It’s officially open, but still not in use
The $42-million B.C. headquarters for the Department of National Defence was officially opened by Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan last September on the same day that the Seaforth Highlanders marched back into their renovated armoury.
The new building was named for Lt.-Col. Bertram M. Hoffmeister, who led troops in Sicily during the Second World War and commanded Canadian forces in the Pacific against Japan.
Yet, nearly a year after the official opening, the four-storey headquarters remains empty. Sure, there’s a nice plaque on it, but most days, the gates are locked with a weathered and curled notice advising who to call regarding security.
There was a single car in the attached parkade on Wednesday. The gate was ajar. A woman swept fallen leaves from the building’s entrance, while a man watered the parched plants.
DND’s best estimate for a move-in date is still months away — “early 2018, if not sooner,” according to a spokesperson. Assuming that the defence department keeps to that deadline, that will make it five years since construction began on the building that will eventually house 13 different units and organizations.
Construction deficiencies meant that DND didn’t get an occupation permit until April 2017.
There is still “an issue” with the telephones and network connectivity, which Shared Services Canada is supposed to be providing.
Secure filing cabinets being sourced through Public Services and Procurement Canada have yet to be delivered.
And the Department of National Defence itself has yet to provide the needed radio frequency and satellite-based communications equipment.
So what are all these delays costing?
“There have been no costs paid under the construction contract for any delays experienced during the construction. No comment can be provided on potential future costs resulting from delays experienced,” spokesperson Jessica Lamirande said in an email.
She went on to say: “The contracts that Defence Construction Canada puts in place on behalf of the Department of National Defence are rigorously managed for contractor performance.”
Among those waiting to move are: the 39 Canadian Brigade Group Headquarters; 744 Communications Regiment; 12 Field Ambulance; 4 Platoon 6 Intelligence Company; the 15th Field Regiment (Royal Canadian Artillery) Band; and elements of 742 Signals Squadron. Also waiting are: National Defence Quality Assurance Region Vancouver, the Defence Construction Canada office, the Joint Personnel Support Centre/Integrated Personnel Support Centre, Land Forces Western Area Detachment, elements of Area Support Unit Chilliwack, the Military Family Resource Centre, the employees of medical and dental clinics.
Sajjan’s press secretary Jordan Owens said the minister wasn’t available to comment, so it’s not clear why there was a rush to officially open the building a year ago.
Maybe it was just a coincidence, but the nice plaque was unveiled only a few weeks after DND admitted that its new, $1-billion headquarters in Ottawa falls short of the highest levels of security required by Canada’s international intelligence allies.
Problems and delays have plagued DND’s renovation of the former Nortel campus in Ottawa. The building was supposed to have been occupied by 2014. DND then said that the move would be postponed and the first 3,400 of 8,500 employees would be in by April 2016.
But by April 2017, fewer than 1,000 were installed in their new digs.
In July, Postmedia’s David Pugliese reported that the cost of a planned move of the counterterrorism unit to Trenton, Ont. from Ottawa has tripled to $1.2 billion.
Referring to the Vancouver delays, Lamirande pointed out that “standing up a brand new defence establishment designed to accommodate 13 distinct units and organizations within the boundaries of an urban municipality is a complex endeavour” that is only part of a larger, overall project.
That might well be so, and even excusable if Vancouver were a one-off. But it’s not.
Our military establishment really hasn’t been up to the task.
Perhaps the mess is now being cleaned up. Perhaps Sajjan and the Liberal government are bringing more rigour to procurement and planning processes.
We all better hope so because in June the government announced the largest single defence spending increase since the Second World War. Capital spending will jump by $47.2 billion to $164 billion over the next 20 years, with most of that spent on warships and fighter jets.
One can’t help asking: If DND, Public Services Canada and Shared Services Canada can’t even manage to get phones, filing cabinets and computer networking in place on land in a purposebuilt facility, how on Earth will they manage to get the more complicated stuff for the air and sea done on time and on budget?