Mr. Laforest, it is important that you understand that the Economic Development Agency of Canada did not initiate the tendering process; it was the Department of Public Works and Government Services.
Second, the government needed additional office space for its employees. What I was told at the time is that even if we did not move into Place Bonaventure, the rented space would be filled by other federal public servants. So no money would have been wasted. All I asked for was that the situation be studied. I originally wanted the agency to move in order to comply with the tendering process. I was told that the Department of Public Works and Government Services would need additional office space and that it might not cause any problems if we stayed where we were . The minister of the day asked the bureaucrats and departmental officials to assess the situation and to see whether everyone could live with it.
I don't know, I did not see the numbers. I do not want to engage in a war of numbers. All I can tell you is that the original asking price of the Tour de la Bourse, at Place Victoria, was $430 per square meter, I believe. We ultimately agreed on $308 per square metre. If you talk about $4.6 million — and I don't want to get into this — it is not at all the same thing especially if, in the end, a million dollars was saved and office space was used by federal public servants.
I repeat, Mr. Laforest: my goal was to make sure that the Economic Development Agency of Canada, which did not have a lot of money at the time and whose mission was to promote economic development throughout Quebec—and your colleagues regularly questioned me...