Government Operations Committee on Nov. 16th, 2010

[Joseph Broccolini]

Do you mean, by Public Works?

[Chris Warkentin, Conservative, Peace River, AB]

That's right.

[Joseph Broccolini]

I have no idea.

[Chris Warkentin, Conservative, Peace River, AB]

Okay. But you said that the square footage was approximately—

[Joseph Broccolini]

One million square feet total.

[Chris Warkentin, Conservative, Peace River, AB]

Okay. So it's one million square feet, and I believe the Public Works equation is that one person will be allocated 25 square feet, so you can estimate that thousands of people will be located at these buildings.

[Joseph Broccolini]

I can estimate that, yes.

[Chris Warkentin, Conservative, Peace River, AB]

I appreciate that. And I think that's important for us.

We appreciate your coming here this morning, each one of you. I think your testimony has given us some more information, not necessarily as it was pertaining to the particular issue at hand, but clearly we've run out of questions on the issue at hand, and therefore we thank you for the additional information that you've given us on other issues as well. I appreciate it.

Mr. Broccolini, we commend you for your work and we look forward to the construction of these two towers. I know that my colleagues from Quebec will be commending the government for, first of all, creating construction jobs in this time of economic recession, and then obviously commending the government for ensuring that there will be civil servants located in the Gatineau region into the long term.

So thanks so much.

[The Chair, Liberal, John McKay]

Thank you, Mr. Warkentin.

Mr. Coderre, you have one minute.

[Denis Coderre, Liberal, Bourassa, QC]

Mr. Broccolini, I want us to get something straight. You bought a ticket from Mr. Padulo because that was one way of sending a message to Minister Paradis.

Since the competition for the two buildings was reopened—a competition that you in any case subsequently won—did you sense that someone was fiddling with the process? Why was the competition changed on two occasions?

[Joseph Broccolini]

I don't know. In my mind, the reason might have been that I was the only bidder for 22 Eddy Street. Perhaps the amount of the bid was too high. Why did the government go to a new request for proposals? I think it needed to do so for that building. I don't know.

[Denis Coderre, Liberal, Bourassa, QC]

Did you get the sense that it was because there were other interests? You won it in any case; you demonstrated your expertise and your professionalism. In spite of everything, not only was the competition reopened, but you discovered that there had been a third. If you had bid in that third competition with the figures... The government relied on your own figures. It's as though there was no commercial balance. That means that it used exactly the same figures as you had submitted and as a result of which you won.

Don't you find that odd? Don't you think the criteria were manipulated?

[The Chair, Liberal, John McKay]

Very briefly, Mr. Broccolini.

[Joseph Broccolini]

I don't know. The bids were public. The third bid wasn't public. I don't know why. It's a matter that is the responsibility of Public Works and Government Services Canada, not mine.

[The Chair, Liberal, John McKay]

Thank you, Mr. Coderre.

Thank you, Mr. Conacher, Mr. Broccolini, and, for two hours, Mr. Fortier.

Just as a point of information for colleagues, on the 25th we were scheduled to do a G-8/G-20 inquiry. Both witnesses are not available, and I'm proposing that we do supplementary estimates (B) on the 25th.

I think the other items that I have to deal with should really be dealt with in camera. We do not have the time, so I'm going to propose a subcommittee meeting fairly shortly.

Thank you again, witnesses, and thank you, colleagues.

The meeting is adjourned.