Mr. Speaker, the new Minister of Public Works and Government Services has inherited a real mess on the Hill.
The architects who estimated the current Peace Tower repair project said it would cost $2.5 million. The companies that bid on it bid about half of that in order to win the job. Then job in hand, months later, they obtained a change order for an additional $1.2 million, thus doubling the original bid and bringing the cost close to the original estimate.
In the meantime, staff at the bidding companies harassed a female engineer, Anne Rainey, off the site. Ray Wolf and fellow masons walked off in protest. Yet in spite of a very clear, non-discriminatory clause in the contact from public works, the former minister took no action.
The harassment appeared to have been condoned with the issuing of a subsequent further contract to the same offending companies to do further work on the tower and the House of Commons itself.
Canadians were quite ticked off at the previous minister. Hopefully, the new minister will correct the injustice done.