Evidence of meeting #50 for Government Operations and Estimates in the 41st Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was question.
A video is available from Parliament.
5:20 p.m.
Assistant Secretary, Expenditure Management Sector, Treasury Board Secretariat
Severance payments, because they would cash out related to the reductions around the strategic and operating review, would not be included here. That's a separate amount.
5:20 p.m.
NDP
The Chair NDP Pat Martin
Further on liabilities, then, let me ask a question regarding property management and Public Works. In the industry, they say that if a building is more than 40 years old, the costs of removing asbestos would be equal to the cost of building the building originally. You made passing reference to hazardous or harmful products, or something, and asbestos removal must have been a big cost in the renovation of the Wellington, West Block, and John A. Macdonald buildings, etc.
Have you measured the ongoing liability of the presence of Canadian asbestos in Canadian federal buildings across the country? How much of the total renovation cost was asbestos removal in the renovations of, for instance, those buildings you have ongoing now?
5:20 p.m.
Chief Financial Officer, Finance Branch, Department of Public Works and Government Services
It's a very good question. Thank you, Mr. Chair, for the question.
I don't have the details in terms of the cost of asbestos in our buildings, but I know that our standards, in terms of the buildings...we always look for LEED standards for our buildings. Asbestos is a reality in some of our buildings, but I don't have the cost here. It's something we could follow up on if the committee wishes us to do so.
For the parliamentary precinct, would you like to...?
5:20 p.m.
Assistant Deputy Minister, Parliamentary Precinct Branch, Department of Public Works and Government Services
All of our current projects involve both a demolition component and a removal of hazardous materials component. The removal of those materials often falls under a more comprehensive contract. Before I could give you the exact figures, I would have to do a bit of research. But, off the top of my head, I can tell you that as far as the West Block goes, demolition and removal of hazardous materials, including paint, is around $9 million for the whole project. While that work is under way, we check air quality. The employees doing the demolition have special equipment because of all the dust. The general contractor is actually responsible for complying with all codes and regulations. On our end, we ensure the contractor is in compliance.
5:20 p.m.
NDP
The Chair NDP Pat Martin
So there is no ongoing fund or measurement of the liability. The Government of Canada should know what liability is out there in the thousands and thousands of buildings they own. I mean, we've contaminated virtually every private, public, and institutional building with asbestos in our zeal to use it.
Perhaps you could get information to me, then, Mr. Lakroni, about what the long-term strategy is for asbestos abatement in those buildings under your direction and control.
Does anybody else wish to ask a question?
Thank you to all the witnesses for a very thorough and comprehensive reporting on the supplementary estimates.
Thank you to committee members for very good, solid, robust questioning.
As an announcement, I believe we will not be having a meeting on Monday, and a notice to that effect will be coming around. It's taking quite a long time to get the draft report ready and translated. We felt it wouldn't be useful if the report was only delivered to us as we arrived at the meeting on Monday afternoon. It wouldn't be of much value, and it would be better to take a couple of days to review the report when it arrives and come back on Wednesday ready to rock and roll on our draft report.
Is that agreed? I didn't think there would be any objection.
The meeting is adjourned.
