Veterans Affairs committee  Thank you very much.

Veterans Affairs committee  No, not at all.

Veterans Affairs committee  I'd be very happy to look into the possibility of that kind of display, if you will, or exhibit. There are two things you have to bear in mind. The first is it is quite possible that people will say that it's possible to make reproductions of these pieces. We could have reproductions of the medals made but that could create problems.

Veterans Affairs committee  I think that was what Ms. O'Brien was getting at earlier as well. On a note you made that you would be interested in seeing how a room can at least in part be brought back to its original intent, I just want to note that there is the Commonwealth Room. There has been, at the Speaker's request, some work done in the Commonwealth Room where there was a conscious attempt to reinstate a lot of elements that were originally intended for that room.

Veterans Affairs committee  Yes. It was.... I'm sorry, I'll let you finish. I didn't mean to interject.

Veterans Affairs committee  The difficulty in some cases like this is that when a staff person is already employed, what are they doing? In fact, were the sculptor not doing this, he would be doing something else. It's just a matter of the immediate requirements for priority. I can ask Mr. White to come up with a budget, but it is a budget that basically would cover his expense.

Veterans Affairs committee  The estimate he provided me for the time it would take to complete the project from beginning to end was eight weeks. I can speak with him about that in terms of what that would actually entail. But again, yes, if you'd like me to do that, I would be happy to provide you with a breakdown.

Veterans Affairs committee  In keeping with the building, I'd probably keep them at roughly the same size. Before the proposal, I was in the room. I've been in the room with a measuring tape. I had a cut-out of one of these symbols, which I blew up and tried to fit on the panel, just to see what it would look like if it stood over there.

Veterans Affairs committee  No, not that I know of. My understanding is that much of the renovation of Centre Block will be a reinstatement. So what you will be seeing is a major renovation, not a reconstruction of the building. In designing the building, John Pearson, the architect, had a very particular vision based on a plan.

Veterans Affairs committee  Mr. Vickers will answer that question.

Veterans Affairs committee  The idea of actually starting with four panels—I used the term earlier—was that if other panels have to be added or should be added, additional panels can be worked on as well.

Veterans Affairs committee  That's the sort of thing we would have to verify with the history directorate at DND, because there are historical insignia that are not the same as the ones we have today, and an individual—my father or my uncles—while they would recognize the current one, would identify with an earlier version.

Veterans Affairs committee  Well, it is a heritage room. In terms of changes, if the committee wants more work on the room in terms of decoration or whatever, that would be the sort of thing that would have to be worked out between the Federal Heritage Buildings Review Office and design services within the House.

Veterans Affairs committee  Primarily, the idea was to install the sculptures in the panels. Because this room is used in so many different ways—at times it's used as a storage room, when the House isn't sitting, and it's used for a variety of purposes—from an operational perspective, but also in the sense of permanency, I think the sculpture adds much more to the room.

Veterans Affairs committee  I think it would be important to provide some sort of identification of what these are about, why they are here, so that wouldn't be a major issue.