Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Listening and watching this committee today, I think it's a bit of a microcosm of why we are one of the few G7 countries in the world that, as I understand it, have not been able to actually replace the residence of whoever occupies the Prime Minister's Office.
I want to qualify my comments. Of course, there has to be a role for scrutiny in the role of Crown corporations or government agencies in terms of reinvesting in infrastructure. That is important not only for democracy and for our national heritage, but also for the function of government here in the national capital region.
However, just listening to the line of questions.... Again, scrutiny is fine, but it's no wonder that we can't actually upgrade some of the really important institutional buildings in our corporate memory and in our history in this country, just seeing the motion and the line of questioning as a result of that.
Just for Canadians at home who are watching.... Mr. Gear, the National Capital Commission was an organization set up independent of government, to be responsible for how many different buildings and what types of buildings in Ottawa? Can you explain that for Canadians?