Government Operations committee  I will give you an example. Projects involving work, repairs and maintenance to be carried out are generally listed on the government's electronic tendering system called MERX. If you consult MERX, you will see that SNC-Lavalin regularly lists construction and repair contracts for federal government buildings across Canada.

Government Operations committee  Now that SNC-Lavalin is in the picture, it is practically impossible to obtain contracts from Public Works Canada. That is it. It is SNC-Lavalin that manages the entire building inventory of Public Works Canada. Only when the costs involved are higher than a certain amount is SNC-Lavalin no longer responsible for this management.

Government Operations committee  I will try to answer as simply but as completely as possible. I said earlier that SNC-Lavalin had been contracted by the federal government to manage building maintenance. It is playing a management role. So the company called on professionals to assist it in preparing the technical documents.

Government Operations committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. Good afternoon everyone. I am not used to making presentations before committees. I hope that everything will go well and that the next hour will be enjoyable and, in particular, rewarding. That is the point of this exercise. I am here to help you learn about and understand the process through which consultants go in order to provide services to the federal government and, in particular, to help you manage and maintain the federal government's buildings and properties.