Government Operations committee  Mr. Chair, I've spoken to the greening initiatives at some length already, with a 57% reduction of our carbon footprint already, the district heating and cooling in the national capital region and regional energy certificates. That's essentially the suite of greening investments

Government Operations committee  That's a little bit speculative, I think. Since we're in discussions on option analysis right now, it's hard to pin down—

Government Operations committee  I don't know if there's anything Simon wants to add, but I would just note that the requirements we were given had some urgency in terms of needing an aircraft to meet those specifications now, and there's quite a difference between the off-the-shelf timeline associated with the

Government Operations committee  It is an existing aircraft in production. I don't know, Simon, if there's anything we can add for the committee's benefit on the availability of that aircraft.

Government Operations committee  Thank you for that question. Unfortunately Defence Construction Canada is an arm's-length corporation with their own responsibilities, so I can't speak to their efforts. I do know that they're active in this area. They're making great strides not only in greening but also in ind

Government Operations committee  The work continues to find as many opportunities as we can for contracting with indigenous organizations and to meet the 5% target. We have some very interesting success stories including, as you just mentioned, in work in the north. Our North Warning System sustainment contract

Government Operations committee  Thank you for that excellent question. This is a very dynamic area for all organizations to figure out what kind of office portfolio is needed for the future. We are renewing our 10-year plan for offices and taking into account the new hybrid work model. It obviously reduces t

Government Operations committee  We're midstream in that process, so I don't have the final results. There will be a track of potential savings, obviously, from terminating leases that will be no longer required. There would be some revenues from the disposal of assets that are no longer required. There are al

Government Operations committee  Thank you for that question. There's a wide range of activity in the department, so that speaks to some of the high numbers. In particular, in areas like construction, as you can appreciate, when a building is designed—take the parliamentary precinct project—we don't have in-ho

Government Operations committee  In some cases, the expertise is so specific and time limited that the best value is to get an outside expert in to do it. If you need a building designed or need particular expertise for an intensive period of work, the professional services contract is often the best way to go.

Government Operations committee  Thank you for the question. These initiatives, as you know, were announced in the budget. They're being coordinated by the Treasury Board Secretariat, and each department will receive essentially its target for both the operating expenditure reduction and the one you mentioned e

Government Operations committee  With respect to professional services in particular?

Government Operations committee  As the minister indicated, there is this review going on regarding the use. It includes the McKinsey review, but it has broader connections into the use of management consultants more broadly. Minister Jaczek and Minister Fortier will be tabling their report on their findings of

Government Operations committee  I'd be reluctant to put a number on the table. We could certainly look at that. As my colleague, Wojo, was suggesting, greening is a core element of many projects that we're doing, particularly on the energy source. That's the biggest bang for the buck, if you will. If we can ch

Government Operations committee  The National Capital Commission has funding for the ongoing maintenance of its capital assets. They got a one-time injection of $175 million over 10 years to address deferred maintenance for the entire suite of official residences, but they have not been funded to undertake large