Procedure and House Affairs Committee on Feb. 1st, 2022

[The Chair, Liberal, Bardish Chagger]

I call this meeting to order.

Welcome to the fourth meeting of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs.

The Committee is meeting today to hear from representatives of the House of Commons, as well as Public Works and Government Services Canada, about the renovation of Centre Block.

Today's meeting will be hybrid, pursuant to the order passed by the House on Thursday, November 25, 2021. MPs may attend in person or by using the Zoom application.

Proceedings are broadcast on the House of Commons website. For information, I would add that the webcast will always show the person speaking, not the entire Committee.

I will use this opportunity to remind all participants and observers that taking screen shots or photos of their screen is not permitted.

Due to the pandemic, to properly ensure health and safety, all those who participate in a meeting in person must maintain a physical distance of 2 meters and wear a non-medical mask when circulating in the room, as per the recommendations of public health authorities as well as the Board of Internal Economy's directive on October 19, 2021 and the order of the House on November 25, 2021. It is strongly recommended that a mask be worn at all times, including when in at your seat. Good hygiene must also be practised by using the hand sanitizer at the entrance to the room.

To ensure an orderly meeting, I would like to outline a few rules to follow.

Members and witnesses may speak in the official language of their choice. Interpretation services are available for this meeting. You have the choice at the bottom of your screen of either floor, English or French audio. If interpretation is lost, please inform me immediately and we will ensure interpretation is properly restored before resuming the proceedings. The “raise hand” feature at the bottom of the screen can be used at any time if you wish to speak or to alert the chair.

For members participating in person, proceed as you usually would when the whole committee is meeting in person in a committee room. Keep in mind the Board of Internal Economy's guidelines for mask use and health protocols.

Before speaking, please wait until I recognize you by name. If you are on the video conference, please click on the microphone icon to unmute yourself. For those in the room, your microphones will be controlled as normal by the proceedings and verification officer. When speaking, please speak slowly and clearly. When you are not speaking, your mike should be on mute.

I remind you that all comments by members and witnesses should be addressed through the chair. With regard to a speaking list, the committee clerk and I will do the best we can to maintain a consolidated order of speaking for all members, whether they are participating virtually or in person.

I would now like to welcome our witnesses. They will be providing us with a presentation to update us on the progress of the Centre Block rehabilitation. Their presentation goes on longer than the usual five minutes afforded for an opening statement. I believe that in this instance that is justified so that we may be fully briefed on the current status of the work. They will be with us for up to 90 minutes. Then, as I indicated, the committee will move in camera to conduct some committee business.

Mr. Wright, please proceed with your presentation. Welcome to PROC.

[Rob Wright, Assistant Deputy Minister, Science and Parliamentary Infrastructure Branch, Department of Public Works and Government Services]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Hello, I'm Rob Wright and I am the deputy minister of Public Services and Procurement Canada, or PSPC, and I'm responsible for the restoration and modernization of the Parliamentary Precinct.

Today, I have with me Ms. Jennifer Garrett, Director General of the Centre Block Program at PSPC; Mr. Michel Patrice, Deputy Clerk for House of Commons Administration and key partner; Mr. Stéphan Aubé, Chief Information Officer, Digital Services and Real Property; and Darrell de Grandmont, Director of the Centre Block Program.

Today, we have the pleasure of presenting an update regarding the Centre Block rehabilitation project.

Despite the challenges caused by the pandemic, we have made a great deal of progress since our last appearance before the committee in February of 2020.

Today, we'll walk you through the design work and give an update on construction progress.

As you are aware, we baselined the project's budget and schedule in June 2021 as part of a public technical briefing. The baseline budget and schedule remain unchanged.

The House of Commons will also describe the governance framework that has been established to guide decision-making for the House's functional requirements, as well as provide an overview of some of the key decisions made.

I will now move on directly to the presentation, which starts at slide number 3.

It is important to start by situating Centre Block in a wider context. This project is at the summit of government efforts to restore and transform the Parliamentary Precinct into a modern and integrated campus. This work is guided by the long term vision and plan.

This work is focused on the twin objectives of supporting the operations of a modern parliamentary democracy and ensuring that Parliament and the parliamentary landscape are open, accessible and engaging for all Canadians.

It is also worth mentioning that, in addition to the Centre Block, the other key priority right now is the redevelopment of what we call “block two”, the city block directly across from Parliament Hill. The redevelopment of block two will first serve as swing space to enable us to empty and restore the Confederation building and East Block, and then will enable us to consolidate parliamentary operations into a secure, modern and integrated campus.

We are currently in the second stage of an international design competition. The independent jury, of which three parliamentarians are members, will come back together in April to select the winning design concept.

I'll now turn my attention directly to the Centre Block.

Slide 4 helps to remind us why we are doing the project. While the building may have remained beautiful to look at, its facilities were critically outdated and systems were failing. Stone was damaged by water infiltration and Ottawa's extreme freeze-thaw cycle. Water was also corroding the structural steel.

Also, concealed behind the beautiful heritage finishes were kilometres of rusted-out heating pipes that broke and leaked, causing damage.

Electrical and communication systems were inadequate and stretched to capacity in trying to support modern broadcasting that they were never designed or equipped to accommodate.

Let's move on to the next slide.

To ensure that Centre Block will be able to serve Canada's parliamentary democracy throughout the next century and continue to welcome Canadians, an in-depth restoration is necessary. This is one of the most significant and complex heritage restorations ever undertaken in Canada. The scope and scale of the project are immense. The Project Management Institute recognized its global influence, and it is ranked first in Canada.

To restore this heritage masterpiece, it needs to be carefully taken apart, undergo an extensive abatement program, and literally be rebuilt to integrate modern standards, including a reinforced structure, seismic upgrading and new building systems, including mechanical and electrical systems and a modern digital backbone and security system.

For example, significant effort is required to transform the Centre Block from one of the government's worst greenhouse-gas-emitting buildings into a carbon-neutral facility that will see a 75% reduction of energy usage and a 50% reduction in water use.

Addressing the many accessibility challenges will also require significant effort.

Although heritage buildings such as the Centre Block can present some extreme challenges, PSPC, in partnership with Parliament, is committed to making the Centre Block a leading example of accessibility. The addition of a “Parliament Welcome Centre” is core to achieving its objective, enabling Canada's Parliament to become both more secure and more accessible to all Canadians.

Let's move on to slide 7.

We had to meet many technical challenges, as we worked to modernize this heritage masterwork and have it meet modern codes and standards.

For example, the Centre Block had sprinkler coverage in only 20% of the building. It did not have modern heating and cooling, and it met only 30% of the current seismic load.

It is important to recognize that we have developed plans to overcome these challenges and ensure that Centre Block will be able to serve Parliament and Canadians throughout the 21st century and beyond, and that we have done so as part of a vast framework of partners and stakeholders. This is what is shown in slide 8. Above all, this is a partnership with both chambers of Parliament.

I now give the floor to Mr. Patrice.

[Michel Patrice, Deputy Clerk, Administration]

Indeed, as Mr. Wright said, this is a highly complex project that must meet the needs of parliamentarians, Parliament and the House of Commons for the next 50 to 100 years that follow. To do so, the Board of Internal Economy has set up a long-term working group for the project's long-term vision and plan.

The board gave a mandate to that group to examine, study and provide timely recommendations to them in respect of renovations and requirements that are integral to the House of Commons, its members and its operation. Two instructions were given to the working group when it was established, in March 2020. One was that the footprint of the size of the chamber must remain the same. The second important one was that the existing heritage of Centre Block must be protected and maintained, while recognizing that technology and modern equipment are necessary.

In regard to members of the working group, all parties are represented in that group. The chair of that working group is Deputy Speaker d'Entremont. There have been a few changes and adjustments pursuant to the last election. It's a group composed of eight members of Parliament. It's very important to have this group, as they represent the interest, knowledge and experience of members of Parliament. While it's a significant historic and symbolic place for Canadians, being the seat of democracy, it's also the workplace of parliamentarians. It must respond to the needs of the future, in terms of Parliament, as it grows towards the next century.

Obviously, the other authorization the board gave to the working group was to meet jointly with the Senate long-term vision and plan subcommittee, which is composed of senators. Centre Block is one of the buildings most shared between the two Houses. It's important that Parliament respond to the needs of all parliamentarians.

The working group has met over 12 times since its creation. A number of decisions and discussions have taken place with the very active membership and involvement of the members of the House of Commons. Some key decisions were made—obviously, on the chamber size, made by the Board of Internal Economy. The parliamentary welcome centre footprint was the subject of numerous discussions in terms of the needs of Parliament in the future. There were other decisions with respect to the hoarding design and in terms of the tarp covering Parliament during construction, which will go on for a decade, let's say.

Other subjects of importance included recognizing growth in terms of lobbies and galleries in the chamber. Lobbies, as you all know, are quite small and not necessarily comfortable or conducive for members in terms of preparing for the proceedings in the chamber. One of the decisions made was that lobbies in the Centre Block would be on two floors—the main lobby, as you know it, and also a support lobby on the floor below. They would be interconnected and would facilitate movement, allowing you to have meetings and a bit more freedom to manoeuvre.

A big decision that involved many partners and stakeholders, not only in terms of Parliament institutions but also, for example, the National Capital Commission and the City of Ottawa, was the location of the entrance of the parliamentary welcome centre.

It had to be intuitive for Canadians and for the public in terms of how they access their Parliament, your Parliament. I must say that it was a successful endeavour, but quite complex.

Another item, for example, was a public engagement strategy. PSPC had the support of the working group and the board to do a national survey. I understand this survey has been made public.

Recognizing the growth, there was an opportunity, for example, in Centre Block to infill above the Hall of Honour. The working group made that recommendation to the board, which it approved. There will be three floors above the Hall of Honour. The design in terms of its virtual use is still under discussion and under review, but there was a consensus between the two Houses that the top floor, the sixth floor, would be a gathering place for the parliamentarians of both Houses.

There is still a lot to do.

As for future issues, some discussions are already under way, specifically on the subject of designing new floors for the Hall of Honour, the visitor welcome centre and details of the location and capacity of the public café.

As for the seats in the public galleries, there are some issues to resolve, such as to ensure accessibility. The working group and the Board of Internal Economy have recognized that these needs will cause a reduction of the public galleries' capacity.

Among other upcoming subjects, there is obviously circulation between the tunnels and all three buildings, as well as the design of the parliamentary dining room, which will be reviewed and modernized while maintaining its heritage character.

There is also the issue of parliamentary offices in Centre Block. Give the infrastructure and mechanical needs, among others, the number of parliamentary offices in Centre Block will be reduced. All of these issues will be raised before the working group. The issues of security measures and posture will of course be reviewed by the working group.

The overall design of the parliamentary welcome centre, the circulation, the Charles Lynch room and MP services, which will be available in the parliamentary welcome centre, are also very important.

I'll pass the floor back to Mr. Wright, but we'll be happy to answer all your questions at the appropriate time.

[Rob Wright]

Thank you very much.

The main decisions made by the House of Commons, which Mr. Patrice explained to you, helped the design take shape. The design process is highly collaborative and mobilizes many partners beyond Parliament, such as the National Capital Commission and Parks Canada's Federal Heritage Buildings Review Office.

Because of the importance of the design work on perhaps the most important public building in Canada, and the complexities involved, PSPC, in partnership with the National Capital Commission and Parliament, engaged the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada to obtain independent feedback on the evolving design. The RAIC brought together a group of eminent Canadian architects and design professionals, as well as a former architect of the Capitol in Washington, to form the independent design review panel shown on slide 15 to provide feedback on the design direction.

The design I will walk through today continues to be shaped through this engagement, and it is helping us find a point of balance between restoring this heritage masterpiece and modernizing it to support a 21st-century Parliament, and making it more open and accessible for all Canadians.

The first point to highlight is this: the key principle of this design is that both the renewed Centre Block and new Parliament welcome centre will respect what was there before. In this spirit, slide 17 shows that the parliamentary lawn is completely restored and lines of sight from Centre Block are maintained. At the foot of the Centennial Flame, Parliament Hill will look a great deal like it did when Centre Block closed. Traditional operation of the Hill will also be respected and traditional access routes will also be maintained.

Canadians will continue to pass by the Centennial Flame as they move up the central path toward a new, fully accessible front door to Parliament. As well, it is important to note that parliamentarians and visiting dignitaries will still be able to enter the Centre Block through the traditional entryways. As a visitor moves up the central pathway, the universally accessible front door comes into focus. The goal is for the entry to be subtle, but also for it to work intuitively for Canadians visiting Parliament Hill.

The Vaux wall and the central staircase will be returned to their former positions, and the entry will be integrated under the central staircase, with access from both the east and west.

When a visitor enters the Parliament welcome centre, as indicated on slide 18, they first enter a mezzanine. This is a secured area, but an opening allows the visitor to quickly see the layout and function of the space.

The central feature in this space is also immediately evident; the now exposed foundation of the Peace Tower and Confederation Hall both anchors the space and connects it to the Centre Block.

Stairs and elevators will be accessible from both sides to lead visitors from the main public entrance of the Welcome Centre.

Visitors will then pass through airport-style security screening, with a bypass lane for parliamentarians and dedicated lanes for business visitors. The majority of the lanes will be used by the Canadian public and visiting school groups.

Once a visitor enters the main welcome hall, there will be dedicated spaces for visitor engagement, exhibition space and an interactive theatre, as well as classrooms for school groups, which will be available for use by parliamentarians to engage schools, constituents and other groups.

Visitors will flow around the foundation of the Peace Tower as they move toward the Centre Block. Two sets of skylights will fill the space with natural light and connect it to two of the Centre Block's most iconic elements: the Peace Tower and the Hall of Honour.

Previously only visible from outside the building, there will now be several vistas of the Centre Block's defining feature, the Peace Tower. The point of interface between the Parliament welcome centre and the Centre Block will be the east and west courtyards. A visitor on a public tour will enter through the west courtyard adjacent to the House chamber and exit through the east courtyard adjacent to the Senate chamber.

As visitors take elevators up into the previously unused courtyards, they will ascend into new, light-filled spaces. The use of the courtyards will have multiple benefits, making the Centre Block more energy efficient and much more accessible. Leveraging the courtyards is critical to ensuring that the Centre Block can continue to operate both as the Parliament building and as a public building, open and accessible to all Canadians.

Visitors participating in a guided tour, those attending a committee meeting or leading other activities will exit the interior courtyard through the south hallway. Those attending question period or a vote will go up one floor using the stairs or elevator to reach a mezzanine adjacent to the Chamber gallery.

As visitors move toward the gallery, they will pass through an antechamber that will act as a sound trap to ensure that activity in the courtyard will not disturb chamber proceedings.

As a visitor enters into the new code-compliant and universally accessible gallery, the chamber will look as it always did. The heritage elements will be fully restored, but with fully integrated modern infrastructure to meet broadcasting and acoustic standards.

As Mr. Patrice said, seating design in both the gallery and the chamber floor is an area on which we continue to work hand in hand with the House of Commons to ensure that we're able to align the functional needs of Parliament and the objectives of universal accessibility. Specifically, we are working to maintain as many seats as possible in the gallery and to provide additional seats on the chamber floor to accommodate the increasing numbers of MPs over time. Further consultation with Parliamentarians, including mock-ups, will be part of the process to further develop the seating plans for the chamber.

Using slides 23 to 25, I will provide an update on heritage conservation and construction progress.

Many of the more than 20,000 heritage assets in the Centre Block have been removed for repair and restoration. Internationally recognized best practices for conservation are being followed to both protect existing heritage elements and design new features that serve modern functions.

Following the careful removal of the heritage layer, much of the building has now been taken down to the studs. The removal of asbestos is 65% completed. Approximately 16 million pounds of asbestos-containing material have now been removed. The painstaking work will be completed on floors one, four, five and six before the end of 2022, while work on the high heritage floors, two and three, including the chambers, will extend into 2023.

The following slides show before and after pictures. You can see the progress made inside the building to prepare the start of the next phase of construction to reinforce the building's structure, meet modern building codes and install new systems.

The first image is of the chamber after the hand-painted linen ceiling was carefully removed for important conservation work. The second image shows the former fifth-floor cafeteria.

Slide 28 shows progress made at the visitor entrance, located on the first floor of the building. The next slide shows the 6^th floor.

The last slide in this series shows the reading room. It is now being used for rapid testing of all the workers. That has been a key part of a comprehensive strategy, with great leadership demonstrated by the construction industry, to keep the site safe and operational over the past two years.

Slide 31 shows the masonry work progressing well on the north facade. Twenty-five per cent of the north facade is now completed, which represents about 5% of the overall masonry work. This will involve the complete rehabilitation of the almost 400,000 stones on the building's exterior, requiring the complete removal and repair, and in some cases replacement, of approximately one-third of the stones. This work is extremely labour-intensive and time-consuming.

Excavation of the Parliament Welcome Centre, which we can see on slide 32, are on the right track and progressing well. In fact, 60% of the excavation is now done. To date, 26,000 loads of rocky substrate have been removed. The western section of the excavation has reached its final depth, which is 21 meters. Excavation will be done by the end of this year.

I will now look forward to some key upcoming milestones and activities. A key focus this spring will be to finalize the schematic design and then seek design endorsement in the form of a federal land use approval from the National Capital Commission.

Turning to construction, we will begin the removal of the floor slab in level one and begin excavation work in the basement and the courtyards. This technically challenging work is key to both advancing the base isolation strategy for seismic upgrading and interconnecting the Centre Block and the Parliament welcome centre.

In 2023, main excavation of the Parliament Welcome Centre will be behind us, and we will come to the end of our demolition and asbestos removal inside Centre Block. By the end of 2023, after the creation of a series of geothermic wells, we will start to pour concrete for the Parliament Welcome Centre.

In closing, the restoration and modernization of the Centre Block and the insertion of a new Parliament welcome centre into the heritage landscape is complex and challenging. At the same time, it provides a number of opportunities not only to restore this Canadian masterpiece but also to digitally equip Canada's Parliament and make it more secure, sustainable and accessible to all Canadians, enabling more Canadians to engage in our country's parliamentary tradition and democratic process. This work will ensure that the Parliament buildings are ready to serve Parliament and Canada for another century.

Thank you for your attention. We'd be pleased to take your questions.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bardish Chagger]

Thank you for that thorough presentation, and thank you to you and your team for being here with us today.

We will now enter into six-minute rounds for questions, starting with Mr. Duncan, who will be followed by Mr. Turnbull.

The next turn will be Ms. DeBellefeuille's, then Ms. Blaney.

Mr. Duncan, we go to you for six minutes.

[Eric Duncan, Conservative, Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON]

Thank you for the information. I have a few different things, and I think I'll go over some of the questions I have about project benchmarks, then some of the governance. Since I have been a member of PROC before, you won't be surprised by some of my questions on that. Then I'll talk a bit about the contingencies or variables.

It was good information and a good presentation, but there are a couple of things.

When are we going to get back into Centre Block? We talk about the time frame: on time, on budget. What is “on time”—

[The Chair, Liberal, Bardish Chagger]

I know it will be difficult, as I'm not in the room, but I would just remind us to go through the chair. If we maintain a good pace, I will not intervene as often.

Go ahead, Mr. Wright.

[Eric Duncan, Conservative, Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON]

I was asking you, Madam Chair, but anyway, it's noted.

[Rob Wright]

In June 2021, when we baselined the project as part of the public technical briefing, we stated that the substantial completion of construction would be—and we gave a range—in 2030-31. I'll come back to the rationale for that.

Also, then, working hand in hand with Parliament—the House of Commons and the Senate—we also indicated that there would be an approximate one-year period of commissioning and testing to ensure that the Centre Block is ready for use for parliamentary proceedings. That baseline remains. We continue with a construction schedule of 2030-31 and then a period of time for Parliament to be able to properly commission the building.

[Eric Duncan, Conservative, Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON]

Yes, that is good. I think I would say that there's about a decade left before we may get in, between finishing at that point....

The other thing is that we have to ask about money. I ask about that every time. Where are we in terms of a budget? I'll start with Centre Block and I'll expand a bit, but what's the budget figure, as of today, for the cost of the Centre Block renovation?

[Rob Wright]

I'll return to the baseline we established in June 2021. We established a baseline budget for the Centre Block and the Parliament Welcome Centre. Again, we gave a range of $4.5 billion to $5 billion. That is the established budget for both the Centre Block and the Parliament Welcome Centre.

[Eric Duncan, Conservative, Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON]

That's just the Centre Block building itself, so pulling it back out into the presentation about the parliamentary precinct, I have two questions on that when it comes to budget and time frame. What's the overall number that you have at this point for all those blocks and buildings—Confederation, East...? What's the total number you're looking at as of today?

[Rob Wright]

It's important to maybe take one step back. The long-term vision and plan we implement on rolling programs of work, so essentially what we do is.... Again, I'm going to take you back to that baseline in June of 2021. There's a lot of work that we do with Parliament to develop the functional requirements for individual projects, and then we baseline both the budget and the schedule for each one of these.

The next big piece, the baseline, will be block two. Once we come out of that international design competition, we would then move to baseline that from a budget and schedule perspective and then hold ourselves accountable for the delivery of that.

We just completed a major recapitalization of the East Block. We hit that on time, on budget, at just under $100 million.

We have a good record of hitting our baseline budget and schedule, but we don't have an overall estimate for all of the work, because the priorities and the sequencing are subject to adjustment—

[Eric Duncan, Conservative, Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON]

Would you be willing to share—in the interests of time—with the committee, perhaps in writing, which buildings you do have estimates on and which ones are to come, perhaps? Do we know at this point?

[Rob Wright]

Sure thing.

[Eric Duncan, Conservative, Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON]

The other thing is the timeline to that, where people look at Centre Block and we get the briefing today as part of that, but would it be fair to say that the parliamentary precinct is going to be under construction—I'm going to guess—for the next 20 years?

[Rob Wright]

I would say that we are really in about mid-stride of the overall restoration and modernization of the parliamentary precinct. There are a lot of projects behind us.

We've completed 25 very large projects, but you're exactly right: There's a lot ahead of us, right now with the Centre Block and the Parliament Welcome Centre, and then moving into block two, and there are also block one, Confederation and East Block.

We would really be starting to bring things together in a consolidated precinct, with most of the work behind us, in the mid-2030s.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bardish Chagger]

Mr. Duncan, you have 45 seconds.

[Eric Duncan, Conservative, Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON]

I'll get to this. The Auditor General, as an example, the magnitude of this, perhaps.... The work around Centre Block and the precinct has been in discussion for 20 years in terms of planning. Going back to Speaker Milliken, I think, is the first time this was discussed.

Has the Auditor General ever done any reports or made any findings in those 10 or 20 years? If so, when was the last time?

[Rob Wright]

The last time the Auditor General issued a report on the long-term vision and plan and the work was in 2010.

[Eric Duncan, Conservative, Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON]

It was in 2010.

At this time, then, I'll go back to my last question, which is where we originally started in terms of how timelines and budgets have grown and stretched.

Has the Auditor General expressed anything in terms of looking at this again or the governance aspect? I'll say both, because my time is up, but perhaps some other colleagues can get to this.

Have there been any concerns raised about that or changes made since the last AG report?

[Rob Wright]

The last Auditor General report in 2010, to boil things down.... A clean bill of health was given to project management and the delivery of the projects. The finding on the governance was issued as part of that report in 2010. A recommendation at that point in 2010 was to transfer the accountability of the work from the executive branch to Parliament.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bardish Chagger]

Thank you, Mr. Wright.

We'll now be moving on to Mr. Turnbull for six minutes.

I'm going to ask, to maximize our time, that after a person finishes speaking, we take a breath before the next person goes. This is not an interrogation; this is a questioning. We're here to find some information and to respect the interpreters.

Unless I feel the pace is getting too quick, I will let the conversation continue to flow through the chair.

[Eric Duncan, Conservative, Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON]

I had only six minutes. I apologize. I got through only a third of my questions.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bardish Chagger]

I'm not talking just to you, Mr. Duncan, but if you feel that I am, I will leave that with you.

I want to try to run a meeting as thoroughly as possible and to ensure that we get as much information as possible.

With that, Mr. Turnbull, it's over to you for six minutes. Go ahead.