Procedure and House Affairs committee  In June 2021, we had an independent costing firm work with us to establish a baseline cost estimate. All of the contingencies, risk reserve and escalation were factored into the cost breakdown. If we look at contingencies, we have design contingency as well as construction conti

Procedure and House Affairs committee  If you remember, the transition of Parliament happened in early 2019 with the start of proceedings in the West Block. That first year, 2019, was mostly consumed with setting up the construction site and separating the facility from the parliamentary grid. The real shovels in th

Procedure and House Affairs committee  This is a traditional approach that we've used on Parliament Hill. It really is a construction management-based approach. We've brought on the design team and the construction management team at the same time. The key thing here with the Centre Block, as well as the other buildi

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I'll ask Ms. Garrett to add details again, but at a high level, to begin with, we're working closely with an accessibility advisory group on the designs. I can come back to the public experience, but the question was mostly around parliamentarians. One important element is that

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I'll highlight maybe three areas where they've had a significant impact. It's also important to note that their focus has really been on the public components of the building, not really on the core parliamentary aspects of the building. With regard to the interface between the

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Thank you for the question. We are indeed developing plans to add seats to the House of Commons. This will allow all MPs to be in this important place. I will give the floor to Mr. Patrice so that he can give us more details on the matter.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I will ask Ms. Garrett to add in some details on this. You're exactly right. The replacement of the mechanical systems is a key part of making this building much more energy efficient. The closure of the courtyards also plays a part in that by removing a significant portion of t

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I'll return to the baseline we established in June 2021. We established a baseline budget for the Centre Block and the Parliament Welcome Centre. Again, we gave a range of $4.5 billion to $5 billion. That is the established budget for both the Centre Block and the Parliament Welc

Procedure and House Affairs committee  It's important to maybe take one step back. The long-term vision and plan we implement on rolling programs of work, so essentially what we do is.... Again, I'm going to take you back to that baseline in June of 2021. There's a lot of work that we do with Parliament to develop the

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Sure thing.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I would say that we are really in about mid-stride of the overall restoration and modernization of the parliamentary precinct. There are a lot of projects behind us. We've completed 25 very large projects, but you're exactly right: There's a lot ahead of us, right now with the

Procedure and House Affairs committee  The last time the Auditor General issued a report on the long-term vision and plan and the work was in 2010.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  The last Auditor General report in 2010, to boil things down.... A clean bill of health was given to project management and the delivery of the projects. The finding on the governance was issued as part of that report in 2010. A recommendation at that point in 2010 was to transfe

Procedure and House Affairs committee  In June 2021, when we baselined the project as part of the public technical briefing, we stated that the substantial completion of construction would be—and we gave a range—in 2030-31. I'll come back to the rationale for that. Also, then, working hand in hand with Parliament—the

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Thank you very much. The main decisions made by the House of Commons, which Mr. Patrice explained to you, helped the design take shape. The design process is highly collaborative and mobilizes many partners beyond Parliament, such as the National Capital Commission and Parks Can