Question Period Notes
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In accordance with the Access to Information Act, the government proactively publishes the package of question period notes that were prepared by a government institution for the minister and that were in use on the last sitting day in June and December.
The question period notes may be partially or fully redacted in accordance with the legislation; for example, if the notes contain information related to national security or personal information. (Learn more about exemptions and exclusions.)
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Bloc Quebecois Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet is calling on the federal government to recharge Quebec's forestry sector with an eye to its energy potential.
The Bloc is laying out a slate of proposals aimed at supporting the logging business and developing biofuels derived from wood, seizing on the province's vast forest tracts.
The proposals include a government procurement policy that encourages low emissions and a beefed-up research-and-development budget for the forestry sector focusing on bioproducts.
The Government of Canada has committed to planting two billion trees over the next ten years. On January 28, 2021, media reports quote the Parliamentary Budget Officer who says that this commitment will cost $2.78 billion more than planned.
Why does the Canada Revenue Agency have so little to show for results after five years of the Panama Papers data leak?
On March 17, 2021, Chevron Canada announced that it would cease funding Kitimat LNG project feasibility work. The company announced in December 2019 that it plans to exit its 50 percent working interest in the Kitimat LNG Project in British Columbia, as part of global portfolio optimization efforts. Chevron’s other assets in Canada are not included in this decision.
Australia’s Woodside Energy – which also has a 50 percent interest in the project – indicates it continues to have confidence in the project, and will work with Chevron to determine mutually acceptable means of advancing the project as Chevron exits. Woodside continues to work with stakeholders to improve the project’s cost competitiveness. Chevron will remain as operator of the project until its exit from the project or transfer of operatorship.
Enbridge’s Line 5 pipeline, which carries Canadian oil from Superior, Wisconsin, through the water of the Great Lakes at the Straits of Mackinac to Sarnia, Ontario, is a concern in Michigan.
In November 2020, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced that the state is revoking Enbridge’s 1953 authorization (its ‘easement’) to operate Line 5 through the Straits of Mackinac. The state is citing alleged violations of the easement agreement by Enbridge in operating the dual Line 5 pipelines over the years, which Michigan sees as an unreasonable oil spill risk, and is giving the company 180 days to cease operations (to May 12). Enbridge is fighting the shutdown notice in federal court claiming it is in violation of federal laws and the Canada-U.S. pipeline treaty. Enbridge is also fighting other parallel lawsuits that Michigan filed in state court.
On January 12, 2021, Enbridge wrote an open letter to the Governor, rejecting Michigan’s demand to shut down Line 5 – noting that it remains in compliance with the easement and with federal pipeline safety regulations.
A large proportion of the public service has transitioned to working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic. Government offices remain open to ensure the delivery of essential government functions and many clients’ preparations for eventual return to the workplace are underway, guided by regional public health agencies. However, with Canada in the third wave of the COVID-19 virus, there may be a heightened concern about how confirmed cases are being managed and communicated to Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) building occupants.
Note: Questions on employees returning to the workplace should be responded to by the President of the Treasury Board, as the employer.
The COVID pandemic may be affecting temporary residents in a number of ways. Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada has taken proactive measures to facilitate foreign nationals in Canada renewing or extending their status.
On April 1, 2021, CBC.ca published a news article noting former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien has been in active discussions to create a project to store nuclear waste in a deep geological repository in Labrador. These discussions are taking place between himself and other figures as private citizens.