Government Operations committee  These buildings of all kinds belong to both the private and public sectors and are protected by a provincial or municipal statute.

Government Operations committee  It's possible to get an easement. It's also possible for the building to be protected under a provincial act.

Government Operations committee  There's no legislation for buildings belonging to the federal government.

Government Operations committee  Yes.

Government Operations committee  That's correct. There's the Federal Heritage Buildings Review Office, but that's more of a policy. So it's given less respect and investment than an act.

Government Operations committee  The current policy attempts, as far as possible, to protect the building for the future. The building may be designated under a provincial act, such as the Ontario Heritage Trust. The government has a duty to make this effort, but it is not required to do so.

Government Operations committee  It's worth the trouble. There are resources. I don't know what there is in France, but the United States offers tax incentives to the private sector to encourage it to invest in historic buildings. There's also a federal endowment fund that makes money available to non-profit organizations to encourage them to preserve historic buildings.

Government Operations committee  There are certainly organizations set up to design and manage covenants. One of the issues with putting a covenant on a property and selling it is that the covenant really has no value unless it's being monitored. Often when a building is sold, a portion of the proceeds of the sale are set aside to pay for the expertise that would be involved in monitoring changes, reviewing changes, and confirming them over time.

Government Operations committee  In the U.S. there is statutory protection of federal buildings. One of the most important components of that is the requirement for a review process that gives the public an opportunity to comment on changes or proposed demolition of buildings. That's a key piece of the puzzle. It's about engaging Canadians and giving Canadians a voice in managing these buildings, which are really public assets.

Government Operations committee  Thank you for the invitation to present to the committee. The Heritage Canada Foundation is an independent charitable organization with a public mandate to promote the protection, rehabilitation, and sustainable reuse of Canada's historic buildings. You may have heard recently about our “Make Landmarks, Not Landfill” campaign.

Canadian Heritage committee  I'd like to just add another perspective. Often the impetus for starting a new museum is that there is a historic building that has no other use, and the community wants to make sure that it's protected. The tax incentive, the CHPIF program that I spoke about, is one way to attract developers to those buildings and to give them a new life that does not represent a long-term drain on the public purse.

Canadian Heritage committee  Mr. Chairman, members of the committee, thank you very much for this opportunity to appear. I'm Nathalie Bull and I'm the executive director of the Heritage Canada Foundation, not to be confused with the Department of Canadian Heritage, although many make that mistake every day.

Finance committee  Right. It would be administered as two separate programs because of two very different administration types. The tax incentive would be administered on the basis of the dollar value of construction, and the direct funding would more likely be a contribution program.

Finance committee  There are buildings owned by many different types of owners: privately owned buildings, commercially owned buildings.

Finance committee  As regards direct funding, we are proposing an amount of between $5 and $10 million annually. Those amounts are based on the results of the program established for commercial properties.