Hon. Ron Basford (Minister of National Revenue):

There is no Parliamentary Returns Office, as such, in this department. Parliamentary returns are handled as a part of the regular duties of the staff in the office of the deputy minister in each of the two components of the department. Therefore, it is not possible to isolate the cost of this activity from the others which comprise the total program of these offices.

May 15, 1975

1. On what date did CIDA award to Sintec the contract for construction of a telecommunication network in Zaire?

2. Was the contract awarded within the framework of public tenders?

3. What other corporations tendered for the contract and at what cost?

4. Who was responsible for making the decision concerning the contract?

5. Who were the signatories of the contract?

6. What researches, analyses or investigations were made in order to ascertain the skill of the corporation and its members before awarding them the contract?

Hon. Allan J. MacEachen (Secretary of State for External Affairs):

1. No contract was ever granted by CIDA to SINTEC Corporation for a telecommunications project in Zaire entered directly into a contract for a telecommunications network project-financed by a Canadian loan-with Cartier Engineering of Montreal, which set up a consortium for the purpose with two other companies Sintec Limited of Montreal, and Hoyles Niblock International of Vancouver.

2. Yes-the contract was awarded within the framework of normal proposals.

3. The three consortia of consultants who submitted proposals were as follows: Demers, Gordon, Baby Ltd. and SNC Ltd., both of Montreal associated with Intel Consultants Ltd. of Ottawa; Brunelle, Lambert and Associates Ltd. of Montreal associated with Lamarre, Valois International Ltd. of Montreal; Cartier Ltd., Montreal; Hoyles Niblock International, Vancouver Sintec Ltd., Montreal; The last group which included Sintec submitted the best proposal and was awarded the contract for $6 million.

4. The proposals were evaluated independently on behalf of the government of Zaire by the Department of Communications of Canada and a CIDA team which included a representative engineer from Zaire.

5. The signatories to the contract were the government of Zaire and Cartier Ltd. as Manager of the consortium.

6. All three members of tne consortium had registered with CIDA and provided details, brochures, and curriculum vitae of their companies and personnel. Both Cartier Ltd. and Hoyles Niblock International had performed satisfactorily on previous contracts in CIDA's programs. Hoyles Niblock had also worked abroad commercially with very satisfactory results.

For the past ten years, what has been the annual percentage change in the number of pieces of mail handled by the Post Office Department?

Mr. Raynald Guay (Parliamentary Secretary to Postmaster General):

The following percentage change has been based on originating mail volume data as published in the Postmaster General Annual Reports. Fiscal year 1964-65, 12 per cent; 1965-66, 5 per cent; 1966-67, 7 per cent; 1967-68, 2 per cent; 1968-69, 1 per cent; 1969-70, 3 per cent;

Order Paper Questions

1970-71, 5 per cent; 1971-72, 4 per cent; 1972-73, 1 per cent; 1973-74, 7 per cent.

L In regard to loans and grants for construction of sewage collection and treatment systems, what is the breakdown, by province, of the (a) 294 loans and the amount of $159,854,000 for 1974 (b) 309 loans and the amount of $170,670,000 for 1974?

2. In the Province of Newfoundland, by municipality, what is the breakdown of such amounts?

Hon. Barney Danson (Minister of State for Urban Affairs):

I am advised by Central Mortgage and Housing Corporation as follows:

Table 1

1. Loans Approved for Municipal Sewage Treatment Projects!'!, by Province, 1973 and 1974

1973 1974

Province Projects $000 Projects $000Newfoundland 5 237 7 2,365Prince Edw'ard Island 4 1,469 7 1,771Nova Scotia 28 8,052 25 5,187New Brunswick 12 3,476 17 7,248Quebec 35 10,126 98 74,260Ontario 115 90,961 119 87,082Manitoba 10 1,855 25 7,962Saskatchewan 15 1,839 15 2,066Alberta 47 14,561 46 8,452British Columbia 21 27,159 32 21,367Northwest Territories 2 119 - -6'Yukon - - - -Canada Data are net. 294 159,854 391 217,754

!") Reduction in a loan initially approved in an earlier year.

Table 2

2. Loans Approved for Municipal Sew age Treatment Projects!') Newfoundland, 1973-1974

1973 1974

Locality Projects $000 Projects 1000Newfoundland 5 299 7 2,135Metropolitan Area St. John's 1 55 1 1,340Census Agglomerations Carbonear - - - -Grand Falls - - -Happy Valley - - - -Labrador - - - -Urban Centres (Population 5,000 +) Channel-Port-aux-Basques - - - -Corner Brook - - - -Gander ' - 1 382Step.dinville - - - -Wabana - - - -

5828

May 15, 1975

Order Paver Questions

1973 1974

Locality Projects $000 Projects $000

Other Localities

Burin - - 1 100Lumsden 1 53 - -Marystown - - 1 54Spaniards Bay 2 153 - -Springdale - - 1 39St. Albans - - 1 182St. George - - 1 32Wareham 1 38 - -

(') Data are gross, excluding cancellations and changes in loans initially approved in an earlier year.

Of the first 280 applications for the federal grant of $500 to new home buyers that were received in the London Office of CMHC, how many (a) were approved (b) were rejected (c) are pending?

Hon. Barney Danson (Minister of State for Urban Affairs):

I am advised by Central Mortgage and Housing Corporation as follows: Of the first 280 applications for the federal grant of $500 to new home buyers, received by the London office of CMHC, (a) 263 were approved, (b) 17 were rejected, and (c) none were pending.

1. What was the approximate cost to compile the answer to Question No. 317 and Question No. 320?

2. How many months were required, in each case, to prepare the answer?

3. How many man months of time were required to answer the questions?

Hon. Mitchell Sharp (President of the Privy Council):

1, 2 and 3. Information not available. We have undertaken an experiment on the cost of answering questions placed on the order paper (from questions Nos. 1,857 to 2,395 inclusive). The cost of answering these questions will be available at a later date.

1. What plans have been made, or are being made, to handle increased traffic through customs services in connection with the Olympic Games in 1978?

2. Will additional facilities be set up at international ports and, if so (a) what will they consist of (b) how many will there be (c) where will they be located (d) how many persons will man them in each case?

3. What is the projected cost of (a) additional facilities (b) additional manpower in each case?

Hon. Ron Basford (Minister of National Revenue):

1.

Customs is working in close co-operation with the federal security co-ordinator (R.C.M. Police), Immigration officials, the Ministry of Transport, the Departments of Agriculture and Health and Welfare, and C.O.J.O. (The

Organizing Committee for the 1976 Olympic Games), towards an overall plan to accommodate the anticipated heavy influx of visitors.

2. No additional physical facilities will be required as those at existing ports are sufficient to handle the anticipated traffic. Mirabel Airport will also be in operation to take care of additional traffic. However, there will be a requirement for additional manpower resources, (a) Not applicable; (b) Not applicable; (c) Not applicable; (d) Not applicable.

3. (a) Nil; (b) A total of $444,000.

In the Province of Saskatchewan (a) how many railway stations were closed by CN and CP Railroads which showed profits on their operations (b) how many in the same category are pending (c) what are the locations of each?

Return tabled.

1. Do any plans exist to establish a programme to promote and market agricultural products from the Atlantic Provinces and, if so, what is the estimated cost of this programme?

2. Are there any plans (a) to provide a special loan and grant programme to assist and encourage family farm operators to modernize and improve their farm operations (b) to improve existing credit programmes to assist young farmers to enter the business of farming (c) to increase the amount of farm loans to meet current needs?

Return tabled.

Has any work been performed for the government since April 20, 1968 by Herbert Brune Construction Limited, 141-A Bentley Avenue, Ottawa and, if so (a) what is a full and detailed description of all work performed along with the amount of public money involved in each case (b) were tenders called by public advertisement in each case and (i) if not, for what reason (ii) if so, what were the names of those tendering and the amounts of tenders?

Return tabled.