Government Operations committee  No, I did not look at a model like that. I would tell you that on sale and leaseback, I disagree with your preamble. Sale and leaseback is not the last resort. Most commercial companies outside real estate are spinning off their real estate assets. These are for-profit companies.

Government Operations committee  Let me comment first on the macro, and then I'll go to the micro, which is the post 2007-08 numbers. On the macro level we have been very clear. We want to shave $10 million from the denominator from the 2006-07 fiscal year, which was approximately $31 million. This fiscal year we do not want polling expenditures to be beyond $21 million, and we have informed all departments that we will be monitoring their expenditures.

Government Operations committee  I'll ask the deputy to answer your question. In terms of commitment, I wouldn't want you to think that this is not a priority. There was significant backlog. This committee actually was very good in reminding me every time I've shown up. We have gone through the backlog in terms of the delay in pay processing.

Government Operations committee  With the exception of emergency vehicles for the RCMP and military vehicles, the executive fleet is being replaced by hybrid cars. As soon as a vehicle needs to be replaced, it will be replaced by a hybrid automobile. Folks at this table could tell you how many non-hybrid vehicles remain to be replaced, but as months go by, that denominator is going to go down significantly.

Government Operations committee  The procurement ombudsman will be appointed shortly. We had an office set up in preparation for this announcement. When the announcement is formalized, that person can hit the ground running. In a previous answer to a question put to me by Mr. Kramp, I referred to my meeting with small and medium enterprises.

Government Operations committee  Well, you can imagine with the thousands and thousands of real estate property assets that we have, for us to undertake a retrofit of all of them would be extremely costly. What we are doing for new buildings is simple: the rule is that you have to meet the LEED standards. In other buildings, when we are considering a significant investment in the building--as a maintenance, a retrofit--we will insist on the LEED standard.

Government Operations committee  So we're working together towards that goal. I'm not dissatisfied with the efforts and the results so far.

Government Operations committee  You're talking about a new project.

Government Operations committee  I don't know whether we have a document that we can table. As you know, it's a matter of real property space. Last spring, we announced the construction of two office buildings in Gatineau. So that will take us to that 75:25 ratio, and even better. If you want, we'll table a document that presents the denominator, that indicates how the ratio is calculated.

Government Operations committee  To achieve it, we have to build two towers in Gatineau, Mr. Ménard. That's the plan.

Government Operations committee  In fact, new projects aren't our biggest challenge. Here I'm somewhat exceeding the framework of my responsibilities. Nevertheless, as I said earlier, we spend nearly $5 billion a year in the computer field, for either software or other goods. I was really reassured to see that the Treasury Board had retained the services of a very experienced computer person.

Government Operations committee  No, from what I know of this, we'll receive them before the date you mentioned. The tanks needed maintenance. They will be delivered before the date you mentioned.

Government Operations committee  It will be as soon as possible.

Government Operations committee  Work has to be done on those tanks. When it's completed, Mr. Ménard, those tanks can be used.

Government Operations committee  We're talking about the 100 tanks that we bought. Mr. Ménard wants to know whether we have an exact date for the delivery of the tanks.