Government Operations committee  I will just refer back to the comments I was making earlier about the cost of capital. It's really important to look at the totality of the economics that affect.... We have done a thorough and professional job of that. We considered all the factors, not just operating costs, and

Government Operations committee  I think it would be fair to say the price is very important, but quality of owner and experience as a large owner is also important.

Government Operations committee  I think we'd have to leave it up to our client what disclosure.... It would not be typical to do that, because again, it sort of prejudices processes in the future.

Government Operations committee  As I said before, it's hard to say. All nine are available, but it's hard to tell whether they will go all to one owner or not.

Government Operations committee  The lease in any large commercial sale and leaseback is a very complex document. These are 100 pages plus, and they divide the risks and responsibilities between the tenant and the landlord. Our objective in this transaction is to pass risk on to the landlord. Without getting i

Government Operations committee  What I'm saying is who pays for what in terms of the types of repairs is the subject of the lease.

Government Operations committee  No, I wouldn't characterize it that way.

Government Operations committee  I won't speak to equipment leasing, because that is not my area of expertise. In terms of sale leasebacks of commercial buildings, there are a wide variety of reasons why companies or governments enter into sale and leasebacks, and we've covered some of them before. Raising mone

Government Operations committee  Correct, and there would certainly be full mitigation of the residual risk we talked about before. It's a significant part of the equation when you're talking about the economics of owning buildings. If the government chooses to leave after 25 years, the new owner will be sitting

Government Operations committee  It is specifically addressed as part of the process. It's fair to say that is an expected outcome.

Government Operations committee  The objectives the government was trying to achieve, if I might just go back to their RFP, which was a public document, were meeting their accommodation requirements with respect to quality, location, and quantity of office space, generating through cost-efficient management—we'v

Government Operations committee  Sure. Without getting into the specifics of the lease, you can imagine that there will be significant provision for the new owner to pay for capital repairs. I think the government's exposure over a great number of years to those known repairs now is negligible.

Government Operations committee  I think we commented that there is flexibility, as part of the process, to set the lease term. There has been some discussion about 25 years, but there is some flexibility on how long the lease could be.

Government Operations committee  I don't think it would be fair to say that there is a normal. It depends on the objectives of the client and what they are trying to achieve. I think I commented that we have done sale leasebacks that are both longer and shorter than 25 years.

Government Operations committee  I don't think it would be fair to say that the government is selling buildings because it needs money. It has many ways of raising money.