Feds build $8 million “barn” at Rideau Hall

From the Canadian Taxpayers Federation

As Canadians across the country tightened their belts the past few years, the federal government was busy building an $8-million Barn on the grounds of Rideau Hall to serve as a storage facility.

The little-known, but pricey, pandemic-era construction project was overseen by the National Capital Commission, the feds’ supercharged parks-and-rec department responsible for maintaining Canada’s official residences.

Details of the project emerged from access-to-information records obtained by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. All told, the Barn cost taxpayers $8,049,853.

To put that in perspective, that’s enough money to buy this “palatial mansion” on the banks of the Rideau Canal, described as “Ottawa’s most opulent home.”

“I don’t know much about farming, but I’m pretty sure my buddies in Brooks can build a barn for a lot less than eight million bucks,” said Franco Terrazzano, CTF Federal Director. “It seems like the NCC goes out of its way to spend as much money as possible.”

The two-storey facility, billed as the government’s first “zero-carbon” building, is called the Barn and serves as a “working and storage space,” according to the NCC.

The NCC approved the final design for the project in June 2019. Shovels hit the dirt in July 2020, with construction wrapping up during the winter of 2021.

The Barn features a “washing bay,” a “repair garage working area,” a “tool and equipment storage area,” “vehicle storage,” and additional “storage space.”

The records obtained by the CTF indicate there were several “change orders” on the project, which means the design was changed after construction began.

The NCC has a long history of complaining of “decades of underfunding” or “chronic underfunding” when it comes to Canada’s six official residences, which are the taxpayer-funded mansions for politicians, the governor general and visiting foreign officials.

But a recent report from the CTF revealed the NCC spent $135 million renovating and maintaining the properties from 2006 to 2022.

Nevertheless, the NCC claims it needs another $175 million from taxpayers to “restore” the official residences over the next decade.

“It’s ridiculous for the NCC to be crying poor when it blew $8 million on a Barn,” Terrazzano said. “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.

Related Topics:#8MillionDollarBarn #CanadianTaxpayersFederation #FrancoTerrazzano #RideauHallBarn #RyanThorpe

Up Next

Digital Services Tax will make life more expensive

Don't Miss

Celebrate National Small Business Week October 16-20, 2023!

Todayville

Todayville is a digital media and technology company. We profile unique stories and events in our community. Register and promote your community event for free.

Follow Author

Trump puts all federal DEI staff on paid leave

Business / 39 mins ago

Undemocratic tax hike will kill hundreds of thousands of Canadian jobs

Economy / 1 hour ago

Number of newcomers to Canada set to drop significantly

Business

Trump puts all federal DEI staff on paid leave

Published on January 22, 2025

Todayville

From LifeSiteNews

By Emily Mangiaracina

Trump’s shuttering of federal DEI programs is in keeping with his promise to ‘forge a society that is colorblind and merit-based.’

President Donald Trump has ordered all federal diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) staff to be placed on paid leave by Wednesday evening, in accordance with his executive order signed on Monday.

The president pledged during his inaugural address to “forge a society that is colorblind and merit-based,” which is the impetus behind his efforts to abolish DEI programs that prioritize race and ethnicity above merit when hiring workers.

Trump’s Executive Order on Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing stated, “Americans deserve a government committed to serving every person with equal dignity and respect, and to expending precious taxpayer resources only on making America great.”

“President Trump campaigned on ending the scourge of DEI from our federal government and returning America to a merit based society where people are hired based on their skills, not for the color of their skin,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement Tuesday night. “This is another win for Americans of all races, religions, and creeds. Promises made, promises kept.”

The Office of Personnel Management issued a memo to the leaders of federal departments instructing them to inform employees by 5 p.m. ET on Wednesday that they will be placed on paid administrative leave as all DEI offices and programs prepare to shut down, according to NBC News.

It is unclear how many employees will be affected by the erasure of federal DEI programs.

Diversity training has “exploded” in the federal government since Joe Biden took office in 2020, the Beacon noted, with all federal agencies having mandated a form of DEI training before he left office.

DEI initiatives have long been widely denounced by conservatives and moderates as divisive, but they have been coming under increasing fire for undermining the competence and most basic functioning of public institutions and private corporations, even putting lives at risk.

For example, some commentators have blamed growing – and at times catastrophic and fatal – airplane safety failures in part on DEI hires and policies. Upon the revelation that a doctor at Duke Medical School was “abandoning… all sort(s) of metrics” in hiring surgeons in order to implement DEI practice, Elon Musk warned that “people will die” because of DEI.

Business

Undemocratic tax hike will kill hundreds of thousands of Canadian jobs

Published on January 22, 2025

Todayville

From the Canadian Taxpayers Federation

By Devin Drover

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is demanding the Canada Revenue Agency immediately halt enforcement of the proposed capital gains tax hike which is now estimated to kill over 400,000 Canadian jobs, according to the CD Howe Institute.

“Enforcing the capital gains tax hike before it’s even law is not only undemocratic overreach by the CRA, but new data reveals it could also destroy over 400,000 Canadian jobs,” said Devin Drover, CTF General Counsel and Atlantic Director. “The solution is simple: the CRA shouldn’t enforce this proposed tax hike that hasn’t been passed into law.”

A new report from the CD Howe Institute reveals that the proposed capital gains tax hike could slash 414,000 jobs and shrink Canada’s GDP by nearly $90 billion, with most of the damage occurring within five years.

This report was completed in response to the Trudeau government’s plan to raise the capital gains inclusion rate for the first time in 25 years. While a ways and means motion for the hike passed last year, the necessary legislation has yet to be introduced, debated, or passed into law.

With Parliament prorogued until March 24, 2025, and all opposition parties pledging to topple the Liberal government, there’s no reasonable probability the legislation will pass before the next federal election.

Despite this, the CRA is pushing ahead with enforcement of the tax hike.

“It’s Parliament’s job to approve tax increases before they’re implemented, not the unelected tax collectors,” said Drover. “Canadians deserve better than having their elected representatives treated like a rubberstamp by the prime minister and the CRA.

“The CRA must immediately halt its plans to enforce this unapproved tax hike, which threatens to undemocratically take billions from Canadians and cripple our economy.”