Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Minister, thank you for being here.
It's interesting and hypocritical that we're accusing individuals who are temporary in their positions. The consul general is not going to be there forever. Here we have individuals opposite who are benefiting from subsidized rents. They're not paying rent. Pierre Poilievre lives in a historic mansion, Stornoway, rent-free. We have to keep this in perspective in terms of the motivation behind the purchase and sale of assets.
From my previous experience in my previous life provincially, I know that the provinces benefit greatly from the representation in New York City. I attended the former residence on many occasions with the consul general and other officials, selling Ontario and selling Canada. The negotiations and the discussions we had were with U.S. officials, U.S. businesses and U.S. institutions benefiting and greatly looking for Canada to do business. That's not possible without representation in New York City to do so.
Interestingly enough, when we talk about creating investments, about creating jobs and about the economic benefits that come from those discussions, other officials from other countries are paying attention and recognizing it, too. They're not going to go to New Jersey. They're not going to go anywhere else to have those discussions. They have them in Manhattan because there are multiple discussions being had concurrently in the city.
Interestingly enough, the Conservative consul general at the time—I had the opportunity of being with both parties throughout that process—complained about the status of the residence, about the maintenance, about the engagement and about the requirement for upkeep to maintain the same level of engagement with the other competitors from other countries.
I have two questions. One is on the timing. Have there been ongoing discussions about the maintenance, the upgrading and the modernization of the residence over time? Is this something that just happened suddenly, or is this something that's been ongoing for a while?