Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I've been following the line of discussion that our Conservative colleagues are bringing forward, and it's obvious to everyone here that they're trying to distract from the point and the unassailable fact that with the purchase of this property in New York, Canadians are saving $4 million. That's $4 million that Canadians are saving with this transaction. In fact, with this new property, they will be saving a total of $7 million over a 20-year life cycle. That's what's important here. It costs half as much to operate this new mission, and Canadians will be saving $115,000 annually in operating costs. Again, over the course of a 20-year life cycle of this property, Canadians are saving $7 million.
This new property has a smaller footprint. It is also more accessible than the old property, and it has many more functions as well. It's a better property in every single sense. It is a cheaper property to operate, and it will save Canadians $7 million. All of the discussions here, led by the Conservatives, are to try to distract Canadians from the very fact that because of this real estate transaction, Canadians are saving $7 million. When you're looking for efficiency from government officials and government, this demonstrates that.
I can't say it enough; this saves Canadians $7 million in a 20-year life cycle.
What concerns me also about this motion is asking the chief of staff to appear at committee. This sets a dangerous precedent. We already have the minister appearing before this committee, and the minister speaks on behalf of the minister and speaks on behalf of the ministry. Therefore, asking staff to come here sets a very dangerous precedent.
As members of Parliament, as MPs, we all have staff, and I do believe that we would be quite concerned if any one of our staff were to be called in front of committee to speak on our behalf and to answer questions on our behalf. We are answerable. We are the ones who are responsible, just as the ministers are responsible to speak for themselves and for their ministries.
At the very least, I would put forward an amendment to strike from this motion the invitation for the former chief of staff to Minister Joly, Peter Wilkinson. That is the amendment that I would like to bring forward. Again, this is a dangerous precedent, and the minister—