Thank you for the question. I did raise it in my notes, because I believe this is one of the issues the committee wanted to discuss with me.
I am very much concerned. I suppose that at the time Mr. Brison was as well. The $3 billion recap number that he threw out there has since ballooned to close to $4 billion. Because of the average age of our portfolio, which is closing in on 50, the less money we spend on these buildings, the more expensive it's going to be.
I have grave concerns about the state of our buildings; that is why I asked the department last summer to retain advisers to help us figure out the best approach to resolving these issues. These issues are very significant. I don't think we can wait much longer before we put the first building block on the ground--no pun intended--and address this issue smack-on.
In my opinion, this is not a partisan issue at all. It is a bipartisan issue and it's an issue that should concern all Canadians. We basically have neglected our real estate portfolio over many years; we've acted like absentee owners, and this is unacceptable.