Evidence of meeting #19 for Public Accounts in the 39th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was bonaventure.
A recording is available from Parliament.
12:30 p.m.
Liberal
Charles Hubbard Liberal Miramichi, NB
Thanks, Mr. Chair.
We've followed this around and around, but it seems to me to be rather a simple problem that cost somebody some money.
Madam, you indicated your department negotiates about 700 leases a year. Is that correct?
12:35 p.m.
Liberal
Charles Hubbard Liberal Miramichi, NB
Out there somewhere in the public domain, then, we probably have 5,000 or 6,000 or 7,000 leases. Is that correct?
12:35 p.m.
Liberal
Charles Hubbard Liberal Miramichi, NB
You have a tenant in one of these leases who's been there a considerable length of time, and somehow to your department comes a request that maybe you should go to the public to get a new place, or at least a new competition, for that tenant. As a result of that drafting of your proposals, your department comes to the conclusion that Place Bonaventure is the place that won the best offer from the public to the Government of Canada as a place to rent, and in good faith you rent that space.
12:35 p.m.
Liberal
Charles Hubbard Liberal Miramichi, NB
It's my understanding that shortly afterwards it came mainly from the employees of CED that they were upset about moving. They had been there and they were comfortable, like anybody in their house. They were comfortable where they were.
Somehow Mr. Drouin writes a letter asking if you could possibly reassess the situation and consider a stay at Place Victoria. With that, in due diligence your group looked at that prospect in terms of what might be renewed and the costs that were just placed on your table about comparable accommodations at another place in the same city. Somebody does the costing and says that maybe it's in our best interests, because we can rent this other space to somebody else in the public service or with some other client, and you think that in the long term it's probably in the best interest of the government and in the public interest.
Is that the correct assumption of what happened?
12:35 p.m.
As an Individual
That is indeed the correct assumption, and that was the basis upon which the recommendation was made to Mr. Goodale to proceed with signing the extension with the owner of Place Victoria.
12:35 p.m.
Liberal
Charles Hubbard Liberal Miramichi, NB
With that, along comes the Auditor General. Her department looks at all that is happening, and they say Place Bonaventure wasn't rented to somebody else as quickly as your department had assumed it would be, and there was an empty building for a period of time. I could take you out to one out here on the outskirts of Ottawa that's been empty for over a year. In fact, Mr. Poilievre, you should know that building very well.
With it, somehow a report is written with a figure of $4 million. We're not sure, Mr. Chair, whether that is the real amount or whether it was the quick amount in terms of a short-term look at that particular project.
Can we eventually determine whether, over the long period...? We have a new five-year lease, Mr. Polachek, that comes due this year. Is your company looking back and thinking it has to meet similar requirements, and the lease is up? When exactly is it up?
12:35 p.m.
As an Individual
Actually, we were notified that they will be relocating; they will not be renewing. In fact, we've signed a lease commitment with another company that will be taking over that space.
12:35 p.m.
As an Individual
Very similar to the initial tender back five or six years now, Public Works requested a complete refit of the premises. Actually, the transaction that we concluded, from our perspective, will be financially more advantageous than having lost that deal, so I guess that would support our pricing.
12:35 p.m.
Liberal
Charles Hubbard Liberal Miramichi, NB
Have you seen a new tender for proposals for a new space for the CED group? Is there a new tender out?
12:35 p.m.
As an Individual
This has been done already. This transaction was concluded.
12:35 p.m.
Liberal
12:35 p.m.
As an Individual
We're comfortable because we released the space. Following notice that we were not going to be keeping them, we went ahead and made other arrangements and we concluded that transaction in December 2007.
12:35 p.m.
Liberal
Charles Hubbard Liberal Miramichi, NB
It seems like this time you're happy with the loss of a tenant, but five years ago you were concerned. What variable has changed in the last five years?