Head of NCC grilled by MPs over $8 million Rideau Hall barn

The National Capital Commission (NCC) was in front of a House of Commons Committee on Tuesday, to defend spending $8 million on a barn used as a maintenance and storage space at Rideau Hall.

"Canadians are properly outraged," said Conservative MP for Miramichi-Grand Lake, Jake Stewart, asking how it's possible to spend $8 million dollars on a barn.

The head of the NCC on the hot seat.

"The NCC takes the stewardship of public funds extremely seriously," said CEO Tobi Nussbaum. "There have been, Mr. Chair, no concerns raised by the office of the Auditor General related to this project."

Completed in 2021, the two-storey building replaces multiple structures, with 20 to 40 employees working from it, according to the NCC. "There were actually four separate buildings, which were deemed to be at the end of their useful life for safety and health concerns," said Nussbaum.

The structure is built where Rideau Hall's barn once stood, next to the stables in the operations zone. It is similar in size and shape to the original, according to the NCC.

"The cost of this project included the demolition of the previous existing buildings, the decontamination of contaminated soil on sites, studies, design—all of the soft costs—as well as the construction costs for this building," said Nussbaum.

'The Barn' is the NCC's first certified zero-carbon building and, according to the NCC, the 70 solar panels installed on the roof produce enough energy to offset the electricity demand of Stornoway, where the leader of the opposition lives.

"There is no defending an $8 million barn. I can't believe we have to say that out loud," Franco Terrazzano, the federal director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, told CTV News Ottawa.

"Look, I don't know the first thing about farming, but I'm pretty sure my buddies in Brooks know how to build a barn for less than eight million bucks," he says.

The project also raised questions about other assets, like the decrepit home at 24 Sussex Drive.

"We are doing everything we can to address the deferred maintenance of the assets, which are at greatest risk physically, but also at greatest risk of causing more financial cost for the taxpayer," says Nussbaum.