Evidence of meeting #69 for Veterans Affairs in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was competition.
A recording is available from Parliament.
5:15 p.m.
Full Professor, Université de Montréal, Canada Research Chair in Architecture, Competitions and Mediations of Excellence
Mr. Chair, comparing competitions is always a delicate business because you need to compare the rules that accompany them. In the history of competitions, there obviously have been cancelled competitions.
What I said is that there have never been any competitions in which a judgment was cancelled by a vote or survey during the process.
5:15 p.m.
Liberal
Bryan May Liberal Cambridge, ON
Can you maybe share with this committee why that competition was originally changed or why they didn't award through the original process in Berlin? What occurred there?
I agree that it's not identical, but to make definitive statements to say that this kind of thing has never happened anywhere in the world I don't think is accurate.
5:20 p.m.
Full Professor, Université de Montréal, Canada Research Chair in Architecture, Competitions and Mediations of Excellence
What I said is that you have to compare competition rules. In this competition, there was even a provision under which the government could withdraw in the event there were any irregularities, which incidentally surprised me. You very often find that provision in connection with competition juries. It enables a government—
5:20 p.m.
Liberal
5:20 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Emmanuel Dubourg
Mr. May, sorry. Please let Mr. Chupin respond to that. We have interpreters.
5:20 p.m.
Liberal
Bryan May Liberal Cambridge, ON
Thank you.
Perhaps I will just wrap up. In that scenario, in Berlin, there was a process. The process resulted in a decision that was very much protested against by the Jewish community, and that process was halted and changed.
For us to sit here and say that this kind of thing has never happened before and make these kinds of definitive statements, I think, is incorrect.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
5:20 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Emmanuel Dubourg
Mr. Chupin, I'll allow you 15 minutes… pardon me, 15 seconds, to respond to that intervention.
5:20 p.m.
Full Professor, Université de Montréal, Canada Research Chair in Architecture, Competitions and Mediations of Excellence
Mr. Chair, I would've taken advantage of the 15 minutes. I didn't say there had been no cases of cancelled competitions in the world. Competitions have obviously been cancelled and controversies have arisen over competitions, just as there are controversies over voting, surveys and requests for proposals, as Mr. Le Moine said.
5:20 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Emmanuel Dubourg
Thank you, Mr. Chupin.
I now invite Mr. Desilets to take the floor for two and a half minutes.
5:20 p.m.
Bloc
Luc Desilets Bloc Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Miao, I want to add something to the question you asked earlier.
You asked how much time this kind of project would take for a team such as Team Daoust.
There were 7 jury members for this competition. That's a total of approximately 300 hours to put in place and develop the competition. There was also a technical committee. In addition, it wasn't just one firm, but nine others that did the same work.
That's really an extraordinary waste of public funds.
Mr. Chair, as you may suspect, I have a motion to introduce.
I move:
That, pursuant to Standing Order 108(1), the Committee ask the government to produce all e‑mails, memos and other documents, unclassified, exchanged between the various departments involved in the selection of the artist and design team for the national memorial to Canada's mission in Afghanistan, namely the Department of Canadian Heritage and the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Prime Minister's Office and the Privy Council; and that all such documents be received by the Clerk of the Committee, in both official languages, no later than November 17, 2023; That the Chair of the Committee immediately report to the House that the Committee denounces the government's about-face and lack of respect for the rules in deciding not to award the design of the commemorative monument to the team linking the artist Luca Fortin and the architectural firm Daoust Lestage Lizotte Stecker, which won the competition conducted by a team of experts set up by the Liberal government itself; And that, as part of its study of the commemorative monument, the Committee add a meeting and invite Mr. Pablo Rodriguez, former Minister of Canadian Heritage, and Mr. Lawrence MacAuley, former Minister of Veterans Affairs, to testify for a minimum of one hour each, within one week of receiving the documents.
5:20 p.m.
Liberal
5:20 p.m.
Liberal
5:20 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Emmanuel Dubourg
The clerk has just distributed the motion.
Considering the rules of procedure, we are now ready to discuss it.
Go ahead, Mr. Richards.
5:25 p.m.
Conservative
Blake Richards Conservative Banff—Airdrie, AB
That motion contained a lot of elements.
Would it be possible to ask Mr. Desilets to read it again?
5:25 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Emmanuel Dubourg
Mr. Desilets, would you please read your motion again, slowly so the interpreters can handle it?
5:25 p.m.
Bloc
Luc Desilets Bloc Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC
Of course.
I move:
That, pursuant to Standing Order 108(1), the Committee ask the government to produce all e‑mails, memos and other documents, unclassified, exchanged between the various departments involved in the selection of the artist and design team for the national memorial to Canada's mission in Afghanistan, namely the Department of Canadian Heritage and the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Prime Minister's Office and the Privy Council; and that all such documents be received by the Clerk of the Committee, in both official languages, no later than November 17, 2023; That the Chair of the Committee immediately report to the House that the Committee denounces the government's about-face and lack of respect for the rules in deciding not to award the design of the commemorative monument to the team linking the artist Luca Fortin and the architectural firm Daoust Lestage Lizotte Stecker, which won the competition conducted by a team of experts set up by the Liberal government itself; And that, as part of its study of the commemorative monument, the Committee add a meeting and invite Mr. Pablo Rodriguez, former Minister of Canadian Heritage, and Mr. Lawrence MacAuley, former Minister of Veterans Affairs, to testify for a minimum of one hour each, within one week of receiving the documents.