Public Accounts committee  As a federal Crown corporation, the NCC has an independent board of directors that is responsible, Mr. Chair, for approving all expenditures over a certain threshold, which included the monies for this project.

Public Accounts committee  Mr. Chair, I would start by saying that $8 million is a lot of money. The NCC takes the stewardship of all its public funds very, very seriously. It is important in this context to recall, as I said in my opening statement, that the cost of this project included the demolition of the previous existing buildings, the decontamination of contaminated soil on sites, studies, design and all of the soft costs, as well as the construction costs for this building.

Public Accounts committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Good morning, everyone. Building on nearly 125 years of experience, the NCC is the principal planner and steward of federal lands and assets within the national capital region, which consist of over 11% of the land mass and include over 1,000 buildings, 300 kilometres of pathways, 145 bridges and many more assets, the total value of which exceeds $2.2 billion.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Through you, Madam Chair, I believe any businesses can access.... I know of one retail establishment at the corner of O'Connor and Wellington, but the access is from O'Connor. I don't think there are any other private businesses that are currently located right on Wellington Street.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Through you, Madam Chair, I think it's part of the reimagining of Wellington Street in the context of, as you've spoken about, a larger precinct, including Sparks Street. We have an interest in ensuring a vibrant and active area for visitors, occupants, workers, parliamentarians and others.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I can't necessarily speak to parliaments, because not all major capitals have parliaments. Mr. Miguelez and I were in Washington, D.C. You may well be aware that in front of the White House and now in front of Congress there are various measures, such as physical barriers to the streets.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  In terms of the events we witnessed in the capital this past season, I think they went off very well. We had events like the Ottawa Jazz Festival in Confederation Park. We had the Ottawa Bluesfest at LeBreton Flats Park, and, of course, we had the Canada Day celebrations and National Indigenous Peoples Day.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Well, I hope I don't disappoint, Mr. Naqvi. I just wanted to reiterate that I think an important part in looking ahead to the future of Wellington Street is to double down on the collaboration and co-operation between federal and municipal partners. Some of them are here with you during this session.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Good afternoon. I am happy to be with you again today. I am accompanied by Alain Miguelez, vice-president, capital planning and chief planner at the National Capital Commission. In our role as principal planner of the NCR, we are pleased to be here with you today to provide our observations on the long-term impacts of the closure of Wellington Street.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Thank you for the question. I'm going to ask my colleague Alain Miguelez to answer it.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I'd be happy to add to that, Madam Chair. It is true that we are engaged with PSPC on a discussion to make sure that we have a full scope of all of the issues that need to be raised. The hope is that we can engage the City of Ottawa soon on some of the details that have been discussed so far.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Yes. I think we have a very open mind. We see a lot of advantages to focusing that portion of Wellington Street on, of course, service vehicles for Parliament Hill, public transportation and active transportation. At the same time, we do recognize that some data, such as traffic studies and so on, still needs to be collected and better understood.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Thank you, Madam Chair. Good morning, everyone. I am pleased to be here today. With me is Alain Miguelez, Vice-President, Capital Planning. I have the pleasure of leading the NCC, a federal crown corporation with a mandate to build a dynamic, sustainable and inspiring capital that is a source of pride for all Canadians.