Evidence of meeting #85 for National Defence in the 44th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was housing.
A recording is available from Parliament.
NDP
Lindsay Mathyssen NDP London—Fanshawe, ON
Have you ever seen maybe an instance where somebody, like an actual forces member, has had to spend their own money because they can't deal with the fact that things aren't being fixed as needed?
Sergeant (Retired), As an Individual
Unfortunately, I'd probably have a harder time telling you the number of people who didn't end up spending their own money or using their own equipment or just for the office stuff for the armouries....
Liberal
December 5th, 2023 / 4:40 p.m.
Conservative
Cheryl Gallant Conservative Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON
Thank you.
Contractors are telling me that new builds on bases must have heat pumps.
The problem is, if it's an existing home that needs to be redone, the wiring has to be done, because these are era World War II houses, and they may have only 60 or 100 amp service. Even if they take it down, that's all they have for service. That doesn't even include the vehicle chargers for the electric cars that we're going to be forced to buy after 2035.
The problem isn't just the wiring in the homes. The distribution lines don't have the capacity to bring in that kind of power. If people in the neighbourhood all have their furnaces on in the winter, then get home and plug in their cars and everyone starts cooking, the transformers get fried.
This means that not only are we going to need more housing, but we're also going to have to replace the existing housing, so we really have not only a crisis now but another one in the making.
Are any of you aware of how the cycle of new builds is prioritized or even which buildings get renovated? Do you know how that cycle works?
Sergeant (Retired), As an Individual
That is not information that is typically shared with people outside of the real property offices.
Conservative
Cheryl Gallant Conservative Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON
There is a cycle they go through. They triage it, so to speak.
Sergeant (Retired), As an Individual
I can only imagine, based on my understanding of the military system at large, that there is a system, but that's not something they share.
Conservative
Cheryl Gallant Conservative Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON
Okay.
In your experience for new builds, who is responsible for issuing the building permits, and who does the inspections to make sure the buildings are built to code? Do you know?
Conservative
Sergeant (Retired), As an Individual
That is outside of my expertise, I'm afraid.
Conservative
Cheryl Gallant Conservative Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON
Okay. I ask because it's federal land, and the usual building inspectors don't apply, so I'm just wondering where they get the building inspectors. What we were told was that, back in Petawawa, corrupt contractors would build a place, look at the walls, have the insulation and vapour barrier put in, and as soon as somebody had looked at it, they would tear it out and put it in the next house. Then they'd close it up. That's why we have some that are very cold.
In your research, how long does it take for housing with black mould to have it removed and the proper vapour barriers installed?
Sergeant (Retired), As an Individual
I would defer to Alyssa for that question.
As an Individual
I do not have an answer to that question. I'm so sorry. That is also outside of my scope of knowledge.
Conservative
Cheryl Gallant Conservative Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON
Didn't you have any families attending the family resource centre whose housing was in such poor condition and needed some direction on how to go about having that ameliorated?
As an Individual
I'm sure there are. I am aware of families who have had significant issues with their RHUs. I just don't know about timelines or the proper policies or procedures that they went through.
Conservative
Cheryl Gallant Conservative Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON
Okay.
Were you made aware of any family crises that ensued as a consequence of Brookfield Global Relocation Services, BGRS, being hacked?
As an Individual
I am aware of the hack. However, I also cannot speak to any personal experience. It has not been something that has impacted my family. It's something I saw in the news, but beyond that, unfortunately, I can't speak to that.
Conservative
Cheryl Gallant Conservative Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON
We had to deal with the crises of families who had to be moved by a certain date. Brookfield was handling the money and the move. They were down for a couple of weeks, and the crisis was there. Even the minister wasn't aware of it, and nobody in the chain of command knew how to deal with it.
I just thought that maybe, being with the PMFRC, you would have known how to handle that, but I know it's oblique.
As an Individual
I actually don't work for an MFRC. I'm just a military spouse who did some advocacy, as well as being heavily involved in the community.
I am aware of people who are impacted, but I don't know the level of impact, unfortunately.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal John McKay
Thank you, Mrs. Gallant.
Do you have anybody you could bring before this committee who would give direct testimony of insulation and vapour barriers being taken out after an inspection and put into another unit? Do you have anybody you could bring before the committee to say that?
Conservative
Cheryl Gallant Conservative Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON
This happened a while ago, so I'm not sure they'd still be in the military.
Conservative