Procedure and House Affairs committee  Thanks, Chair. First off, of course, I want to wish everyone a happy and safe holiday. I'm probably a bit more emotional than most because I love this room and I love this committee. Some of the finest parliamentarians who have served have been on this committee. I love the non-partisan nature of what we do.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  We should probably do it before the debate about this document, or everyone may not be there.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Maybe both: one at the front and one at the back....

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Chair, I was just going to ask this, in the interest of ensuring as best we can in this Parliament, that the PROC committee continues to play the kind of oversight that I think the majority, if not all of us, agree should happen. Is it in the best interest of this committee to notationally schedule a follow-up briefing so it's at least there?

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I was thinking that in my municipal days we wouldn't dare do that to city hall without asking Hamiltonians what they thought.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Just one last thing I'll throw out there, Chair, and this might be a bridge too far. I don't know, but it doesn't seem that crazy to me. We're recognizing that these kinds of projects require more than just very competent, capable professional folks, which you all are, but it takes more than that to build a Parliament.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  The last thing I'll throw out, Chair, is this. Could it be an idea that for at least maybe a week there be an opportunity for the public to have a say before everything is finalized? Obviously, not every Canadian can go through here, but with current communications means, you can bring this to everybody's living room and they can have an opportunity to give input.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Thanks, Chair. I have to tell you, I could be wrong but I really feel like there was kind of a wake-up call being recognized by our witnesses here that there's a whole different approach to doing Centre Block than was done with West Block in terms of input, which is kind of surprising, but it is what it is.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Yes. I don't know what the process is. I just leave with you that if I were going to be here in the next Parliament, I'd sure want to be apprised of what the thinking is about the process before it's initiated so that there is an opportunity to say, “Yes, you have it right from our perspective.”

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Thank you, Chair. Thanks very much for your presentation. As I roll this around in my mind, it seems to me that most of the functions of the building are really not going to change. The basic structural fundamentals—we have the Speaker, the seats, the desks, and the ability to stand up and talk and be recognized—are not going to change even if they add electronic voting.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Now a recorded vote, we haven't left politics.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Just to pick up on the last point, I enjoyed the respectful stimulating debate. These things are tough and they do come down to judgment calls. At the end of the day, you have to be comfortable enough in your own skin to go back to your own riding and feel comfortable that you made the right decision as you see it.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Okay.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  That's why we vote, to find out.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  That's high praise.