Procedure and House Affairs committee  Yes. I think only a full assessment of its condition, a complete real general exam with appropriate testing, would answer that question. We just need to take the time, I think, to address that.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Yes, unless assumptions that are currently held about the size and location of the visitor centre are reconsidered, then, yes, that's the case.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  No. This is really the sole survivor. There were many elms on the Hill. I'm old enough to remember that there were elms all along the front right by the walls on the Wellington Street end. At every 50 feet maybe there was a large elm shading the front of the Parliament Buildings,

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Our request is that we wait until leaf out to really see if the tree has survived the winter, how well it has survived the winter, and then do proper investigation of its health so there is complete, conclusive, non-controversial information about that topic.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Absolutely.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Yes, that's right.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Yes. Allow me to make a comment. In the city of Aylmer, just outside Ottawa, there is an American elm tree like the one on the Hill. This elm tree must be at least 200 years old. The tree on the Hill has a diameter of 84 centimetres, and the diameter of the elm in Aylmer must be

Procedure and House Affairs committee  In 1979, the National Capital Commission, or NCC, took action to combat Dutch elm disease. It decided to protect the 2,000 elm trees on its lands, and probably the one on the Hill. There was a fumigation program, then an inoculation program for these 2,000 elms. We don't know ho

Procedure and House Affairs committee  They were located throughout the National Capital Region.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Yes, because the NCC still has land on this side of the National Capital Region.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  We don't think it's the only one to have survived, but are there 20 or 200 remaining? We don't know.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Several elms have succumbed to this disease, but they have been replaced by hybrid elms, which means that they have been crossed with species that have a capacity to resist this inherited disease. The elm tree we are talking about today is a native elm, so it has not been crossed

Procedure and House Affairs committee  …able to withstand the disease.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Here, too.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  We'd really have to see. We have to wait to see how well it has survived the winter and what condition it's in. I would like to clarify something about arborist reports. In May 2018, in the spring, the first report concluded that the elm tree was in good condition. The second re