Today, the cost of renovating and rebuilding the historic Parliament Hill buildings has climbed to a minimum of $1 billion, according to Public Works budgets and plans; that estimate is without merit seeing how cities can be constructed with that budget. Apparently Canada's national archives building is prone to leaks and the Library and Archives Canada building near Parliament Hill in Ottawa was given a second soaking June 1 when a cold-water valve in a women's washroom failed. Though Parliament Hill reflections the political stature of Canada, and the imagery of rust and flooding may not be appealing, I still believe the budget is overestimated and could probably lead to another Gomery Inquiry where contracts are negotiated and favoured by party supporters.
So currently, high wire fencing has been erected at a north corner of Centre Block to prevent people from coming too close to crumbling mortar and into danger from bits of stone falling from the walls and towers. Since the chain of government is not majority and can change within the contract periods and even fact suspending it, it proves very difficult for the Public Works to prioritize the renovation of Parliament Hill.
Yours Truly,
-Waterloo University: Alex.C, PSCI-260
The Star, 2008
http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/464006
The Star, 2008http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/463758
8 comments:
Getting rid of the unelected and do nothing Senate will save a big chunk of cost, on second thought....
Cant the Parliament operate in an open field, very much like the Stonehenge days ? Imagine the fresh air, calming nature, it will be the politicians good ! '
The Senate's been doing things lately, blocking the liberal-sponsored RESP deduction amendment and the most odious parts of the CPC film tax credit bill. They're fulfilling the role of sober second thought. An elected senate would be fine, but the parties would have to be separate from the commons parties if they're to avoid simply repeating the same whipped votes.
It would be pretty funny to see seagulls cr@p on politicians in an open-air format, though.
As the first poster notes, governments come and go, but the nation's heritage and its institutions are the foundation. One might even say that the government of the day is merely the ornamental weather-vane on the roof. It is one thing to budget for new construction, and another to renovate heritage structures. As anyone who has ever commenced even the smallest renovation project knows, there are hidden horrors and unexpected expenses. Even the oil sands projects - managed by (one assumes) conservative Big Oil - don't come in on time and on budget. While they're at it - if they ever get at it - they could drop the stupid idea of having the Portrait Gallery anywhere but in the former American Embassy in Ottawa - and renovate 24 Sussex.
Man this is crime .....when Ayatollahs khomeini die Government of Iran spending large money over his Mosque...and we had every days news from BBC and CNN are complaining why Iranian money do not go on poor ...look here 5 times I be homeless in canada as awarded artist , the Grant was can help me which not was $5000 and I never get this help to look after my painting or drawing or .....1 billion dolor ? I never and ever trust Canada or canadian again , I love Ahmadenejad he is best man we ever had, when he speack out about to end capitalism and corruption and helping poor around world , justice and stop racism and food and housing for African and poor and here we are ? what we can do?this is not Joke 1 Billion dolor ? where bring money are government for this by own or from are TAX?
By way Alex, when are we going to hang out, it's the summer.
What a waste of money. It's time to replace the buildings with a smaller more functional building. The Senators offices could be moved to Baffin Island or another location that needs an economic boost. Give the money to the economy or something, so lame, Adrian Clarkson pissed me off but this just about does it.
Who cares?
As stated, this should be a non-partisan issue - just fix the damn place.
If this was taking place under a Lib government it would be all about "nation building - therefore we must get this done no matter what the cost".
Nice blog by the way, the homepage was attractive lolol.
This is about national pride. I actually prefer seeing it renovated. Some artworks are invaluable~
Bugget and money always make things more complicated!
So Canada can spend billions on airplanes but it can't fix it's headquarters? Just let it be fixed, who cares, you worry way too much you know? And plus you pay taxes for things you don't even use so how is this different bro?
-phil
Okay, I understand that 1 Billion dollars is pretty extreme is rennovations but im sure that if this is not done now, the estimated costs are just going to rise. Nothing in this world is getting cheaper. They're spending 1 Billion on our parliment building renovations and people are saying that its too much, but when they're spending billions of dollars on the US led war in afganistan? Why is nobody questioning how their tax money is going towards such useless acts? Maybe Canadians should prioritize which government spending they should question!
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