Mr. Speaker, we could get into an extensive debate on whether items can be introduced by way of the estimates process. There has been debate after debate on that issue going back to the creation of VIA Rail and so on, but I do not even think it is at issue today.
What we have today is an issue involving the asset. The asset is land. It is real property. It is real estate. There is no doubt in anyone's mind that in real estate, if someone is the owner of the title, that person owns the property. As the Minister of Transport has said very clearly, the asset still remains the property of the Minister of National Defence.
There may be arrangements toward the administering of that real property by another agency, in this case another agency of the crown, not one that was created for this purpose but one that already exists, namely Canada Lands Company Limited and, of course, one of its subsidiaries, Downsview Park Inc., to look after this land.
However, the fact still remains that if we are dealing with a physical asset, that is, real estate, it is the ownership that is at issue and the ownership remains and is retained by the Department of National Defence, and for good reason. Those good reasons have all been explained by the Minister of Transport.
I am sure that when Mr. Speaker prepares his ruling to that effect he will want to inquire as to the ownership of the property in question, the asset in question, to use the language of the auditor general, and Mr. Speaker will conclude, as we did, that the asset is still in the hands of the Department of National Defence. As it was not changed it makes the point that was raised today moot. It no longer has any value because the asset was not changed.