(Return tabled) Question No. 849 Hon. Stéphane Dion: With regard to the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program, since the beginning of Canada's participation: (a) what are the criteria (operational requirements, contractual conditions, etc) on which the government is selecting the F-35s as a replacement for the CF-18s; (b) when and by whom were those criteria determined; (c) what are the relevant studies which were conducted prior to determining those criteria, specifying the (i) dates, (ii) names of the studies, (iii) names of individuals requesting the studies, (iv) authors of the studies, (v) names of the individuals presented with the results; (d) before those criteria were determined, on the basis of what information did the government ...[+++]evaluate that the F-35 could satisfy Canada's needs; (e) since the beginning of Canada's participation in the JSF program, what were all the studies conducted that evaluated different fighter planes in relation to Canada's needs, specifying the (i) dates, (ii) names of the studies, (iii) names of individuals requesting the studies, (iv) authors of the studies, (v) studies which were used to evaluate the planes, (vi) names of the individuals who determined those criteria, (vii) planes which were considered in the study, (viii) names of the individuals presented with the results; (f) what is the operational availability of a fleet of 65 fighter jets; (g) what effect will a reduction in Canada's fleet of fighter jets have on operational capability, on Canada's ability to play its role within the North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD) and on the distribution of fighter jets across Canada's military bases; (h) how did the government determine that Canadian Forces needed 65 planes; (i) what is the formula used to determine the number of planes Canada should buy and who is the author of that formula; (j) for each of the variables in that formula, how was the value of that variable determined, specifying by whom, based on ...

The key elements of that multi-state stability accord would be: one, acceptance by all signatories to the sovereign rights, right to respect and fair treatment for all signatory governments; two, a clear affirmation of the rights of all signatories to the peaceful use of nuclear energy for economic development; three, the acceptance by all signatories of the unlimited right of international nuclear energy inspectors to inspect any and all facilities, laboratories and reactor construction sites on 12-hours notice in all signatory countries; four, agreement to specific joint confidence-building visits by joint delegations reflecting all ...[+++] the signatories' political and scientific communities on an ongoing basis; five, formal acceptance of a " no first-use agreement" with respect to all non-conventional weapons by all the signatories, which would include gas, biological and nuclear; six, agreement to joint signatory oversight through use of NATO AWACS and satellite technology supporting both surveillance and enforcement, and both Russia and NATO would engage to provide joint surveillance support to this part of the agreement; and, seven, agreement by supporting " witness signatories" — Russia, the EU, France, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Japan and China, among others — to financial, logistical support and development investment in cooperation with signatory countries to advance economic and social opportunity in all the MSSA signatory countries.

18. Asks the Commission to restrict the marketing and use of mercury in all measuring and control equipment for both consumer and professional uses (especially in households, healthcare facilities, schools and scientific and research institutions), but allowing for some exemptions only where adequate alternatives are not yet available; such exemptions should also apply to the rare cases of maintenance of traditional barometers, mu ...[+++]seum collections and industrial heritage; furthermore, a small number of professional companies in the EU produce traditional measuring instrumentation using small quantities of mercury and this use should continue to be permitted in carefully controlled and licensed environments;

18. Asks the Commission to restrict the marketing and use of mercury in all measuring and control equipment for both consumer and professional uses (especially in households, healthcare facilities, schools and scientific and research institutions), but allowing for some exemptions only where adequate alternatives are not yet available; such exemptions should also apply to the rare cases of maintenance of traditional barometers, mu ...[+++]seum collections and industrial heritage; furthermore, a small number of professional companies in the EU produce traditional measuring instrumentation using small quantities of mercury and this use should continue to be permitted in carefully controlled and licensed environments;

Included are hardware and software consultancy and implementation services; maintenance and repair of computers and peripheral equipment; disaster recovery services, provision of advice and assistance on matters related to the management of computer resources; analysis, design and programming of systems ready to use (including web page development and design), and technical consultancy related to software; development, production, supply and documentation of customized software, including operating systems made on order for specific users; systems maintenan ...[+++]ce and other support services, such as training provided as part of consultancy; data-processing services, such as data entry, tabulation and processing on a time-sharing basis; web page hosting services (i.e., the provision of server space on the Internet to host clients" web pages); and computer facilities management.

12. NOTES the intention of the Commission to create, in cooperation with Member States, a non-binding European Development Plan for improvement and maintenance of inland waterway infrastructures, including the access to multi-modal transhipment facilities.