Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Honourable members, I'm very pleased to be here this afternoon to follow up on a conversation we basically started with the Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs almost a year ago, on June 10, 2008, when Mr. Speaker Milliken and I appeared before you to talk about the business of possibly decorating Room 112 North, such that it would be a welcoming place for veterans to come and testify and that they would recognize themselves in this room.
As I said, I appeared with Mr. Speaker Milliken at that time and suggested that the curator of the House of Commons, David Monaghan, and the Sergeant-at-Arms, Kevin Vickers, would be in charge of actually pushing this project forward. I understand from David and Kevin there have been discussions, and they will be able to tell you more about their proposal in a moment.
I just want to flag two things for you. First of all, as most of you know, there is a major renovation of the Parliament buildings that is under way. It is, I have to say, primary on my list of things to be anxious about. This is the long-term vision and plan for Parliament Hill. You see scaffolding on various buildings and so forth.
Progress is being made on the renovation of the Parliament buildings, but our planning takes into consideration the fact that Centre Block will eventually be closed—this certainly won't happen tomorrow or next year—and operations will move to another location during the renovations.
So by virtue of the fact that the long-term vision and plan eventually will mean that the Centre Block will be closed and parliamentary functions and operations will be moved to another building, then obviously anything we do with Room 112 North at the moment would take into consideration the fact that these things are on the horizon.
In another way as well, this picks up on a theme we had raised with the committee in June 2008. It's really important with all these rooms that we be very flexible in terms of the way they are set up, so that when demands arise they can serve more than one purpose. I can say that with some degree of confidence by virtue of the fact that, for example, the Board of Internal Economy met this morning from 11:30 until 1:00 in the room. So because it's so centrally located and because it's very close to the chamber, this is a room used by many other people and other committees, as I'm sure you will appreciate.
So I was very pleased that the curator, with his very long experience—and I think it's safe to say he has a real passion for the buildings and notably for the history they represent and he is very knowledgeable about that—had come up with what we believe is an elegant and a meaningful solution to the issues you raised with Speaker Milliken. I am sure he'll be able to discuss them with you and give you a feel for what he is proposing in the next little while.
It is with great pleasure that I leave you in the hands of the Curator of the House of Commons, Mr. David Monaghan.
If there are any questions, I'd be happy to answer them.