The National Capital Commission spent more than $8 million during the pandemic to construct a storage facility for Rideau Hall, according to records obtained by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF).
The new “barn” at the national historic site and the official residence and office of the governor general was constructed to meet Rideau Hall’s “operational service, maintenance, and storage needs,” the National Capital Commission (NCC) website reads.
The CTF says the facility is a “pricey, pandemic-era construction project” that cost $8,049,853 to build.
“I don’t know much about farming, but I’m pretty sure my buddies in Brooks (Alberta) can build a barn for a lot less than eight million bucks,” CTF federal director Franco Terrazzano said in an Oct. 18 release. “It seems like the NCC goes out of its way to spend as much money as possible.”
“If the NCC can’t figure out how to manage properties without costing taxpayers an arm and a leg, then the government needs to find someone else who can,” he added.
The NCC website describes the barn, located next to the stables, as the federal government’s “first zero-carbon building” in the National Capital Region.
The new two-level building design was approved in June 2019. Construction began in July 2020 and was finished during the winter of 2021. It has vehicle storage space, a washing bay, a repair garage working area, a tool and equipment storage area, and storage space.
“The building is semi-conditioned, with tempered indoor temperatures in winter, and no air conditioning in summer,” the NCC said on its website. “Preliminary data shows that the 70 solar panels installed on the Barn’s roof produce enough energy to fully offset the electrical demand of Stornoway, the official residence of the leader of the Official Opposition.”
Stornoway is a heritage property built in 1913.
The building was constructed “to address health and safety concerns presented by the previous structures which were at their end of life. The previous structures were removed in 2016,” NCC spokesperson Sofia Benjelloun told The Epoch Times on Oct. 19.
She said the total cost of $8.09 million includes “works from 2016 (abatement of hazardous materials, demolition of 4 buildings, excavation, and the removal of contaminated soil), as well as the new building’s design and construction.”
The NCC is the Crown corporation responsible for Canada’s official residences. The Commission has long complained that the properties it manages, including Canada’s official residences, are underfunded.
“Decades of underfunding—a lack of timely investment in the maintenance, preservation and renewal of these properties—have resulted in a growing deferred maintenance deficit and severely deteriorating asset condition,” a 2021 NCC report states.
