National Defence committee  Mr. Chair, thank you for the question. It really does depend on the details. In our case, the minister is empowered, through the National Defence Act and the Federal Real Property and Federal Immovables Act, to hold real property for the purposes of the Defence mandate. There are constraints that pop up as a result of that on potential public-private partnerships, but even so, the details matter, so there are some flexibilities there.

National Defence committee  Mr. Chair, I would say there are three lines of effort that we're currently working on right now. There's the Crown housing, which is what the agency is delivering directly for CAF members and their families. There is the capital funding—public funds—that's made available to them, which they're implementing.

National Defence committee  There are a series of administrative practices in place that the agency is using to try to facilitate that matching up of supply and demand. There are a lot of people in communities like Halifax and Kingston.... I could list pretty much every city where there's a military base.

National Defence committee  I did not say that, but—

National Defence committee  Mr. Chair, I'll just mention something that we commented on a bit earlier in the meeting. There is a whole range of accommodations available to a member, and sometimes their families, over their lifetime in the forces. With regard to those quarters that are available or of interest to someone who's just joining, someone a little bit younger maybe, my colleague mentioned the benefits that are provided to them to help them pay for....

National Defence committee  Mr. Chair, I feel that we're at a bit of a disadvantage here because we don't have the ATIP request in front of us. We would be happy to provide you with wait-list information by site. We can do that. We don't have the information from the ATIP.

National Defence committee  Mr. Chair, we're working very closely with the Crown agency that's responsible for real estate and development within the federal family, so to speak. It's the Canada Lands Company. It's been a very busy time for it. Obviously, there's a lot of activity on this front right now.

National Defence committee  In general terms, this is obviously an issue that we spend a fair bit of time talking about with our union colleagues. Of course, we're all interested in the same outcome, which is to make sure that we have the infrastructure in place to support members of the Canadian Armed Forces in all of the work that we ask them to do.

National Defence committee  Mr. Chair, we have certainly stepped back and taken a look at how we manage performance around contracts: Do we have the right contract inspectors in place, for example? Do we have people who are following up and making sure that the contractors have what they need to do the work we're asking them to do?

National Defence committee  Mr. Chair, we're of course happy to provide that information. I apologize, but I don't have it with me today. It's readily available, so we can make those arrangements. On the point about the work that Deloitte did with the organization—because it was done with the organization—they consulted staff, and there were surveys and working groups.

National Defence committee  Thank you very much for the question, Mr. Chair. I could offer some general remarks in that regard, but if I could, I would like to pass this to Serge. He could speak specifically to the housing situation and the quality control that's in place around the work that contractors would be doing in the houses specifically—if that's of interest, Mr.

National Defence committee  Perhaps I could offer some additional remarks, and I'll turn to my colleagues who can dig in on some of the detail. It was noted in the opening remarks that Canadian Forces members and their families are facing housing challenges alongside all Canadians. The struggles that all Canadians are experiencing, and perhaps that you yourselves are experiencing, or that I am experiencing, are no different for them in certain respects.

National Defence committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chair and members of the committee. I'm the assistant deputy minister of infrastructure and environment at the Department of National Defence. In particular, I am responsible for National Defence's lands and infrastructure in Canada. I have the chance to work closely with chief military personnel on issues involving the full range of accommodations that are available to CAF members, and sometimes their families, which includes Crown housing and residential housing.

Public Accounts committee  I would just say that the facility is a deepwater port, so when it's iced in, it's not used. It is a port.

National Defence committee  Madam Chair, yes, I am happy to answer the question. We expect the project to be complete in June, so we're very close. You're correct in your assessment of the contractor. Unfortunately, that does happen from time to time. There is a bonding agent in place. Perini Management is overseeing the project.