Procedure and House Affairs committee  I would say two things. One is that there's been a significant capacity built in the capital region through this work, and the second is that capacity remains a challenge. It is a challenge within this industry across the country. There are certain demographic realities within th

Procedure and House Affairs committee  First and foremost, layered decision-making can occur. If we have all the decisions at one time, that's optimal. But first and foremost, I would say that the size of the chamber and the size of the visitor welcome centre are the two most critical decisions. We're now doing the de

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Absolutely. We work hand in glove with the city, the NCC, the Sparks Street Mall Authority and the BIA. In fact, we worked in partnership with the City of Ottawa on the initial planning and consultation for the revitalization of Sparks Street. We gave a storefront for the consult

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I would say there has been an ongoing conversation around Wellington for a long time. That's an ongoing conversation. I would say that the LRT and how transport works within the capital—

Procedure and House Affairs committee  The links between Gatineau and Ottawa have, to a certain extent, revitalized some of those conversations on how Wellington can be maximized in the future.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I would say that this has been an ongoing conversation between ourselves and the parliamentary partners. It is a partnership. We're trying to look at what is the best approach for that, but I would agree that it's a good idea.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Madam Chair, it's a really important question. The capacity challenge is fundamental to the success of these projects. The work that we've undertaken over the past decade-plus has really reaped benefits for this program. When we were at the very early stages of the West Block, fo

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Absolutely, it's a critical question. Centre Block has a lot of accessibility challenges. When you look around, the public gallery is a prime example, and there are lots of other areas. We faced those same challenges in this building as well as the former Government Conferenc

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Thank you for the question, Madam Chair. I'll give a high level on that and then pass it over to my colleague, Ms. Garrett, who is responsible for the Centre Block program. As far as establishing the cost and schedule go, we have a quite mature system within the precinct. The de

Procedure and House Affairs committee  The presentation we provided last week mapped out a number of key decision points—some larger, some smaller—and gave a notional timeline of when those decisions would support us in proceeding in a timely manner. It is always a challenge with these projects. Projects don't always

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Sure. I would say there are a couple of elements. I'll deal first with the visitor welcome centre and the excavation work. The approach we're taking with that is essentially what I would call a “no regrets” approach. We've tendered it in a way so that it is scalable. The goal ove

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I'll start with the second one first. We do have a lot of studies on how the chamber could be.... We could put in additional seating. Right now, we're in the the existing footprint, in the 420-some zone, of how many seats could be integrated there.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Oh, sorry.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  It's multi-layered. The governance is complex and the Canadian example is unique. In most countries, the legislative branch is fully responsible for the parliamentary buildings. Nation building, as you would know, went through cycles around the globe, and most countries went thro

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Absolutely., I can say that one of the first acts of our new minister was to visit the parliamentary precinct, the Centre Block in particular. The minister went on quite a significant tour of the facilities of the building, just as you did last week. There have been a number of b