Mr. Speaker, we could also ask the government House leader to respond, as he has been responding for many others today.
I take great pleasure in participating in this debate. I will share my time with my colleague, the member for Mississauga—Erindale.
There are three or four items of importance to keep in mind in this matter. I want to briefly touch on each.
There has been reference to the 75-25 split of the federal public service in the national capital region.
I always supported this fair distribution of employees of the public service of Canada in the national capital region, between the Ontario side and the Quebec side of the national capital.
I have always worked toward this objective and I have always supported initiatives on this. Until very recently, we were getting close to the 75/25 objective, but for some time, it seems that we are moving away from it.
My first objection to the unsolicited proposal of Minto Development for the Government of Canada to acquire JDS Uniphase is due to the impact that this acquisition might have on achieving the 75/25 distribution objective.
We are talking about one million square feet, about 100,000 square metres on the Ontario side. This is a huge deal. It would cause a real setback in achieving this 75/25 objective. Before these additional 100,000 square metres are occupied and the space that is left vacant is filled, we will have a major setback in achieving this objective.
My first objection is that this acquisition would move us away from the objective and the Department of Public Works and Government Services never put forward a plan to counter this impact.
My second concern stems from the fact that the Canadian government, as the largest employer in the National Capital Region, has an obligation to be a good employer. It is also obligated to be aware of the impact of its decisions on the local economy and population.
Already, there is a disparity between the number of jobs in the east end—of the City of Ottawa—and in the west end. For example, according to the person-year data, in terms of employment on the Ontario side of the National Capital Region, there is a marked disparity between east and west, in favour of the west end, where there are far more jobs.
Acquiring a million square feet in the west end of Ottawa will only exacerbate an existing problem. The Canadian government, as a good employer, as a so-called good citizen, must carefully consider the repercussions of its decisions on the local economy and population.
Speaking of local infrastructure, it must be recognized that this disparity, putting the east end at a disadvantage, is very clear. If the Canadian government, for whatever reason, were to acquire a million square feet in the west end, it would have to come up with a plan to correct that disparity, just as we need to see a plan to correct the 75/25 disparity for the Ontario and Quebec sides of the National Capital Region.
These are two major concerns, and I would like to add a third. The government is dealing with an unsolicited proposal.
Whenever the government acquires a huge amount of space such as this one, a million square feet, 100,000 square metres, it is not a small amount of space and it has an impact on the local economy. To acquire that on an unsolicited proposal is a mistake. I believe the government has a duty to respect its own commitment of transparency and go through a public tender process.
The arguments offered by the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Works that the government could lose this do not hold water. If it comes back that the best deal is indeed the one that Minto is putting forward on an unsolicited basis currently, then so be it. I will still say, as I have in the past consistently, and Mr. Greenberg of Minto Developments, whom I have met on this on occasion, will confirm that I have always said that it should not be an unsolicited proposal. If the Government of Canada acquires that space, it should be as a result of a public call for proposals. I know there are others in the area, both in Quebec and Ontario, who would like to bid on this. There are some in the east in Orléans, so I imagine that the member for Ottawa—Orléans would be quite interested in knowing that the government would not want to proceed with a proposal call. I believe there may even be some from Glengarry—Prescott—Russell who might have some land holdings and would be interested in bidding. I know there are some from Gatineau, Aylmer and Hull sectors who might be interested.
There would be a great advantage for the government to know what proposals are out there and let the developers sharpen their pencils and put the best deal forward. If Minto still provides the best deal in response to the needs of the government, then proceed with the proviso that public works has a duty at the same time to come up with a plan that will make sure that the long-standing objective of a 75-25 split of federal public service employees in the national capital region, 75% on the Ontario side and 25% on the Quebec side, is met. Also as a good employer, as a model citizen in this community, it should address the current imbalance between the east and the west. These are the conditions that I have always said should be met in dealing with this kind of proposal from Minto.
I also want to take a minute to comment on what the member for Gatineau said about my colleague from Hull—Aylmer. I was elected to this place before the member for Hull—Aylmer and immediately got to work with him in his capacity as executive assistant to the regional minister. I can assure the House that, even in those days, he made sure that issues pertaining to the Outaouais region were looked after. When he was elected member of Parliament for Hull—Aylmer, he joined the government caucus for the national capital region. We would meet every week. Ministers dealing with issues important to our region were invited to attend these meetings, so that we could express our views. I can assure you, Mr. Speaker, and all the people of Hull—Aylmer that the hon. member for Hull—Aylmer did not miss a chance to make demands, as appropriate, for the riding and the people he represents. So, what our colleague from Gatineau said has to be taken with a grain of salt, because it does not hold up.
I also wanted to take this opportunity to stress that one wonders who would go there. I must admit that, as the member of Parliament for Ottawa—Vanier, the riding which is currently home to the RCMP headquarters, I am somewhat concerned. The commissioner of the RCMP may correct me publicly if I am wrong, but I was told that he, the commissioner of the RCMP, was the one pushing for this deal to be closed.
The deal is all but closed. A letter of intention has been sent. In fact, the parliamentary secretary said so himself. From the moment that a letter of intention is sent, the rest, including the Treasury Board process, is a mere formality. I may be wrong. Still, the government should take the will of this House into account and wait for a vote to be taken on this proposal. I support the motion to concur in the second report of the committee, requesting that, when making or planning to make acquisitions as major as this. the government go through an open tendering process.
I will conclude on this note. Should the government go ahead with this acquisition, it would be required to indicate how it plans to achieve the 75-25 split, and to mitigate the current east-west imbalance on the Ottawa side of the national capital region instead of making it worse.