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Mr. Mike Morrice (Kitchener Centre, GP)

May/3/24 12:25:19 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to rise to present a petition on behalf of folks who are quite concerned with methane-fired electricity generation, and they have an interest in moving to low-carbon energy sources. The petitioners start with the science, as they should. They note that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change notes that we need to be building no new fossil fuel infrastructure and reach net-zero electricity generation by 2035. They note that, while some people call natural gas a transition fuel, in reality it is a fossil fuel, and it is a methane producer, a very potent natural gas. This is a significant petition, so I will move quickly through it. In Ontario, petitioners note that methane-fired generation is set to account for 25% of the province's electricity generation by the late 2040s, which is more than triple its current role. They go on to note that this increase in projected methane-fired electricity in Canada, and particularly in Ontario, indicates that the current level of carbon pricing of methane-fired generation does not send a sufficient price signal to incentivize the transition away from fossil fuels to low-carbon energy sources, and that the current proposed clean electricity regulation process is too slow to address it. In fact, it also contains loopholes, which makes the issue even worse. The petitioners call on the Government of Canada to make methane-fired electricity generation subject to the fuel charge components of the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act, and if methane-fired generation remains in the output-based pricing system component of the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act, they want it subjected to increased carbon pricing.

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Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, Lib.)

May/3/24 12:27:12 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, just to acknowledge your comments after my S.O. 31, I appreciate what you said and will respect that. The following questions will be answered today: Nos. 2440, 2442, 2443, 2446, 2450, 2451, 2453 and 2455.

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May/3/24 12:27:59 p.m.
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Question No. 2440—

Questioner: Philip Lawrence

With regard to the amendments to valuation regulations published in Part I of the Canada Gazette on May 27, 2023, which will increase duties on imported products into Canada: (a) will the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) publish revised regulations, and, if so, (i) when does the CBSA expect to publish such regulations, (ii) will those regulations undergo further consultations or will they be published as final; (b) did the CBSA estimate the cost to Canadian consumers of their proposed regulations, and, if so, what is the estimated cost; (c) has the CBSA estimated the reduction in competition in the Canadian market of their proposed regulations, and, if so, what is the estimated reduction; (d) has the CBSA estimated the administrative cost to Canadian companies due to this proposed regulatory burden, and, if so, what is the estimated cost; and (e) has the CBSA estimated the increase in revenue from the implementation of these regulations, and, if so, what is the estimated increase?

Question No. 2442—

Questioner: Luc Berthold

With regard to comments made by the deputy minister of Public Services and Procurement Canada at the Standing Committee on Public Accounts on March 7, 2024: (a) what is the total value of staff augmentation contracts per year from 2015 to present, broken down by department; (b) of the 635 companies mentioned by the deputy minister, how many have fewer than five employees; (c) what percentage of the contracts referred to in (a) were completed entirely by employees of the contracted organization; (d) what percentage of the contracts referred to in (a) were completed with more than 50% of the resources subcontracted to another firm; (e) what percentage of the contracts referred to in (a) were completed with more than 90% of the resources subcontracted to another firm; (f) what is the total dollar value of commission paid to the companies in the contracts referred to in (a); (g) what is the total dollar value of compensation paid to resources in the contracts referred to in (a); (h) what is the difference between the average cost per resource in the contracts referred to in (a) and an equivalent position pursuant to the public service collective bargaining agreement; (i) of the 635 companies mentioned by the deputy minister, how many currently employ an individual who is also an employee of the Public Service (j) how many cases have been referred to the review mechanism, as referenced by the deputy minister, related to preventing vendors from providing input into Requests for Proposals; and (k) how many of these cases have ultimately been referred to the RCMP?

Question No. 2443—

Questioner: Taylor Bachrach

With regard to the Lake Babine Nation Foundation Agreement signed by the government in September 2020: (a) does the government agree that an Incremental Fisheries Agreement (IFA) would fulfill the government's commitment with Lake Babine Nation to ensure sufficient healthy stocks to fully satisfy Lake Babine Nation’s domestic harvest needs and derive economic benefits from the fisheries resource in the territory; (b) for how long has an IFA term sheet and budget been awaiting Cabinet review; and (c) is the government committed to ensuring that the IFA is approved expeditiously to maintain Canada’s reconciliation efforts with Lake Babine Nation and protect the sustainability of Skeena River sockeye stocks?

Question No. 2446—

Questioner: Kyle Seeback

With regard to applications received by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, since January 1, 2016, and broken down by type of application: (a) how many applicants were deemed inadmissible pursuant to (i) paragraph 34(1)(b), (ii) paragraph 34(1)(c), (iii) paragraph 34(1)(f), of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (S.C. 2001, c. 27); and (b) broken down by each paragraph of the act in (a), how many of the applicants who were deemed inadmissible were members of the (i) Kurdistan Democratic Party, (ii) Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, (iii) Movement for Change or Gorran, (iv) Kurdistan Islamic Union, (v) Kurdistan Justice Group or Komala, (vi) Assyrian Democratic Movement, (vii) The Sons of Mesopotamia, (viii) Chaldean Syriac Assyrian Popular Council?

Question No. 2450—

Questioner: Bob Zimmer

With regard to the items listed in the Main Estimates, 2024-25, under Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency: (a) of the $7.5 million listed under "Grants for the Inclusive Diversification and Economic Advancement in the North initiative", what are the details of all funded grants, including, for each, the (i) name of the recipient, (ii) amount, (iii) purpose of the funding, (iv) project description, (v) location; and (b) what criteria were used to determine which projects would receive funding, and how much funding each project in (a) would receive?

Question No. 2451—

Questioner: Brad Vis

With regard to the carbon tax revenues collected from small businesses since 2019 and the over $2.5 billion in fuel charge rebates owed to small businesses: (a) when will the new system referenced by the Minister of Finance on January 22, 2024 to distribute funds owed to small businesses through the fuel charge return programs be implemented; and (b) what is the rebate schedule for when small businesses will receive the over $2.5 billion owed?

Question No. 2453—

Questioner: Niki Ashton

With regard to litigation and other legal expenditures involving Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada (CIRNAC) or Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) between February 6, 2006 and January 1, 2016: (a) what were the total expenditures on (i) outside lawyers or legal advice, (ii) in-house or CIRNAC departmental lawyers, (iii) in-house or ISC departmental lawyers, (iv) Department of Justice Canada lawyers; (b) how many lawyers are represented in each subsection of (a); (c) of the expenditures in (a), what are the number of cases and total expenditures, broken down by standing of the government; and (d) what are the details of all cases involving government expenditures of over $100,000, including, for each, the (i) case name, (ii) date of the initial court filing, (iii) current status of the case, including the result, if applicable, (iv) total expenditures to date?

Question No. 2455—

Questioner: Niki Ashton

With regard to the Indigenous Services Canada 2024-25 Departmental Plan and mental health services that are available in communities: (a) what efforts will the department undertake to advance work with First Nations, Inuit and Métis partners to (i) improve access to high-quality services, (ii) improve well-being in Indigenous communities, (iii) support Indigenous peoples in assuming control of the delivery of services they choose specific to mental health and wellness; (b) which self-reported health surveys does the government use to measure distinctions-specific progress towards increasing positive outcomes; (c) which other surveys and research efforts does the government use to measure distinctions-specific progress towards increasing positive outcomes; and (d) does the government believe that it can achieve its department results for First Nations, Métis and Inuit adults who report ‘excellent’ or ‘very good’ mental health while also sunsetting funding for mental health and wellness from budget 2021?

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Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, Lib.)

May/3/24 12:28:08 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, if the government's responses to Questions Nos. 2438, 2439, 2441, 2444, 2445, 2447 to 2449, 2452 and 2454 could be made orders for returns, these returns would be tabled in an electronic format immediately. The Deputy Speaker: Is it agreed? Some hon. members: Agreed.

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May/3/24 12:28:14 p.m.
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Question No. 2438—

Questioner: Dan Mazier

With regard to expenditures on consultants by Environment and Climate Change Canada since November 4, 2015: (a) what is the total amount of expenditures incurred on consultants; and (b) what are the details of all such contracts under object codes 0431 (Scientific consultants), 0446 (Training consultants), 0473 (Information technology and telecommunications consultants), 0491 (Management consulting), 0422 (Engineering consultants – Construction), 0423 (Engineering consultants – Other), 0301 (Advertising services), 0351 (Communications professional services not elsewhere specified), and 0352 (Public relations services), including the (i) amount, (ii) vendor, (iii) date of the contract, (iv) duration of the contract, (v) description of the services provided, (vi) reason or purpose of the contract?

Question No. 2439—

Questioner: Michael Barrett

With regard to the Memorial to the Victims of Communism project: (a) what specific work was done on the memorial between February 1, 2023 and March 18, 2024, broken down by month; (b) what is the current (i) targeted completion date, (ii) projected total budget; and (c) what are the details of all contracts over $1,000 entered into by the government related to the project since November 4, 2015, including, for each, the (i) date, (ii) vendor, (iii) amount, (iv) description of goods or services provided?

Question No. 2441—

Questioner: Cheryl Gallant

With regard to contracts entered into by the Department of National Defence or the Canadian Armed Forces relating to diversity, equity and inclusion services, since November 4, 2015: (a) what is the total value of such contracts, broken down by year and by type of service provided (policy development, training, guest speaker, fee, etc.); and (b) what are the details of each such contract, including, for each, the (i) vendor, (ii) date, (iii) amount or value, (iv) description of goods or services, (v) manner in which the contract was awarded (sole-sourced versus competitive bid)?

Question No. 2444—

Questioner: Taylor Bachrach

With regard to the Environment and Climate Change Canada's Holland Rock weather station near Prince Rupert: (a) how many unscheduled outages have occurred in the years 2015-2024; (b) what were the dates and durations of these outages; (c) what were the dates of visits to the weather station by the department or its contractors, (d) what maintenance and repair activities were performed during these visits; and (e) what were the costs of these visits and activities?

Question No. 2445—

Questioner: Tom Kmiec

With regard to Immigration and Refugee Board hearings on refugee claims, in 2023: (a) for written hearings, how many claims were (i) accepted, (ii) rejected, (iii) abandoned, (iv) withdrawn and other, in total and broken down by the country of origin of applicants; and (b) for oral hearings, how many claims were (i) accepted, (ii) rejected, (iii) abandoned, (iv) withdrawn or other, in total and broken down by the country of origin of applicants?

Question No. 2447—

Questioner: Bob Zimmer

With regard to the items listed in the Supplementary Estimates (C), 2023-24, under Department of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs: what are the details of the $9 million listed under "Contributions to Promote Social and Political Development in the North and for northerners", including which organizations received funding, how much each organization received, what criteria were used to determine which organizations would receive funding, how the funds were used, and the details of each project funded with the money?

Question No. 2448—

Questioner: Bob Zimmer

With regard to the items listed in the Main Estimates, 2024-25, under Department of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs: (a) of the $94,603,783 and the $4,151,000 respectively listed under "Contributions for promoting the safe use, development, conservation and protection of the North's natural resources, and promoting scientific development" and "Grants for promoting the safe use, development, conservation and protection of the North's natural resources, and promoting scientific development", what are the details of projects funded with this allocation, including, for each, the (i) name of the recipient, (ii) amount, (iii) purpose of the funding, (iv) project description, (v) location; and (b) what criteria were used to determine which projects would receive funding, and how much funding each project in (a) would receive?

Question No. 2449—

Questioner: Bob Zimmer

With regard to the Northern Responsible Energy Approach for Community Heat and Electricity program: (a) what is the government estimate of the total costs required to achieve the stated goal of reducing diesel consumption by 7 million litres; (b) how much has this program spent to date, and what amount and percentage of this were spent on administration expenses; (c) how many employees or Full Time Equivalent's have been hired for the program to date, in total, and broken down by year; and (d) what are the details of all projects funded to date, including, for each, the (i) recipient, (ii) location, (iii) amount of the funding, (iv) project description?

Question No. 2452—

Questioner: Niki Ashton

With regard to nurses employed by Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) to provide health care to rural, remote and Northern communities, broken down by province or territory: (a) what is the current number of nurses employed by ISC who are (i) full-time, (ii) part-time; (b) what is the total number of new nurses hired since September 1, 2022; (c) what is the current number of vacant nursing positions; and (d) which nursing stations had their capacity reduced due to staffing shortages in other communities?

Question No. 2454—

Questioner: Niki Ashton

With regard to funding programs managed by Indigenous Services Canada (ISC), and broken down by fiscal year since 2015-16: (a) what are the details of each funding program, broken down by (i) name of program, service, fund, or initiative, (ii) amount of funding allocated for funding program, (iii) amount of lapsed funding, (iv) number of applicants to program; (b) which of the funding programs in (a) have been identified by ISC as part of budget 2023’s commitment to refocus government spending; and (c) what is the total amount of funding reduction that each program or grant in (b) will experience?

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Mr. Kevin Lamoureux

May/3/24 12:28:14 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, finally, I ask that all remaining questions be allowed to stand at this time, please. The Deputy Speaker: Is it agreed? Some hon. members: Agreed.

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Deputy
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Mr. Peter Julian (New Westminster—Burnaby, NDP)

May/3/24 12:28:50 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, where we left off this morning, Conservatives were saying that they wanted the bill to pass. In fact, they even chastened the Liberals for not passing the bill. Just prior to question period, I asked for unanimous consent to move beyond this dilatory motion, delay motion, obstruction motion, that the Conservatives have put. What they are asking Canadians to do is to pay $70,000, which is the cost of one hour of parliamentary time, for a parliamentary debate around whether the short title of this bill should be deleted. Now, $70,000 is a lot of money where I come from. For most Canadian families, $70,000 is what they earn in a year. Conservatives have burned that money just in the last hour. What I did was that I asked for unanimous consent to move to third reading, because at this point, in report stage, all we are doing is debating the Conservatives' stupid amendment, a wacko amendment, that simply says that we are going to delete the short title of the bill. There is no substance to it. It does not improve the bill in any form. It does not make any difference in terms of the public commission that so many people have been crying out for and that is so badly needed. All it does is delay and cost Canadians $70,000 for each and every hour of this absolutely useless obstructionism. It is wacko obstructionism from an official opposition that is not a serious party. The Conservatives had the opportunity to move on that—

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Debating

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Gabriel Ste-Marie)

May/3/24 12:30:49 p.m.
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The hon. member for Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier is rising on a point of order.

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Mr. Joël Godin

May/3/24 12:30:52 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, our leader was expelled earlier this week for using the word “wacko”. My colleague has already said it twice, and has only been speaking for maybe two minutes. Is this considered unparliamentary language, yes or no? I would like to have a decision.

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The Acting Speaker (Mr. Gabriel Ste-Marie)

May/3/24 12:31:20 p.m.
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I would ask for a bit of decorum in the House. I thank the hon. member for his point of order. Obviously, there is a difference between using that unflattering term to characterize a policy or a decision and using it to describe a person. That is how the Chair has interpreted the Standing Orders. I therefore invite the hon. member for New Westminster—Burnaby to continue his speech. The hon. member for New Westminster—Burnaby.

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Mr. Peter Julian

May/3/24 12:31:49 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I like your interpretation a lot because it corresponds to what the member and the Conservative members could read in the rules of the House. We are not allowed to attack other members. That is what the Leader of the Opposition and member for Carleton did. He attacked the Prime Minister, he insulted him and he refused to withdraw his comments. The member for Carleton, who has been here for 20 years, should at least understand how things work in the House. He did what everyone knows and that is exactly the opposite of how we are supposed to behave under our rules. We can criticize ideas and actions, but we cannot criticize people. Every Conservative member should know that. In the last hour, the Conservatives have burned $70,000 of Canadian taxpayers' money. Members will recall how woefully terrible the Harper regime was at managing money. It gave $116 billion in the big bank bailout on liquidity supports. Each and every year, $30 billion was given in the infamous Harper tax haven treaties. It was a sweetheart deal for Canadian billionaires and the most profitable corporations in the country, and the Conservatives just splurged that money because money does not mean anything to them. They are terrible financial managers. Conservative financial management is an oxymoron. They are the worst financial managers anyone has ever seen, and the 10 dismal years of the Harper government will remain, in infamy, the worst years of financial management in our country's history: consecutive deficits throughout that period, massive handouts to the banks, massive handouts to the oil and gas CEOs and massive handouts to overseas tax havens. At this same time—

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The Acting Speaker (Mr. Gabriel Ste-Marie)

May/3/24 12:34:03 p.m.
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The hon. member for Calgary Centre is rising on a point of order.

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Mr. Greg McLean

May/3/24 12:34:03 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am shocked. The member has called me and my party bad fiscal managers. I assure him that I was a money manager before I came to the House, yet I do not see any money managers over there. He is suggesting that I and other members of my party do not know how to do this, but I would strongly suggest that we have, personally, much better fiscal plans and much better economic plans than I have ever heard come out of the member's mouth. As such, I would like him to retract that remark, please.

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The Acting Speaker (Mr. Gabriel Ste-Marie)

May/3/24 12:34:38 p.m.
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I thank the hon. member for Calgary Centre for his intervention. However, that is a matter for debate. I invite the hon. member for New Westminster—Burnaby to continue his speech.

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Mr. Peter Julian

May/3/24 12:34:56 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I have won consecutive business excellence awards, so I have no lessons to learn from any Conservatives in the House. The reality is that the member can consult the fiscal period returns produced by the Department of Finance. It is not a hotbed of social democracy, but the federal Department of Finance, over the last few decades, produced the fiscal period returns. They say that Conservatives and Liberals are terrible financial managers and that the best governments are NDP governments. Year after year, the fiscal period returns, which every MP, Conservative, Liberal or of any other persuasion, can consult, will show that NDP governments have the best record of managing money and of paying down debt. We do that because we are able to run programs like health care and education, and we do not fritter away money like the Conservatives are doing today. For $70,000, there is this debate around this frivolous distraction of deleting the short title of this bill rather than getting on to third reading so that we can actually get in place the—

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The Acting Speaker (Mr. Gabriel Ste-Marie)

May/3/24 12:36:10 p.m.
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I thank the hon. member for New Westminster—Burnaby. Unfortunately, his time is up. We will move on to questions and comments. The hon. parliamentary secretary to the government House leader.

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Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, Lib.)

May/3/24 12:36:24 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I was rather enjoying a good portion of the member's comments. I want to pick up on one aspect, when he talked about the short title because, for those who might be following the debate, there is a valid argument to be made that the Conservatives are doing nothing more than playing an obstructive role. Even though they say they want the legislation passed, they go out of their way to prevent the legislation from passing. When the member makes reference to the short title, this is what the Conservatives are proposing to delete: This act may be cited as the “Public Complaints and Review Commission Act”. They want that aspect of the legislation deleted. I am wondering if the member could provide his thoughts in regard to the obstruction that the Conservative Party is playing on such important legislation.

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Short

Mr. Peter Julian

May/3/24 12:37:18 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, that is exactly the point. It is not that they want to spend hours and hours debating that one sentence and whether we remove it, when it has absolutely no impact on the legislation or on the public complaints commission, but that they want to spend. They want to waste. I see the finance critic for the Conservatives in the House right now, and they want to waste $70,000 for each and every hour—

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The Acting Speaker (Mr. Gabriel Ste-Marie)

May/3/24 12:37:53 p.m.
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The hon. member for Calgary Forest Lawn on a point of order.

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Mr. Jasraj Singh Hallan

May/3/24 12:37:54 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I do not think we are allowed to mention who is or is not inside the chamber.

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