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$42M glass dome approved for Parliament on Sat Feb 19, 2011 11:47 am
Triniman
general-contributor
Who's running the country? The NDP???
"
The federal government has approved plans to build a magnificent
$42-million glass dome on Parliament Hill as a new home for the House of
Commons — a temporary one.
The Commons will be moved to the fancy new digs while the existing
chamber on Parliament Hill is being renovated, a process expected to
take about seven years.
MPs and their parliamentary seats will then be moved back to the
current chamber, and the soaring glass dome renovated at further expense
to house three parliamentary committee rooms.
The federal Public Works Department claims the project will cost $42 million, but won’t say what is included in that amount.
A number of experts familiar with the project have told CBC News that
the temporary glass-domed Commons will almost certainly end up costing
Canadian taxpayers well over $100 million.
And the Senate wants its own glass dome during renovations to the
upper chamber. Officials say that project would likely cost taxpayers as
much as the temporary quarters for the Commons."
And yet..."
New Democrat MP Pat Martin called the plan to move the Commons into the temporary home “the genesis of a boondoggle.”
“Everything they do around here costs 10 times as much as it should
and takes 10 times as long … Guaranteed they will screw it up.”
The glass dome for the Commons is all part of an extreme makeover of
the crumbling Parliament Buildings, a rapidly growing government money
pit that is already years late and more than 1,000 per cent over the
initial budget of $465 million.
While the government now admits the Hill restoration could cost up to
$5 billion, Auditor General Sheila Fraser recently warned the final
bill could be much larger.
A major part of those overall costs has been creating elaborate
temporary offices for MPs and parliamentary services — facilities such
as the Commons dome — while the Hill is under renovations."
"
The federal government has approved plans to build a magnificent
$42-million glass dome on Parliament Hill as a new home for the House of
Commons — a temporary one.
The Commons will be moved to the fancy new digs while the existing
chamber on Parliament Hill is being renovated, a process expected to
take about seven years.
MPs and their parliamentary seats will then be moved back to the
current chamber, and the soaring glass dome renovated at further expense
to house three parliamentary committee rooms.
The federal Public Works Department claims the project will cost $42 million, but won’t say what is included in that amount.
A number of experts familiar with the project have told CBC News that
the temporary glass-domed Commons will almost certainly end up costing
Canadian taxpayers well over $100 million.
And the Senate wants its own glass dome during renovations to the
upper chamber. Officials say that project would likely cost taxpayers as
much as the temporary quarters for the Commons."
And yet..."
New Democrat MP Pat Martin called the plan to move the Commons into the temporary home “the genesis of a boondoggle.”
“Everything they do around here costs 10 times as much as it should
and takes 10 times as long … Guaranteed they will screw it up.”
The glass dome for the Commons is all part of an extreme makeover of
the crumbling Parliament Buildings, a rapidly growing government money
pit that is already years late and more than 1,000 per cent over the
initial budget of $465 million.
While the government now admits the Hill restoration could cost up to
$5 billion, Auditor General Sheila Fraser recently warned the final
bill could be much larger.
A major part of those overall costs has been creating elaborate
temporary offices for MPs and parliamentary services — facilities such
as the Commons dome — while the Hill is under renovations."
_________________
“Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through
our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that
democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.'”
― Isaac Asimov
