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Decentralized Democracy

Hon. Kinga Surma

  • MPP
  • Member of Provincial Parliament
  • Etobicoke Centre
  • Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario
  • Ontario
  • Lloydmanor Shopping Centre Unit 102 201 Lloyd Manor Rd. Etobicoke, ON M9B 6H6 Kinga.Surmaco@pc.ola.org
  • tel: 416-234-2800
  • fax: 416-234-2276
  • Kinga.Surma@pc.ola.org

  • Government Page
  • Apr/17/24 4:00:00 p.m.

Thank you very much to the member for the question. In my remarks, I mentioned that we are one of the largest real estate portfolios in North America. I would argue, given the fact that we own such a diverse portfolio of physical assets, that we should probably pay close attention to it because (1) it costs money to maintain those buildings; (2) we have to keep our workers safe; (3) through modernization of workplaces and technology, we want to provide the best environment for our workers; and (4), we also want to make sure that we have a good view of all of the real estate within this portfolio so that we can manage it well.

If there is an opportunity for a building to be used by government for some other purpose, we would have insight. I guess the members opposite, the NDP, don’t think that 43 million square feet of office space and government assets is important, but we, on the other side, are fiscally prudent, good managers, and we do find that very important.

At the same time, we’re also responsible for government services and government assets and real estate. And so, of course, it is our responsibility to make sure that we manage those assets well, that we have a plan and a strategy in place to make good use of those assets. Having that centralized view of, again, all of those real estate properties and assets is important, so that government can be a good manager and can be fiscally prudent, especially during these difficult times.

264 words
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