The Conservative government is spending at least $830 million to move military personnel and DND staff to the Nortel site at 3500 Carling Ave. That includes $208 million to buy the property and another $623 million that DND says it will cost to renovate the buildings there for its needs. The cost to prepare the site involves everything from creating new offices to installing secure computer networks.
But some are questioning that expenditure at a time of cost-cutting, particularly since the department will still continue to occupy key buildings such as its main headquarters on Colonel By Drive, as well as its facility on Star Top Road. DND’s presence in the Louis St. Laurent building, the National Printing Bureau building and the Hotel de Ville building in Gatineau will also continue.
A number of former Nortel employees have also contacted the Citizen to question why $623 million is being spent for the renovations. They point out that the complex is already wired for computer systems, is secure, and offices and work cubicles are already set up.
The Defence Department couldn’t provide reasons to the Citizen why it is moving, but documents released through the Access to Information law have at least part of the answer: “Co-location of the majority of DND employees will result in efficiencies such as reduced commissionaires, reduced cab fares for travel between locations, single rather than multiple corporate and support facilities, and allow the personnel of various DND organizations to work better together.”
That rationale was among the answers DND officials expected to recite to journalists at a news conference to announce the department was moving to the Nortel Campus.
But a day before that news conference, planned for Oct. 19, 2010, the Privy Council Office stepped in to shut the event down, according to DND documents. The event was to have included Defence Minister Peter MacKay and Public Works Minister Rona Ambrose.
Defence Department sources say the Nortel move is particularly sensitive as the Conservative government is not keen to highlight its spending plans for the project during a time of fiscal restraint.
The DND documents also provide a name for the Nortel move: Project X.
In the past the Defence Department has estimated it will save $50 million a year by moving many of its employees in the Ottawa area into the former Nortel site but it has not provided a breakdown on how it came up with that figure.
Also spiked during the aborted 2010 news conference was a message to be distributed to employees by Deputy Minister Robert Fonberg and then defence chief Gen. Walt Natynczyk, notifying them of the reasons for the move.
That message was to highlight the Nortel complex as a state-of-the art facility with lots of green space and bike paths. The move would reduce accommodation costs and improve security, the message added.
“A move of this magnitude will, no doubt, cause some disruptions along the way,” the message from the two men noted. “We acknowledge that this announcement will raise many questions and concerns with respect to transportation, family issues, and other personal considerations.”
DND officials said Friday that Public Works would answer why the department was moving. Public Works said it could not answer the question.
DND and the Canadian Forces have 42 office locations in Ottawa and Gatineau. The department is hoping the move of personnel to the former Nortel Campus will reduce that number to seven or less.
Some DND employees and Canadian Forces personnel have also voiced concern over the move, pointing out that many live in Orléans and the commute would be too long. A June 2011 briefing note for deputy minister Fonberg described the Carling Campus as a “relatively remote location.”
Liberal MPP Phil McNeely has been raising concerns about the DND move, saying it will deal Orléans a serious economic blow. The move, he said, will also alter transit patterns in the city, harm the downtown core and create more urban sprawl as people move to Kanata and Arnprior. He has filed a complaint to the country’s language watchdog, arguing the move will hurt the francophone community in Ottawa’s east end.
Ottawa lawyer and retired colonel Michel Drapeau has questioned whether the move makes financial sense, pointing out the department still intends to operate a number of its key buildings.
The $623-million price tag for the renovations has also been a sensitive issue. Documents previously obtained by the Citizen show the department not only knew about the cost almost two years ago but senior officials ordered references to it removed from DND public statements and documents. “Media, parliamentarians and Canadians will be focused on the cost to taxpayers for the acquisition of the Campus and the subsequent retro-fit costs,” noted a DND strategy document.
Such concerns were solved when Fonberg stepped in. His assistant wrote that the deputy minister was concerned about telling the public about the actual price tag. According to an email, Fonberg asked, “Why are we using the $623m fit up cost? It is without context and will be a lightening rod!”
The cost was removed from DND public documents about the Nortel purchase.
The campus consists of approximately 28 hectares that was owned by Nortel and 120 hectares leased from the National Capital Commission.
Original Article
Source: canada.com
Author: DAVID PUGLIESE
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