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Notice Paper

No. 68

Monday, March 31, 2008

11:00 a.m.


Introduction of Government Bills

Introduction of Private Members' Bills

March 27, 2008 — Ms. Folco (Laval—Les Îles) — Bill entitled “An Act to amend the Income Tax Act (dependants)”.

Notices of Motions (Routine Proceedings)

March 27, 2008 — Mr. Telegdi (Kitchener—Waterloo) — That the Seventh Report of the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration, presented on Thursday, March 13, 2008, be concurred in.
Debate — limited to 3 hours, pursuant to Standing Order 66(2).
Voting — not later than the expiry of the time provided for debate.

March 27, 2008 — Ms. Chow (Trinity—Spadina) — That the Seventh Report of the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration, presented on Thursday, March 13, 2008, be concurred in.
Debate — limited to 3 hours, pursuant to Standing Order 66(2).
Voting — not later than the expiry of the time provided for debate.

Questions

Q-2222 — March 27, 2008 — Mr. Casey (Cumberland—Colchester—Musquodoboit Valley) — With respect to the government’s efforts to improve or upgrade the Victoria-class submarine fleet so that the ships are more environmentally friendly: (a) what projects are currently underway by the Navy to ensure that the diesel engines used by the Victoria-class submarines will produce less amounts of harmful pollutants; (b) has the government made any efforts or conducted studies to find suitable alternative fuels for the diesel engines to make their emissions less harmful; (c) has the Navy succeeded in retrofitting the submarine fleet with appropriate air conditioning and other refrigerant systems so that they will be ozone friendly and, if so, what was the total cost of these improvements; (d) what is the current deadline of the Department of National Defence to replace ozone depleting substances on the Victoria-class submarines; and (e) what other improvements or upgrades are planned for the Victoria-class submarines to make them more environmentally friendly and how much has the government budgeted for these improvements?
Q-2232 — March 27, 2008 — Ms. McDonough (Halifax) — With respect to the recently cancelled visit of His Royal Highness Prince El Hassan bin Talal to Canada: (a) has there been any contact between representatives of His Royal Highness and the Prime Minister’s Office ahead of His Royal Highness’ planned visit to Canada at the end of March or early April; and (b) had His Royal Highness or his representatives made special requests for customs and security procedures for their entry into Canada and, if so, (i) were these requests denied and, if so, why, (ii) how did these requests compare to normal customs and security procedures for other visiting dignitaries or eminent personalities from other countries?
Q-2242 — March 27, 2008 — Ms. McDonough (Halifax) — With respect to the Victoria-class submarine In-Service Support Contract awarded to Canadian Submarine Management Group for the refit of Victoria-class submarines: (a) what criteria were used by the government to compare the estimated costs to the government from competing bids; (b) were the transit costs of moving the submarines from Halifax to Victoria included in this cost comparison between competing bids; (c) does the government’s cost comparison include any costs required to ensure naval facilities are capable of conducting the submarine refit in both Victoria and Halifax; and (d) did the government’s awarding of the contract compare the relative economic benefits to the communities involved?
Q-2252 — March 27, 2008 — Ms. McDonough (Halifax) — With respect to Canada’s contributions and commitments to international peace: (a) how much has the government budgeted for the Pearson Peacekeeping Centre; (b) how has funding for the Centre changed from year to year over the past five years; (c) does the government intend to sustain funding for the Centre; (d) how much does Canada contribute to the UN’s Standing Peacebuilding Fund; (e) how does Canada rank in terms of military personnel and police contributions to UN missions; (f) what plan does the government have to increase its military and police contributions to UN missions; (g) is Canada involved in any UN-sponsored peace initiatives or negotiations and, if so, which ones; (h) what follow-up initiatives has the government undertaken to support the Responsibility to Protect; (i) what steps has Canada undertaken to ensure compliance with Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security; (j) what initiatives is the government undertaking to support nuclear weapons non-proliferation and disarmament in the international arena; and (k) does the government endorse the principle of a nuclear-free Middle East?
Q-2262 — March 27, 2008 — Mr. Cullen (Etobicoke North) — With regard to collateralized debt obligations (CDO’s) and the sub-prime mortgage credit crisis in the North American financial sector: (a) in 2007, was the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) aware of the exposure of financial institutions in Canada to CDO’s, and specifically sub-prime mortgages; (b) when it became aware of the exposure of Canadian banks to sub-prime mortgages, how did OSFI evaluate the risk of these CDO’s in the context of the solvency, liquidity and stability of Canada’s financial institutions; (c) did OSFI undertake any sensitivity analysis to assess the impact of factors such as interest rate changes, economic slowdown or job losses and property market declines on the viability of sub-prime mortgages; (d) were CDO’s adequately secured or insured by Canada’s chartered banks, and were these CDO instruments appropriately rated by the rating agencies; (e) given the recent losses or write downs by chartered Canadian banks, what action is the OSFI taking to safeguard Canada’s financial sector, its depositors and shareholders; and (f) what steps is the Minister of Finance taking to address this issue, and to ensure that this type of situation does not occur again?
Q-227 — March 27, 2008 — Mr. Casey (Cumberland—Colchester—Musquodoboit Valley) — With regard to the Victoria In-Service Support Contract: (a) if Industrial and Regional Benefits evaluations were carried out by representatives from Industry Canada and the regional development agencies as part of the contracting process, were representatives of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) involved in these evaluations and, if so, when were they written and what are the detailed reasons as to why the Agency did not conduct any analysis on the potential impacts to employment or economic development to the Atlantic Canada region, as stated in the government's answer to written question Q-182; and (b) when were the ACOA evaluations approved and transmitted to Public Works and Government Services Canada?
Q-2282 — March 27, 2008 — Mr. Cullen (Etobicoke North) — With regard to marriages of convenience, orchestrated for personal gain or for gaining entry into Canada as a landed immigrant: (a) has the minister or her officials taken any action to address this issue; (b) has the Minister, or her predecessor, implemented any policies or procedures to alleviate the concerns associated with marriages of convenience; (c) is the Minister of the view that marriages of convenience that are perpetrated in Canada are growing in numbers beyond normal demographics or immigration patterns; (d) what systems, processes, or procedures are in place to deal specifically with complaints from the victims of marriage fraud; and (e) what action is being taken to restore the confidence of the victims of marriages of convenience that the government is working effectively and efficiently on their behalf?

Notices of Motions for the Production of Papers

P-40 — March 27, 2008 — Mr. Casey (Cumberland—Colchester—Musquodoboit Valley) — That an Order of the House do issue for a copy of: (a) the briefing documents or reports written by representatives from Industry Canada and all regional development agencies that deal with the Industrial and Regional Benefits evaluation for the Victoria In-Service Support Contract (VISSC), which have been transmitted to Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC); and (b) reports, responses or briefing documents from the Deputy Minister, Minister or the senior officials of PWGSC in regards to the evaluations made on the VISSC contracts by entities in (a).

Business of Supply

Opposition Motions
March 27, 2008 — Mr. Wilfert (Richmond Hill) — That this House urges the government to give a higher priority to the prevention of conflict in its foreign policy and, in particular, the House urges the government to take a more pro-active role in addressing the underlying political, economic and environmental origins of conflict in Afghanistan, Sudan/Darfur, Sri Lanka, and the Middle East, and to organize the departments and agencies of government in such a way that this clearer focus on conflict prevention is matched by the effective use of public resources.

March 27, 2008 — Ms. Neville (Winnipeg South Centre) — That this House recognizes the significance of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, as adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on September 13, 2007.

March 27, 2008 — Mr. McCallum (Markham—Unionville) — That this House has confidence in the economic vitality of the province of Ontario and calls upon the Government of Canada to work cooperatively with the governments of all provinces and territories to assure that the prosperity and well-being of Canadians is maintained and enhanced.

March 27, 2008 — Mr. Lessard (Chambly—Borduas) — That, in the opinion of the House, given that the employment insurance fund has an accumulated surplus of over $54 billion, that this surplus has been used for purposes other than the employment insurance plan, that the current employment insurance plan no longer reflects the realities of the labour market, and that access to and coverage of employment insurance benefits must be increased for workers who have lost their jobs, the government should introduce in the six months following the coming into force of the Canada Employment Insurance Financing Board Act a plan to repay the employment insurance fund surplus and ensure that these funds are used solely to improve the current employment insurance plan.

March 27, 2008 — Mr. Paquette (Joliette) — That, in the opinion of the House, following the recognition of the Québécois nation by this House, the government should move from words to deeds and propose measures to solidify that recognition, including compliance with the language of labour relations of Quebec’s Charter of the French language regarding enterprises under federal jurisdiction located in Quebec.

March 27, 2008 — Mr. Brison (Kings—Hants) — That, since the House recognizes (i) the important role of MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. (MDA) within Canada's space industry, (ii) the prior direct and indirect investments made by the government into MDA in order to develop Canada's strategic space capabilities, (iii) the need to maintain Canada's complex Earth observation satellite building capabilities for the long term, and (iv) the significance of Canada maintaining shutter control over RADARSAT-2 so that it may continue to operate as a instrument to help protect Canada's Arctic sovereignty; therefore, the House calls on the government to consider carefully all the implications of approving the sale of MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd., and provide a report to Parliament.

Government Business

Private Members' Notices of Motions

M-473 — March 27, 2008 — Mrs. Mathyssen (London—Fanshawe) — That, in the opinion of the House, the government should amend the Auditor General Act to create a Gender Equality Commissioner modeled after the Commissioner for the Environmental and Sustainability Development to: (a) encourage stronger gender equality performance by the federal government; (b) add gender equality effects to the considerations the Auditor General takes into account when determining what to report to the House of Commons; (c) require Ministers to prepare gender equality strategies and update them every three years; (d) authorize the Auditor General to receive petitions on gender equality matters; (e) require Ministers to respond to petitions on gender equality matters; (f) conduct performance audits that look at whether activities designed to respond to federal gender equality policies are being implemented effectively and are delivering results; (g) monitor departmental progress on recommendations from past audits, and conduct follow-up audits of activities reported on previously; (h) monitor the gender equality strategies prepared and updated by designated departments and agencies; and (i) report annually all of the above to Parliament.

Private Members' Business

M-414 — February 4, 2008 — Resuming consideration of the motion of Mr. Guimond (Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord), seconded by Ms. Brunelle (Trois-Rivières), — That, in the opinion of the House, the government should introduce a series of measures to assist businesses, communities and workers hard hit by the forestry crisis, including: (a) an economic diversification program aimed specifically at communities that depend heavily on the forest industry; (b) tax measures that encourage the development of processing activities in the region; (c) a government loan and loan guarantee program for business modernization; (d) a refundable tax credit for the research and development of new products; (e) the establishment of absolute reduction targets for greenhouse gas emissions, allowing businesses to sell emission credits on an exchange; (f) a program to support the production of energy and ethanol from forest waste; (g) improvements to the employment insurance plan; and (h) an income support program for older workers.
Debate — 1 hour remaining, pursuant to Standing Order 93(1).
Voting — at the expiry of the time provided for debate, pursuant to Standing Order 93(1).

2 Response requested within 45 days