Government Operations committee  This is a fairly particular case, since it involves a mechanism which would fall under the purview of Parliament. In the past, other options were studied. The department indicated clearly, in response to our audit, that it would study the various options. We noted in the report e

Government Operations committee  As I mentioned, there have been studies in the past where different options were reviewed by the parliamentary partners and the government. The government has clearly indicated that it was willing to begin the study anew and consider different options. This was almost a year ago.

Government Operations committee  No, thank you.

Government Operations committee  It is clear that, for the past few years, we have noted a significant deterioration of the Parliament buildings. We noted in the report that some systems in West Block were deemed to be in a critical state. There is a risk. If ever the systems no longer operated, Parliament would

Government Operations committee  I believe that we gave the example of the renovations and temporary space that was to be built or modified while the Parliament buildings were being emptied. Parliamentary partners wanted all of the activities to be held on Parliament Hill, to the extent possible, although other

Government Operations committee  There is an even more fundamental difference of opinion. Are parliamentary buildings and activities subject to government rules?

Government Operations committee  I think that the...

Government Operations committee  I believe that the people from Parliament would say that they are not subject to government rules and that they can establish their own. That we are to meet their specific needs, without necessarily taking government rules into account.

Government Operations committee  I really can't comment on that, Chair. We looked at the role that committee plays. We know there have been meetings and recommendations by that committee, but beyond that, I have no comment to make.

Government Operations committee  Again, I'm reluctant to comment on that.

Government Operations committee  We have not looked at the project for over a year. I would say that in the long history my office has had with this project, it has never been on time. When we go back to the audits of 1992, there was a plan that all of the renovation and rehabilitation work would be completed by

Government Operations committee  We looked at very specific elements of project management. Were they considering the heritage aspect? Were they doing proper costing? We looked at a few elements like that, and we found that the department was using good practices and generally accepted practices. We had no recom

Government Operations committee  We didn't look at issues like contracting. We looked at sort of the general framework of project management. We did not get into specifics, for example, as I mentioned in my opening statement, like contracting or issues like that.

Government Operations committee  Mr. Chair, that's not an issue we looked at in this audit.

Government Operations committee  There are several major financial players, including the two houses of Parliament, the Department of Public Works and Government Services and, obviously, Treasury Board.