House Speaker Milliken, MPs slam 'ridiculous' delays in Parliament Hill renovations
House Speaker Peter Milliken says Parliament should have more control over the long-running, multi-billion-dollar, and massive renovations to the Parliament Buildings and slammed "constant bureaucratic rubbish" for hamstringing the Public Works project.
In an exclusive interview with The Hill Times last week, the House Speaker, who chairs the powerful Commons Board of Internal Economy and is like the mayor of the House, suggested the government appoint a Parliamentary official to take greater Parliamentary control and to expedite the renovation project led by Public Works.
"It just takes forever, and I think it's ridiculous from the point of view of what we need," Mr. Milliken (Kingston and the Islands, Ont.) said. "We are supposed to be on Parliament Hill, and Parliament Hill should be functional."
MPs of all political stripes say there is a "huge level of frustration" with the slowness of the expansive project that will see Parliamentarians ejected and moved from their Hill offices for much of the next 15 years. Public Works' management, said one MP, has become "a standing joke on Parliament Hill."
In September, the West Block will be vacated to begin an eight-year, $769-million renovation. The renovation of Parliament's three main buildings will not be completed until 2025, requiring MPs and Senators to spend years occupying offices off the Hill.
Mr. Milliken expressed frustration with Public Works' management of the Parliamentary renovations, saying the renovations are taking far longer than they should and will seriously disrupt Parliamentary life.
Since the renovation project began in 1992, $1.02-billion has been spent, according to Public Works officials.
Mr. Milliken said that Public Works' management of the project has been an interminable maze of studies, plans, tenders, contracts, work stoppages, inspections, and new plans.
"I just don't think there's a need to go through the constant bureaucratic rubbish that the Department of Public Works goes through," Mr. Milliken told The Hill Times. "Yes, I can understand that some buildings might get closed, and some renovations undertaken from time to time, but you think you'd get it organized and then do it very promptly and get people back, but not this group."
Mr. Milliken said the "ideal thing" would be to get Parliament's destiny out of the hands of Public Works, and give it to a Parliamentary official managing control of the Parliamentary Precinct. This official, he suggested, would report to the Senate and the House through their respective Speakers. Though he said he has not decided on what such an officer should be called, he did mention the term "superintendent of the House."
The creation of such an officer, Speaker Milliken said, will require legislation. Since such an officer would spend public money, he said, it would have to be the government who puts forth the bill.
Mr. Milliken said that this renovation process would likely be less wide-ranging and disruptive if Public Works had been more diligent in their routine maintenance, and repaired buildings like the West Block before it crumbled to be point of being deemed dangerous. He said Public Works "didn't do anything for 40 years" to maintain West Block's exterior.
"I have trouble with their general ability to look after the buildings: I don't think they do it very well," the speaker said. "Once the thing is falling down, you need to do massive renovations that cost a whole lot more."
Mr. Milliken said that he had a disappointing first-hand experience with Public Works last July, after his private dining room in 216-N Centre Block was flooded by an upstairs water leak. The leak left unsightly stains on the walls, requiring a new paint job and rendering the room unusable. After seven months of waiting for Public Works to repaint the room, Mr. Milliken asked House of Commons workers to paint it, which they did in two days.
"We would have been waiting for three or four [more] months for the paint job to be complete if we'd waited for Public Works," he said. "It just takes so long."
Government House Leader Jay Hill (Prince George-Peace River, B.C.) said he understands the House Speaker's sentiment, commenting that Public Works' long-term plan is "turning into a lot longer term plan than all of us would hope."
"Certainly Speaker Milliken is not alone in his frustration," said Mr. Hill. "All of us in all parties, in the House and the Senate, have been frustrated by the slowness of the renovations."
Mr. Hill said, however, that he is concerned the Speaker's suggestion could result in additional costs.
"I would be concerned, if we're moving into this time of restraint and leading by example, that we might be looking at adding another layer of bureaucracy that would cost further money," he said.
Mr. Hill did not endorse the Speaker's proposal, saying he would first have to see more details. He said, however, that he personally did not understand how this individual could speed up the renovations.
Instead, he said he will make his concerns clear to Public Works Minister Rona Ambrose (Edmonton-Spruce Grove, Alta.), who was named Public Works minister in January. Mr. Hill said he hopes the new minister can "light a fire under the people responsible for this rehabilitation."
In defence of Public Works, Mr. Hill said he understands the restoration of Canada's national heritage buildings is meticulous work, requiring careful attention from master masons and others.
Bloc Québécois House Leader Michel Guimond (Montmorency-Charlevois, Que.) said Public Works has "presented a lot of plans but [does] no work."
Mr. Guimond said he thinks the Speaker's proposal is "a good idea," but echoed Mr. Hill's concern that it might drive up costs during a time of fiscal restraint.
Liberal and NDP MPs declined to comment on the record, though one MP said the lagging pace of renovations has become "a standing joke on Parliament Hill."
The MP said there is a "huge level of frustration" that Public Works seems to have near total control over the renovation plan and time-lines, even though the Board of Internal Economy is the governing board of the house.
Robert Wright, Public Works' executive director of major Crown projects for the Parliamentary precinct, said Parliament's East Block, West Block and Centre Block buildings are "really at their end of their life cycle and require a significant intervention to bring them up to modern building codes."
Mr. Wright said the buildings will receive a "stem to stern renovation" which will include internal demolitions to remove asbestos, the installation of wiring to support modern technology and other features.
The Library of Parliament has already been extensively renovated and historically preserved.
Mr. Wright said the West Block, which will be vacated in September, should be finished between 2018 and 2020. The East Block, which requires less renovation work, should also be finished by this time. In the interior courtyard of the West Block a temporary House of Commons Chamber with a glass ceiling will be built in preparation for the closure of Centre Block. A similar structure will be built in the East Block to house the Senate Chamber.
While a start date has not yet been determined, Mr. Wright said, Public Works is aiming to complete the five to seven year renovation of Centre Block by 2025.
Mr. Wright said these are projects of great complexity, particularly because the West Block will be the first 19th century load-bearing masonry building to be updated in this way. The West Block's walls are composed of three layers of stone and rubble, he said, requiring a meticulous stone-by-stone assessment.
"It's like taking apart a huge Lego kit and putting it back together," he said.
In preparation for the work, extensive research and experimentation has been done in partnership with "centres of excellence" such as the Isis Canada Research Network and the National Research Council, Mr. Wright said. Much research is being done with seismic shake tables, he said, to simulate how the Parliament Buildings will withstand earthquakes and to find the "least invasive approach to the heritage fabric of the buildings."
Mr. Wright defended the pace of the work, saying much work has already been done "out of sight and off the Hill" to prepare for the closure of the West Block.
"To be able to start the major rehabilitation of the core Parliamentary Buildings we had to construct facilities so that they could be emptied first, and that's a taken significant amount of time," he said.
Thirteen major relocation projects have already been completed, Mr. Wright said, and a million square feet of office space in the downtown Ottawa core have been outfitted for use by Parliamentary staff. Mr. Wright said 1,500 Parliamentary staff have already been moved off the Hill, along with the food preparation facility that was in West Block.
Mr. Wright said the overall project is "actually processing quite quickly and on track," adding that the West Block renovation will be begin four year earlier than originally planned.
Mr. Milliken disagreed with suggestions the project was ahead of schedule.
"I don't see how they think they're way ahead," the speaker said. "I sure don't: I think they're well behind."
2010: Milestone Year for Parliament Hill Renovations
As the Parliamentary renovations begin in full force this fall, two important Hill buildings will be vacated and closed. As a result, committees, Hill offices and parties will be moved off the Parliamentary Precinct. Here's where they'll go:
On March 31, 2010 the Wellington Building will officially close:
• Two new alternate committee rooms will open at 131 Queen. These will replace two of the three committee rooms currently located in the Wellington Building. West Block Room 200 will be used as a back-up committee room;
• A suite of rooms at the Government Conference Centre, located at 2 Rideau Street (across from the Château Laurier), has been reserved for the exclusive use of the House of Commons to accommodate West Block Room 200 functions.
In September 2010, the West Block will be closing for renovations.
• Committee rooms, MPs' offices and Room 200 in the West Block will be relocated to alternate accommodations at the following locations:
• 151 Sparks (La Promenade): three new committee rooms and 62 MPs' offices; and
• 1 Wellington (former Museum of Contemporary Photography, West of the Château Laurier) — four new committee rooms.
Source: House Speaker's Office
http://hilltimes.com/page/printpage/renovations-03-15-2010