Government Operations committee  Actually it's a good question. The highway was built by the U.S. army during the Second World War, and after the war it was transferred to DND. In 1964 the British Columbia portion of the highway was transferred to PWGSC from the Department of National Defence through an order in council.

Government Operations committee  In fact the supplementary estimates do include an amount for payments in lieu of taxes or taxes directly. My colleague referred to that I think in his--

Government Operations committee  --opening remarks as well. So a portion of them are included in some of these numbers. The department administers a payment in lieu of taxes program, where the Minister of Public Works makes payments on behalf of other government departments that are custodians. In addition, there is a dispute advisory panel that is constructed as a result of the Payments in Lieu of Taxes Act.

Government Operations committee  I can tell you that the budget this year is approximately $450 million, which is paid to over 1,800 taxing organizations or entities across Canada. We didn't ask for it specifically in these supplementary estimates, but it is included as an item in the requirements of the department.

Government Operations committee  We have that information. I don't have it with me for this meeting, but I think your initial assumption is correct in terms of why. That's their program. We are a service arm. We respond to approvals from Treasury Board and the funding that comes to us to provide them with the space, but we can provide you with information about where they are located and what buildings they currently occupy.

Government Operations committee  Certainly some of them are, yes, but in terms of the growth, one of the things that happens to us is that we are required to cash manage the growth that comes to us as well. We also need to respond to the specific requirements that clients bring to us in terms of the growth they have been approved for.

Government Operations committee  It's a mix.

Government Operations committee  In terms of the entire portfolio, that is a challenge, because there are many pieces to the Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada portfolio. I wouldn't want to speculate and mislead the committee, so I'd prefer to provide that information in detail.

Government Operations committee  That's correct. Mr. Chair, what we will do is look at the rate we have for the lease and we will assess the market and the market capacity. Quite often our clients are looking for large blocks of space, so we know whether or not that exists in the market. We will either seek to negotiate directly with a landlord in that case or go to the market for a competitive solution.

Government Operations committee  Correct.

Government Operations committee  Correct.

Government Operations committee  We do that with the majority of our other assets through another contractual arrangement we have in place. But in this case, the benefit we see is the cost, certainly, over that extremely long period of time of 25 years and in the identification of risk in terms of the delivery of those major aspects of owning the building, accepting and recognizing the benefits of private sector delivery.

Government Operations committee  Not in respect to that pronouncement. We have been assessing and we will continue to assess our portfolio to see what opportunities exist, but in terms of relating specifically to the idea of selling surplus assets, no, we have not engaged in discussions yet.

Government Operations committee  Mr. Chair, PWGSC owns 350 buildings. There are in excess of 5,000 buildings in the federal government inventory, so we are a very small player, actually, if you look at the number of buildings. And if you look at the holdings of land, they are quite extensive if you look across the full range.

Government Operations committee  There were seven.