Government Operations committee  I'd be happy to. There was a program, the commercial heritage properties incentive fund, modelled on the U.S. federal tax incentive I mentioned earlier, that was an excellent way to encourage private sector owners to go the extra mile and invest in a building that might otherwise

Government Operations committee  That depends. The designation can be made at a number of levels, local or federal. The Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada studies the buildings and makes designations. This isn't actual protection, but an honourary commemoration. No cost is associated with it.

Government Operations committee  At the time, funding could be obtained to restore national historic sites, but there's no more funding in that program. There's virtually no more funding for historic buildings at the federal level.

Government Operations committee  There's been no more money in the fund for a long time, at least five years. We can send you the details.

Government Operations committee  We analyzed the existing historic buildings preservation programs, and it's a fairly sad story.

Government Operations committee  Perhaps we could talk later on about the details of the buildings you referred to.

Government Operations committee  Yes. We should try to keep these buildings in the federal inventory.

Government Operations committee  There's a draft bill at Parks Canada.

Government Operations committee  I would just say there are buildings on the list of the 35 that, in my view, are as significant as those high-profile buildings you named.

Government Operations committee  We haven't seen the terms of the lease or what the covenant actually says, so I can't comment in detail on what it accomplishes. Again, our understanding is that only one of the three designated heritage buildings sold to date has the covenant registered on title, but there are c

Government Operations committee  I think the presentation that was made available to us indicated--and our sources indicate this--that all three buildings have covenants, but only one of them is registered on title. When the lease expires or when the building is sold, the covenant on two of those buildings disap

Government Operations committee  My understanding is that for two of the buildings, the covenant is related to the government's lease of the building, so it's built into the government continuing to be a tenant. If the government pulls out or the owner decides to sell the building at some point or seek another t

Government Operations committee  Some buildings are financially self-sufficient, like the one you've just referred to. There are also a number of buildings, such as museums, that are open to the public. Without revenue sources, it's hard to ensure the survival of these buildings because they're expensive to main

Government Operations committee  Thank you for your question. On our first recommendation about considering cultural value, basically what we are saying is that we believe there are buildings that should be retained in public ownership, that have a symbolic importance for the Government of Canada, that are seen

Government Operations committee  That's right.