Procedure and House Affairs Committee on Dec. 11th, 2018

[David Graham, Liberal, Laurentides—Labelle, QC]

Okay.

I do have a specific question.

As Larry mentioned, I've been a staffer and an MP a long time here on the Hill. I know a lot of support staff from my time in staffing. I've heard numerous rumours about an elevator built in West Block that didn't go down far enough, which has resulted in a million dollars of spare parts that can't be used because they're custom made, and that is how we ended up with the temporary loading dock to CBUS, behind the Confederation Building.

Can you confirm or deny this? Is there any truth to this?

[Rob Wright]

I'm not aware of any truth to that. No.

[David Graham, Liberal, Laurentides—Labelle, QC]

Okay. That's good.

When was the loading dock outside of the government lobby planned to be built because I noticed this concrete structure that materialized recently?

[Rob Wright]

Perhaps the House can speak to that as well.

The temporary loading dock that is there now was not part of the initial scope of the West Block. It's part of the broader long-term vision and plan. There are plans around a permanent materiel handling facility on Parliament Hill, which is not in place yet, so a temporary solution was required.

Currently, there's a loading dock in the Centre Block that can be used until the Centre Block is fully decommissioned. As you heard, it will take several months, so the temporary loading dock has to be in place by the time the Centre Block is fully decommissioned. Until that point, the loading dock that is currently at the Centre Block serves the West Block appropriately.

[David Graham, Liberal, Laurentides—Labelle, QC]

There's no loading dock whatsoever built into West Block as yet in this construction. It was always planned to have loading done through Centre Block.

[Rob Wright]

There was a plan to have a long-term materiel management and loading dock facility aligned with the opening of the West Block, which did not occur. There were some adjustments to the long-term vision and plan, so we shifted to a temporary solution.

[David Graham, Liberal, Laurentides—Labelle, QC]

The long-term vision and plan had planned for a loading dock and they dropped the plan for a loading dock.

[Rob Wright]

To the west of the West Block was the original plan, yes.

[David Graham, Liberal, Laurentides—Labelle, QC]

Right. That's good to know.

What was the consultation with members and staff on the construction of West Block as we now know it? Can anybody speak to the process and the involvement of members in that process?

[Susan Kulba]

Again, for the West Block, our consultation was through the Board of Internal Economy but at a very high level. We've learned that this probably is not the best way to go. That's why we're here engaging with you and we're hearing what you're asking for. We're trying to change that going forward so that parliamentarians will be involved through the process for the Centre Block for sure.

[David Graham, Liberal, Laurentides—Labelle, QC]

You mentioned earlier that there's a prescribed allocation of MPs' offices in the building, as we discussed, for Centre Block. How much backbench MP office space is there in West Block?

[Susan Kulba]

As you know, I'm sure it's really about the leadership. There is not a lot of room. The West Block is not a very large building so the primary objective was to fit the chamber and as much MP space in there as we could. It resulted in a fairly little amount of office space.

[David Graham, Liberal, Laurentides—Labelle, QC]

When we finish Centre Block, do we have to close West Block again?

[Susan Kulba]

The current plan would be to reconvert the chamber into committee rooms. That was what was established in 2001. It doesn't mean that's going to be the final plan. At this point, I would say we're going to have to have a good look at that together with the parliamentarian needs at the time, and determine whether or not those renovations go forward, or if there are other requirements at that time that are more pertinent.

[David Graham, Liberal, Laurentides—Labelle, QC]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Larry Bagnell]

Mr. Simms.

[Scott Simms, Liberal, Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame, NL]

If I may be so bold in suggesting something, Bruce Stanton has a great article called “A Parallel Chamber”. I think it's in the parliamentary magazine. It may be a topic for conversation. I can send it to anybody on this committee. It's by our deputy speaker Bruce Stanton. They have parallel chambers in both Australia and the U.K. They work very well, very efficiently. To my colleagues, let's give this serious consideration. We can even do it before that, but certainly for the conversion of West Block back to just committee rooms, we should think about that.

I have a question, as a former press person, about the press hot room, as they call it. You've probably already answered this but I'm going to ask it again. Do you currently have a press room in West Block?

[Stéphan Aubé]

There's a space, sir, for the hot room in the West Block.

[Scott Simms, Liberal, Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame, NL]

A space for...?

[Stéphan Aubé]

It's for the press, where our press conferences will be held, also, sir. There's also a green room in the back of it for any television requirements.

[Scott Simms, Liberal, Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame, NL]

Do you have the sound booth there as well?

[Stéphan Aubé]

Yes.

[Scott Simms, Liberal, Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame, NL]

How does it compare to the current one here?

[Susan Kulba]

In terms of space for the press itself, there's less space for their offices. They have expressed in part of the requirements that it wouldn't be enough so they accepted space in the National Press Building for some of the staff. But the room that Mr. Aubé is referring to is the replacement for the Charles-Lynch room, and essentially, it's probably a little bigger and it's obviously more modern in terms of technology.

[Scott Simms, Liberal, Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame, NL]

Okay, because we have two different things here that we're doing. We have a room for them to do their work—call it a designated work station, whatever you wish—but we also have the studio down here. I guess what I'm asking about is not so much the Charles-Lynch room, but this room called....