I took the Auditor General's findings very seriously. We're looking at ways to implement policies in order to do a better job. Obviously, I'm not here to make excuses for the previous government, but the examples cited in the AG's report are very serious.
Why would a department sign a one-year lease rather than a five-year or twenty-year lease? Short-term leases are far more costly. We will work with the Minister of Public Works and Government Services, Mr. Fortier, to formulate a better policy and to ensure regulatory compliance.
In Montreal, for instance, the minister has indicated that he wants to remain in his present location. However, other office space has already been rented for his department. That's unacceptable. Of course, if several departments could be relocated outside of Ottawa, not necessarily to large cities, but to municipalities with populations of less than 200,000, it would be less expensive. For example, it might be more productive to have employees from different departments working in a region like Trois-Rivières, Fort McMurray, Kingston or Rimouski. That way, they would be more in tune with the goings-on of other departments with regional offices.