why should they vote for him in the next election? The good news is that the Conservatives do not work for the Prime Minister. We work for the common people and for the common sense of the common people, united for our common home: your home, my home, our home. Let us bring it home.

Mr. Speaker, it is interesting hearing the leader of the Conservative Party. One can ultimately say he has done a flip-flop. It was not that long ago that the NDP brought forward a motion to remove the GST on home heating. One would think, based on everything he has been blabbing about for the last week or so, that the Conservatives would have voted in favour of getting rid of the GST on home heating. Canadians would be surprised to find out that their leader did not. He looks to his colleagues and wonders if he really did that. Yes, he really did vote against an amendment that would have removed the GST on home heating oil. Why has there been this change? I think it is a fair assessment. I agreed with him. I too voted against it, but I am curious why the leader of the Conservative Party flip-flopped on this issue.

Mr. Speaker, we would take all taxes off home heating. That is our view. The NDP did copycat our 2019 election platform commitment to take the GST off home heating; that is true, but then its members flip-flopped, and the NDP is now working for the Prime Minister. It has sold out the people in Kitimat and the people in Penticton, and it has sold out the hard-working miners and loggers in Timmins. Instead, the NDP members decided they would work for the Prime Minister of Canada, that they would speak for the Prime Minister in those communities, rather than speaking for those communities to the Prime Minister. Conservatives are the exact opposite, and that is why we call for a consistent, “one Canada” approach. A Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian, and we would take the tax off and keep the heat on for all Canadians everywhere and always.

We have a point of order from the hon. member for Kingston and the Islands.

Mr. Speaker, I believe if you seek it, you will find unanimous consent to table the NDP motion and the results of that vote—

I am already hearing members say no. Questions and comments, the hon. member for Courtenay—Alberni.

Mr. Speaker, with respect to a “one Canada” approach, this motion would apply to only four provinces and three territories. It would not help people in British Columbia. However, New Democrats, a year ago, brought forward a motion to remove the GST on home heating, which would have applied to all Canadians, in all 10 provinces and three territories. While I am getting heckled by the Conservatives, I will try to push through. Mr. Speaker, it was in the Conservatives' platform of 2019 to remove GST on home heating, but what did they do? They voted against it, so let us talk about who is fighting for all Canadians. The NDP did that by putting forward that motion. Can the member for Carleton explain why his party members voted against the Conservative promise in the 2019 platform? Why did they vote against removing the GST on home heating for all Canadians?

Mr. Speaker, we can do both. Why do we not take all taxes off home heating? Why do we not do both? It is very easy to do. The NDP has copycatted our 2019 platform commitment to take GST off home heating. The member is now hyperventilating because he is going to lose his seat in the next election because the people on Vancouver Island have seen him betray them again and again, and now he is going to force British Columbians to pay a quadruple carbon tax on their heat, gas and groceries. He is voting in favour of the federal government's forcing the NDP government in his province to quadruple the tax. We are simply saying to give his constituents the same break that some Atlantic Canadians are getting temporarily. Give them a pause on the carbon tax because a Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian.

Mr. Speaker, I sat and listened to the leader of the official opposition's speech, and not once did he actually mention the program we have in order to help with the transition. There are a million Canadian households in this country that are extremely vulnerable. They are sometimes paying in excess of double or four times the price of alternatives such as natural gas or electricity. We have built a program. He is talking about removing the carbon price, which we have done on a temporary basis, and we have offered a solution. Does he believe in what the government is doing to help the most vulnerable people across the country? The Conservatives have not quite picked up that it is across the country. Does he believe in the Government of Canada's helping people in rural Ontario, rural Alberta and rural Saskatchewan to actually make the transition, people who are extremely vulnerable on home heating oil? Does he support the program?

Mr. Speaker, first of all, it is not across the country. It is only available in a few provinces. So far, the uptake has been very low, because we do not have the capacity to switch large numbers of people under the program that he proposes; plus it is just riddled with bureaucracy and paperwork. We can picture elderly grandmothers who are in the freezing cold in Kings—Hants having to fill out all of these forms that he has put in front of them. Finally, let us just point out that the member was in full panic mode last week, because I was holding a monster rally of 1,000 common-sense Nova Scotians. You were there, Mr. Speaker, and they were rallying to axe the tax, while the member was bawling his eyes out on the phone with the PMO, asking them to save his job, because he knew he was going to be fired by his constituents. That is the only reason he even sought a pause. The member has to tell them the truth: If he is re-elected, people will see that tax go back on their home heat. The only way to axe the tax is by electing a common-sense Conservative MP for Kings—Hants and government for Canada.