Government Operations committee  Because that is in the national capital region, there are special protocols. We would do, say, 95% of the infrastructure projects nationally and globally, but within the national capital region there are special protocols. That is actually a PSPC—Public Services and Procurement Canada—department-owned facility.

Government Operations committee  I was referring to DND's policies that we support, but we would mirror PSPC in a lot of ways. Our internal ones, which Mélinda mentioned, include the move to electronic document management, electronic bidding and procurement, and how we operate our own facilities. Most of our staff are collocated on bases and wings, so those are under DND's facilities, and we're supporting them on the environmental initiatives there.

Government Operations committee  Yes.

Government Operations committee  Our main client partner is the ADM of infrastructure and environment, so environment is a big part of it. It represents roughly 25% of our annual business, and is growing. That includes everything from the upfront planning stage—environmental assessments, remediation plans, etc.—right through to delivery of energy performance contracts and many different types of environmental initiatives that result in greenhouse gas reductions and lowering costs of services that can create pollutants.

Government Operations committee  I will let my VP of procurement add to this, but I will tell you quickly that we are a very innovative organization. We are constantly moving the yardstick forward. I mentioned some of the things we are doing on the energy performance contracts. We are building buildings to LEED standards and other standards that DND has committed to achieving.

Government Operations committee  In our model we are also a non-appropriated entity. We operate on a fee-for-service model. We adjust our resources depending on the amount of programming we're asked to deliver. Under our corporate plan, we do project for five years out. It's not just a year-to-year adjustment but is based on the projections and the type of services we're being asked to hire, because we employ engineers, technologists, environmental scientists, a few architects, and other professions like that, and a lot of project management people.

Government Operations committee  Yes, I have opening remarks, if you'd like. Thank you, Chair.

Government Operations committee  Thank you, Chair. To keep the committee's time as effective as possible, in my opening remarks I intend to address the mandate of DCC—or would you like that to follow afterward?

Government Operations committee  Simply stated, Defence Construction Canada was formed as Defence Construction (1951) Limited, just as the name implied, in 1951 under the Defence Production Act. Our mandate is to deliver infrastructure and environmental requirements for the defence of Canada. That encompasses primarily our client partners, the Department of National Defence, with the Canadian Armed Forces, but it also does include other aspects of defence interests for Canada, everything from the Canadian Forces Housing Agency across to, today, the Communications Security Establishment and other similar types of government entities.

Government Operations committee  The short answer would be that I know I won't be able to enlighten you on the specific cost elements. As I said, we're delivering the project. We weren't part of the financial analysis or the front-end planning there. Ultimately, it's all bundled into a single price for the project, so that would be in there, but I'm not in a position to be able to speak to that right now.

Government Operations committee  The example I've been using has been in reference to that project. As I said, the procurement phase was completed, obviously, and the construction has started, but we're halfway through the construction now, so I can really only keep my remarks limited to that experience. I think the last witness's comments were bang on in support of what I was saying earlier.

Government Operations committee  Thank you. That is a good question. The way you put that is interesting. I would say that you're correct, in that whether you call it a P3 or a design-build-finance-maintain project, ultimately it comes down to the contract terms. I think P3 is, in the end, just a label we put on it that signals that there is a financing component, that there is often an ongoing maintenance component, and that there are the upfront aspects.

Government Operations committee  Let me say briefly that part of it is in the selection of the project. You want to make sure that you're selecting projects whose use is fairly certain. This doesn't mean there is not flexibility. If I use the example of the CSEC facility, it's unlikely that over a 25- to 30-year period the intended purpose of that facility is going to change from its being the headquarters of that government institution.

Government Operations committee  Again, if you take approximately 2,500 completed last year, a number of projects have a life of more than a year, so it would be in the thousands, obviously, that are ongoing.

Government Operations committee  We are managing that contractor's work. If you look at any given project, a general contractor would ultimately be the winning bidder, in a conventional construction approach. That company would hire and manage the subcontractors as part of their delivery, but you have to have an owner who is acting to manage that general contractor's activity to ensure that you're getting what you contracted for.