20

Corporate Services and Economic Development Committee

Report 17

28 november 2007

Comité des services organisationnels et du développement économique

rapport 17

le 28 novembre 2007

Extract of draft Minutes 18

19 & 20 november 2007

Extrait de l’ébauche du procès-verbal 18 – le 19 & 20 novembre 2007

COMMUNITY CONCERT HALL

SALLE DE CONCERT COMMUNAUTAIRE

ACS2007-CPS-CSF-0013 SOMERSET (14)

Appearing before Committee on this item were Colleen Hendrick, Director of Cultural Services and Community Funding and Dave Donaldson, Real Estate Officer.

At the outset, Ms. Hendrick provided an overview of the staff report and of the background on this matter. In particular, she noted that the Community Concert Hall was identified as one of the five top cultural infrastructure priorities in the Arts and Heritage Plan adopted by Council in 2003 and that it also impacted two other areas of the City’s existing strategic directions, as outlined in a memo issued separately to Committee members.

Responding to questions from Councillor Chiarelli with respect to the impact on the rest of the agreement with Morguard, should the community concert hall project not go forward, Mr. Donaldson indicated Morguart owned the property. However, he explained the City had until February 28, 2008 to determine whether or not the project would include a community concert hall. Should the concert hall project not go forward, the City had the option of leasing or purchasing the space at market value for some other project. However, if neither of those things happen, Morguard could proceed with a redesign of the space, though they would have to construct a building that was consistent with the site plan and design already approved by Council and consistent with their agreement with the City. He noted there were 16,100 square feet of space for public community benefits, which currently was proposed to include the concert hall, winter garden and panoramic foyers on the second and third floors. He understood there was no other use, fundable from the City’s standpoint, for the space. Therefore, he suggested that if Council decided to pull the funding for the concert hall, the City should also advise Morguard that it did not have any other use for the space.

Councillor Chiarelli inquired as to Morguard’s progress in attracting tenants. Mr. Donaldson indicated they had been marketing the complex. He explained that the residential component would remain as rental units. However, he noted the difficulty in leasing the office and retail spaces depended on whether or not the concert hall project moved forward. He submitted that, in the marketplace, it was difficult to bring in retail and business tenants if Morguard could not confirm the other major use.

In response to further questions from Councillor Chiarelli, Mr. Donaldson indicate Morguard wanted the concert hall to proceed but that, in the event it did not, they had started other opportunities to have a tenant in place to utilize the space. He briefly reviewed the proposal’s evolution, re-iterating that Morguard owned the property and was waiting to know the outcome of the concert hall project so they could move forward and develop a site that had cost them $7M to date.

Councillor Deans reviewed the property’s history, recalling that the Council for the former City of Ottawa had chosen to keep the site in the City’s ownership so that the new City of Ottawa might use it for something important to a Nation’s capital. She noted an uplift in the property’s value had afforded an opportunity to leverage community funds and upper tier governments’ funds to create a community concert hall. She viewed it as an opportunity to make a dream happen for the arts community and to have a facility, which should this opportunity be lost, the City would likely never be able to have. She indicated Council had always known it would be a significant challenge to get all the pieces in place to make this project a reality. That being said, she wondered why the City would not give this opportunity until the very limit. She submitted that if there were three more months, then there was still hope.

Mr. K. Kirkpatrick, City Manager, submitted that, given the decisions Council would have to make in the coming weeks with respect to the City’s strategic initiatives capital projects, he was recommending Committee and Council deal with this as a policy issue so the funding could be put back on the table for Council to re-prioritize in the context of the budget. He indicated it was his view that this project was not going to happen, even if given another extension. He referenced two issues: the Ottawa Chamber Music Society’s (OCMS) ability to do the community fundraising, which had not been successful to date; and the Federal government funding. With respect to the Federal government funding, he explained there were two components: the staff-level application to a funding stream of the Ministry of Canadian Heritage, which was in process; and the political support. Should Committee decide to grant an extension, he suggested there be a request or an expectation of political support from the Federal government.

Responding to a question from Councillor Deans with respect to the status of the funding application to the Federal government, Ms. Hendrick confirmed that the OCMS had submitted a revised application and that the national review panel had done a preliminary review of it. She indicated the feedback from Federal staff was that they were awaiting further details from OCMS with respect to their sponsorship and naming rights before taking the application further. She noted once this was in hand, the application would still require an approval decision from the Minister. That being said, she advised that the OCMS had submitted their application, had attended a number of interviews and meetings with Ministry staff, and had complied and submitted everything they needed to submit in support of their application, but that they needed to demonstrate significant advancement on the sponsorship and naming rights of their proposal.

Councillor Deans re-iterated that Council always knew this would be difficult and she believed the project should be given every possible opportunity. She suggested that perhaps Council should put some pressure on the Federal government to come to the table and make a commitment for their share of the funding to move this project forward. In closing, she indicated she would work with staff on wording for a motion.

Responding to a question from Mayor O’Brien, Ms. Hendrick confirmed that staff had received a copy of the OCMS application to the Federal government and that it would fit within the Federal priorities. Furthermore, she noted there was some recognition that, in this community, not a lot of cultural infrastructure had been supported by the Federal government in the past.

In response to questions from Councillor Wilkinson, Mr. Kirkpatrick confirmed that Council was not locked into any budgetary decision made for the future. However, he re-iterated his view that, in the absence of Federal political support, this project would not move forward. He further confirmed that Committee and Council could agree to an extension and at the same time, outline a “plan B”. However, he re-iterated what Mr. Donaldson had indicated earlier with respect to there not being a previously identified project that could fit into the space. Therefore, there was no “plan B”.

Councillor Wilkinson referenced earlier discussions with respect to Morguard’s position and she advised she had received an e-mail in which the company’s Senior Vice-President of Development, Ms. Margaret Knowles, expressed Morguard’s continued support for the OCMS and its efforts to secure a new first class community concert hall facility at 150 Elgin Street.

Responding to a follow-up question from Councillor Wilkinson, Ms. Hendrick indicated she felt the report demonstrated the long history of the needs in Ottawa for a facility of this type, which would be responding to needs across the community in terms of arts and music organizations and various arts groups. She submitted the report before Committee responded to a direction given to staff to bring forward a report on the status of the project’s funding before the end of November.

Councillor Wilkinson referenced Item 21 of the Agenda, with respect to City funding for the expansion of the Ottawa Congress Centre. She noted that report talked about a multiplier effect in terms of the City’s investment generate growth and economic benefits. She wondered if a similar multiplier effect had been determined for the concert hall. In response, Ms. Hendrick referenced a 13 October 2004 report on the proposal, which provided a detailed and comprehensive analysis of the economic benefits. The construction multiplier was estimated at approximately $50M. Staff identified the indirect impact of the concert hall, which was expected to bring millions of dollars into the city from foundations, donors and corporate sources through the OCMS fundraising activity. The broadcast from the hall would reach an annual radio audience of between 100-200 million and an annual television audience of 200 million. She noted the report had looked at both the economic impact and the broader impact in terms of positioning this City and this community internationally.

Councillor Wilkinson asked whether any value was given to the fact there would be millions of people in Ottawa, noting it would be beneficial for the Congress Centre. Ms. Hendrick indicated staff did the initial estimates on the construction value but did not put a dollar value on that impact.

Mayor O’Brien asked if the Director had an understanding of the organization’s current fundraising situation. Ms. Hendrick confirmed that staff had received the financial submission the OCMS submitted to the federal government, which included an updated fundraising plan (attached as an annex to this report).

Responding to questions posed by Councillor Holmes with regards to when Morguard planned to start construction, Mr. Donaldson re-iterated Morguard had supported the requested extension by the OCMS and had given a timeframe of the end of February 2008 to start construction, whether or not the concert hall proceeded.

The councillor understood approvals were in place and wondered whether Morguard was waiting for a proposal call for new federal buildings coming on in order to fill their commercial space at this site. Mr. Donaldson confirmed they would potentially look at this if the concert hall space became available. However, given the investment in this project, they would prefer to include the concert hall. He made note of the fact that if the OCMS went ahead with the current proposal, Morguard would not have enough space to accommodate because they only had about 80,000 square feet of office and the tender call for the federal government would be between 300,000 and 400,000 square feet. He reiterated that Morguard was working very cooperatively and had been extremely supportive of the OCMS.

Councillor Holmes made note of the different funding amounts the federal government appeared to give Ottawa vs. other major cities such as Toronto. The Director explained that Cultural Spaces Canada had a maximum funding envelope from which cities could draw and she expected some of the other cultural infrastructure projects across Toronto and Montreal had accessed that funding stream and potentially other Infrastructure Canada initiatives as well in terms of being able to bring forward and secure their funding requirements. She referred to a study done several years ago, which clearly illustrated that for Ottawa, the per capita investment by the Federal government in cultural infrastructure was very low. At that time, Ottawa was probably the lowest amongst other major Canadian cities on a per capita investment basis. She believed the capacity for other organizations to secure additional funds reflected whether or not they had been able to secure funding from both Cultural Spaces Canada and Infrastructure Canada funding sources.

The Councillor presumed, therefore, that the OCMS could access other Federal funding envelopes in addition to the Cultural Spaces envelope. The Director explained that was the case at one point, but the minimum requirement was higher than what they were looking for so they became ineligible for the other funding stream.

While he appreciated that fundraising challenges existed, Councillor Desroches wanted to understand how much of the initial $500,000 investment had been used and, should Council agree to an extension, would there continue to be a drawing down from those funds. Ms. Hendrick advised the City advanced the referenced amount in 2006 as part of the provincial contribution, on the basis that they needed to secure additional resources to conduct the overall project management for the project as well as work on design and development. The funds were for the purposes of being able to facilitate and help them to mobilize bringing the project forward in tandem with Morguard’s development. Depending on what was approved by Council, she indicated staff would work with the OCMS to identify the unexpended funds, though she did not have that figure readily available. The expectation would be to review their committed requirements against that fund and then look for reimbursement back to the City on the unexpended funds from the account.

The Councillor asked if the amount had been frozen or whether there would continue to be a draw down on them if there was an extension. Ms. Hendrick understood the OCMS would continue to have obligations against the $500,000, until such time as a different Council direction was taken.

Given the time of the year, Councillor Desroches questioned their intention to conduct fundraising efforts. Ms. Hendrick explained that as was presented in the overall status of their fundraising, the major piece needing resolution related to the sponsorship naming rights. Having that in hand would significantly change their fundraising situation. Furthermore, she noted they also planned to launch a major fundraising initiative for individual donors as part of their programming. Their fundraising consortium had provided expert advice with regards to what they should be doing and when. She referred to the report, which outlined the significant discussions the OMCS was having with a major financial organization on the matter.

Councillor Desroches inquired how long the federal government has been engaged in this matter. Ms. Hendrick advised that the OCMS initiated their first application in 2005, followed by a number of additional requirements they had to submit to them. As stated previously, they had some initial feedback that potentially they could apply through a different program, but they were redirected back to Cultural Spaces Canada.

Mayor O’Brien asked whether staff had been in touch with the local Member of Parliamnet with regards to assisting with the federal government application. Ms. Hendrick confirmed there had been a number of ongoing communications and contacts by OCMS with provincial and federal members of Parliament looking for support for their proposal.

Following on the latter comments, Councillor Harder asked if staff had heard whether there might be support from the senior levels of government. Ms. Hendrick explained that, at a staff level in the Department of Canadian Heritage, they had met with the OCMS a number of times to clarify the application and staff understood it was currently on hold until such time as the OCMS could demonstrate some significant step forward on their sponsorship and naming rights. They wanted to see that in place before making final decisions and then it would require approval by the Minister of Canadian Heritage.

The Councillor questioned the Federal government’s intention to support this project. Should Council reject the requested extension, she suggested it would not reflect well on the City. She further wondered where the “champions” were for this project, recognizing the OCMS was not asking the City for any money it had not already pre-committed.

Councillor Jellett indicated he would prefer to have the issue of Federal government support resolved prior to Council’s consideration of this matter and hoped the OCMS representative would be able to answer questions on how the $500,000 had been spent as well as the amount of cash the organization had in the bank.

The Committee heard from the following public delegations.

Mary Partington, Canadian Federation of University Women, spoke in support of the request for the three-month extension for the following reasons:

· Such a facility did not exist in Ottawa and would be ideal for producing recordings as well housing local music festivals and community choirs.

· Over 30 groups had confirmed an interest in using the concert hall on a regular basis.

· The largest proportion of funds would come from the public and would be more easily obtained with commitment from the City and federal government;.

· The hall would raise Ottawa’s profile to a national and international audience and would be a major tourist attraction.

· It would stimulate the economy and play a major role in revitalizing the downtown.

Councillor McRae asked the delegation why she believed the OCMS would be more successful in the next 90 days than they had been in the past three years in terms of obtaining a firm commitment from the federal government. In addition, she asked what the Federation had done to lobby the federal government to come forward with support. Ms. Partington acknowledged that the change of leadership at the OCMS had affected their progress and she advised that her organization had written to local MPs and MPPs to encourage their support, though no responses had been received.

Colin Cooke, President & Chair, Ottawa Chamber Music Society encouraged the Committee to approve their request for a three-month extension. The more salient comments made were as follows:

· He understood the challenges of limited resources, but believed that in order achieve great things, some risks needed to be taken and he was asking the Committee to risk nothing more than what had already been generously offered, and only for a short time.

· Given unforeseen circumstances, the OCMS acknowledged the fact that they are several months short of time to complete what the Committee gave them support to achieve; however, they were working closely with a potential naming sponsor to reach an understanding and to get the backing of a national company for the concert hall.

· The Committee had an opportunity to leverage the $6M that the City received for the land at 150 Elgin Street and to turn it into a $33M concert hall.

· The City had the opportunity to support local festivals, arts groups, professional touring companies, et cetera. All, including local businesses, stood to benefit from this concert hall because it would enhance tourism and would be a welcome complement to other efforts the City was undertaking, such as the expansion of the Congress Centre, the Orléans Arts Centre and the expansion to Centrepointe Theatre.

· If, by the end of February, they were unable to proceed, they would admit defeat.

In closing, Mr. Cooke submitted that the arts community went a long way towards defining a city and that its vibrancy was desperately needed to make the ity special and a destination for others to visit. He believed it would be a tragic mistake to lose this opportunity because it would add life to the dity’s core.

Councillor McRae asked how much fundraising had been done, in terms of actual tangible assets. Mr. Cooke indicated they had not been actively seeking cash to date, though they had received more than $1M in pledges. He explained that the advice given to them by the fundraising consortium was to not start raising funds from the community at large until they had the various other pieces in place. He noted the federal government’s unwillingness to commit until the OCMS showed them their fundraising.

Given the financial commitments by the province and the City, the Councillor suggested the OCMS move to private sector fundraising as their next step. Mr. Cooke re-iterated that this was contrary to the advice they had received from the fundraising consortium. However, in light of the situation, he expressed a willingness to proceed immediately with the community fundraising campaign.

Responding to a question with respect to the potential naming sponsor, Mr. Cooke indicated the OCMS was engaged in discussions with a national corporation capable of supporting the concert hall to the dollar value they had been seeking and he was confident these negotiations would come to a successful conclusion within three months.

Councillor Wilkinson referred to a motion approved in February that directed the OCMS to provide a fundraising plan in 30 days and, while she recognized they had experienced internal difficulties, she thought their priorities got a bit skewed because they had hurt their opportunities by not following through. She suggested that if the OCMS could show some fundraising success prior to the present report rising to Council, it would give some evidence of their effort. She indicated she believed this project could come to fruition. However, she stressed the need to create some momentum and galvanize support. Mr. Cooke assured Committee that the OCMS would get its fundraising started immediately.

Councillor Wilkinson encouraged the OCMS to reach out to the business community in order to gain their support for the project and to seek their assistance in approaching the federal government to secure its commitment. Furthermore, she indicated that, should Council grant this extension, she would like to see monthly reports on the organization’s fundraising activities and the project’s status.

Responding to questions from Councillor El-Chantiry, Mr. Cooke acknowledged that the organization could have started fundraising with the understanding that, should the project no go forward, any funds collected would be returned to the donors. However, he expressed concerns with respect to issuing charitable receipts in one fiscal year and having the project cancelled in a subsequent year. He noted this complication was not insurmountable, however it was a concern. He re-iterated that to date, on the advice of the fundraising consortium, the organization had been seeking pledges rather than cash donations. That being said, he acknowledged Committee members’ comments and concerns and he repeated his promise to immediately kick-off the community fundraising campaign.

Councillor Chiarelli referenced the OCMS’s internal difficulties and he wondered why Council should not view those difficulties as good reason for not advancing the money and withdrawing its support for the project. Mr. Cooke characterized their difficulties and growing pains. He submitted that their internal challenges over the past year had resulted in a strengthened organization and had served to ensure that it had the capacity and the capability to manage this projects and be stewards of the facility. He indicated he was very confident that the new administration had the experience and the contacts, in both the arts and the business communities, to ensure the concert hall would be a viable success.

In reply to a further question from Councillor Chiarelli with respect to some way of strengthening Council’s impression of the OCMS, Mr. Cooke indicated they would be creating a “Friends of the Concert Hall” in order to bridge a large number of organizations in the community; organizations that would be make privy to the plan and its status and would become an integral part of it. He pledged that this would become a community effort and that the OCMS would be encouraging and welcoming all the other arts groups and all other interested parties to come to the table to make this project a success.

Responding to questions from Councillor Bloess with respect to rising project costs, Mr. Cooke began by noting that the $10M increase provided for a larger facility, a refinement of the original estimates, and an inclusion of the GST. He explained that the original figures provided to Council by Morguard, PCL and the OCMS in 2004 were estimates. As they had gone through a refinement process with acousticians, theater designers and builders, they refined the numbers. Not only were there inflationary concerns, but they also increased the floor space. In addition, there was a mistake in the original figures in that GST was not included because the OCMS had been told that, as a charitable organization, it would be exempt. This turned out to not be the case and the corresponding value was added into the estimates. Therefore, he submitted that although the increase was still significant, it was closer to $5M than $10M.

Councillor Bloess felt the fundraising efforts had been less than stellar. However, he submitted this really came down to the need for the federal government to step up to the plate and commit their funding.

Speaking to the issue of federal funding, Mr. Cooke explained the City of Toronto had applied to a large infrastructure program available at the federal level but that the OCMS had gone to the Cultural Spaces Program because of this project’s size. However, he noted that in terms of funding under the Cultural Spaces Program, the OCMS proposal was pushing the envelope and going right to the maximum amount acceptable under the program. Therefore, he believed this was part of the reticence and the federal government’s desire to ensure the project had all its community and corporate support confirmed before making its own commitment.

Responding to a question from Councillor Jellett with respect to the status of the $500,000 already advance by the City, Mr. Cooke indicated he did not have exact figures on hand. However, he advised that the organization had spent a considerable amount on fundraising experts, theater design, acousticians and architects. That being said, he felt this raised an interesting point in that, for the past 18 months, the City had been sitting on the $6M Provincial government’s contribution, which he assumed had been generating some revenue. He submitted that the interest earned on the $6M would go a long way towards underwriting the OCMS’s efforts as well as Council’s generous support of this initiative.

Councillor Jellett suggested the $6M Provincial government contribution and whether or not the City had access to any revenue generated by it was something the City Treasurer could speak to. However, prior to the present report rising to Council, he asked that the OCMS provide a detailed breakdown of how the $500,000 had been utilized to date and how much of it was left, if any.

Anne Cure, President of the Gloucester Music Teachers’ Association, urged Committee to extend the deadline for funding for the community concert hall. She submitted this project was part of the great cultural life of this great City, and that it needed time. She noted so much was in place; so many elements of funding and support were poised to move forward. She maintained the OCMS was not asking for more money, it was only asking for time. She referenced the benefits the facility would bring, humanly, economically, culturally, and submitted it seemed only sensible to wait and work as long and as hard as possible. She felt there were neither costs nor risks to Council for waiting. She believed the concert hall would benefit the arts, which would in turn benefit the entire community. She urged Committee and Council to give the concert hall a chance.

William Teron felt this concert hall would be important to the downtown area and that there was not other site where the City could potentially have a facility of this type. He talked about its link with, and importance to the Congress Centre, noting Committee had just approved a report dealing with the City’s support of that project. He believed the concert hall would be a major attraction for Ottawa residents as well as meeting and conference delegates and tourists. He noted that the City of Montreal was investing $120M to invigorate its entertainment center around the Place des arts because that city realized the importance of having a vibrant evening scene. He indicated that, if the project went forward, he would be a supporter of the concert hall. However, he discussed the terms of the agreement with Morguard and he advised that, should the project not go forward and the site be put back out to tender, he would be submitting a proposal.

Sandy Bason, Past-President of the Ottawa Chorale Society, asked that Committee and Council grant an extension to the OCMS until the end of February 2008. She discussed the need for the concert hall, noting that the Ottawa Chorale Society (OCS) had been a supporter of the project since the beginning. She felt this remained a relatively inexpensive structure and that half of the funding was in place, thanks to the City of Ottawa and the Province of Ontario. She indicated she first contacted the Minister of Canadian Heritage when the Liberals were in power. Noting the change in government since then, she advised that John Baird had said he would not support releasing any funds for this project until after a major corporate sponsor had been announced. She supported the idea of the City putting pressure on the federal government to commit funding for the project, should the OCMS be able to get a major sponsor lined up and signed up. She noted that the naming sponsor had not been confirmed, although the OCMS indicated they were very close. She submitted the organization just needed the extra three months to finalize negotiations with the naming sponsor, secure a commitment from the federal government and move on with their public and private fundraising campaign. She believed everyone in the room wanted to make Ottawa a first class city and she submitted that the concert hall would help towards this goal.

Alan Bowker, AdHoc Committee of Community Concert Hall Stakeholders, noted no one seemed to have any serious criticism of the idea of the concert hall, of where the funding would come from, of the business plan or anything else other than the timing and whether the pieces could be put in place. He further noted no one questioned that losing this hall would be a terrible loss for this City. He referenced earlier comments suggesting there was no alternative use for the space. Therefore, he submitted the choice was between the concert hall and nothing. He also reminded Committee members of Mr. Cooke’s commitment that if everything was not in place by February 28, 2008, the OCMS would declare the project dead. All that being said, Mr. Bowker maintained all they were asking for was a fair fighting chance to make this project a success, noting the City would share in that success. He submitted that if Committee and Council pulled the funding, the dominos would collapse. There would be no concert hall, no venue for performances by local and international artists, and no centre attracting visitors to Ottawa. There would be only an empty box, a failed vision, and another “might have been” for Ottawa. He wondered why City Council would do that without going to the last limit of opportunity to make this dream a reality. He referenced the great success of the Ottawa Chamber Music Festival and the many qualities that exemplified Ottawa; its diversity, prosperity and freedom, its vibrancy of culture, its commitment and its ability to engage people from all parts of Canada. He submitted this concert hall was not just a building, it was a vision of what people in Ottawa could do and what they could be when they had vision and when they worked together to achieve that vision. He advised that he and his wife had decided they would make the largest single charitable donation they had ever made and that, as soon as the OCMS began translating its pledges into cash, he would be writing them a cheque. Until then, they had made a pledge. He submitted that the City of Ottawa and the Province of Ontario had also made pledges and that this had become a game of chicken and egg. Speaking to the issue of fundraising, he noted the OCMS had raised over $1M in pledges without a fundraising campaign. Therefore, he wondered what they could achieve when they actually launched a formal fundraising campaign. He maintained fundraising was not the issue. He submitted the only issue on the table was whether or not City Council was prepared to pull the plug on this project and kill it before it had a reasonable time to succeed.

Councillor Deans introduced a motion asking:

1. That the City’s endorsement and funding deadline for the Community Concert Hall project be extended to February 28, 2008;

2. That City staff be directed to advise Morguard that, in the event the Community Concert Hall did not secure the necessary funding by February 28, 2008, the City would not be exercising its options to lease or purchase the space for another municipal cultural facility and that the City and Morguard would negotiate and enter into a new agreement for the redesign and construction of the space for alternative public benefit uses in accordance with the provisions of the Development Agreement between Morguard and the City dated 21 December 2005;

3. That City Council request and expression of political support from the federal government for the Community Concert Hall project prior to City Council’s meeting of November 28, 2008; and

4. That the federal government be requested to expedite its review of the Ottawa Chamber Music Society’s application for funding.

Speaking to her motion, the Councillor indicated she wanted to see this project succeed. She felt it was a once in a lifetime opportunity for the City to realize the dream of having a concert hall. She noted this project was using the value of a piece of legacy property and leveraging it to securing community, provincial and federal dollars to bring a much needed community concert hall to Ottawa. She felt the facility would be an asset to the City for many years to come. Referencing the Congress Centre project, she submitted it was ironic that the City had set aside $25M eight years ago to allow the Congress Centre expansion project to proceed whereas the OCMS had been given two years and that currently, all they were asking was for a three month extension. She maintained it was not unreasonable to grant them three extra months. She urged her colleagues to ask themselves why they would want to kill the dream of a community concert hall when the problem was with the federal government and its apparent reluctance to make a commitment to the project. She felt it would be premature to pull the plug when there were three months left in which to make this project a reality.

Councillor McRae submitted the issues related to a lack of federal government support as well as confidence in the organization’s ability to raise the necessary private and public funds. She indicated she was not prepared to watch the proposal die. Therefore, she moved that the item be referred to Council for a full discussion at its meeting of November 28 and that the City of Ottawa ask the federal government for a definitive commitment to fund $10M of the total cost of the concert hall construction and that this commitment be communicated to the City and all interested parties by November 28, 2008.

She believed this item deserved the full discussion of Council. She re-iterated that she was not prepared to watch the project die at Committee. She also felt the City needed to put pressure on the federal government.

Mayor O’Brien ruled that, because Councillor McRae’s motion was procedural in nature, Committee will deal with it first.

Before debating the motion, Councillor Bloess asked for clarifications on a comment made by a delegation with respect to Morguard’s ownership of the property and it going back to tender should the concert hall project not go forward. Mr. Kirkpatrick indicated the referenced statements were inaccurate. He maintained that, although there were conditions in the agreement with respect to their requirement to begin construction before a certain point in time, Morguard owned the property. Therefore, regardless of whether or not the concert hall project went forward, this property would not be subject to a further RFP process.

Councillor Wilkinson asked that the motion be divided. She felt it dealt with two separate and distinct issues. With respect to the second part of the motion, she expressed a preference with some of the wording contained in Councillor Deans’ motion with respect to asking for an expression of a political commitment from the federal government.

Councillor McRae indicated she would accept that as a friendly amendment and would substitute the second part of her motion with wording consistent with Councillor Deans’ motion, but with a deadline of November 27, 2008 so that any response might be received prior to the next Council meeting.

Councillor Holmes stressed the importance of this matter and the fact that, when the City sold the property, there was deemed to be a necessary public benefit. She was interested to learn that M.P. Poilievre had expressed support for the project and that, therefore M.P. Baird remained as the primary target. She also noted that money would have to come from the private sector naming sponsor before Mr. Baird would express support. Therefore, she hoped Committee was not putting, as a condition, that by November 27, a naming sponsor had to be named so that Mr. Baird might express his support. She hoped the organization would continue to have until February 28, 2008 to finalize these pieces.

Councillor Cullen spoke against referring the matter to Council, noting it was the work of Committee to go through the public delegations and to make a recommendation to Council. He argued that referring it only meant Committee was avoiding a vote, which he felt was unfair to the participants. Having said that, he echoed the comments made by Councillor Deans, noting there was no obligation to pull the plug. He urged Committee to give the OCMS time to secure their sponsor and then turn the pressure onto the federal government to come up with their share of the funding.

Mayor O’Brien referenced the City’s commitment, the Province’s commitment, the lack of commitment from the federal government and the lack of progress in terms of private and public fundraising. He indicated he was not convinced this project was dead. However, he felt it was close. He summarized the day’s discussions on the matter and expressed support for referring the report to Council and, in the interim, asking the federal government for an expression of commitment.

Councillor Deans believed everyone recognized that realizing the dream of a community concert hall was an uphill battle. However, she felt that, in asking for a federal government commitment to the project, the City should be as strong as possible in its own commitment. She took the motion to refer the matter to Council as a less-than-stellar endorsement by this Committee. Therefore, she asked her colleagues to not refer the report to Council but to vote down the referral motion and to support her motion instead.

Councillor Jellett indicated he agreed with Councillor Deans’ arguments. However, he did not believe there are the votes needed at Committee to support her motion. Therefore, he felt the referral motion was a compromise.

At this juncture, Committee voted on the first part of Councillor McRae’s motion.

Moved by Councillor M. McRae:

That the Corporate Services and Economic Development Committee:

1. Refer the Community Concert Hall report to City Council for a full discussion at its November 28, 2007 meeting.

CARRIED

Yeas (7): R. Bloess, G. Brooks, S. Desroches, P. Hume, R. Jellett, M. McRae, Mayor O’Brien

Nays (2): D. Deans, M. Wilkinson

Committee then unanimously approved the second part of Councillor McRae’s motion as well as the item, as amended.

2. Ask the Mayor to request a definitive commitment from the Federal Government to fund $10 million of the total cost of the Concert Hall construction and that such commitment be communicated to the City of Ottawa and all other interested parties by November 27, 2007.

CARRIED

That the Corporate Services and Economic Development Committee:

1. Refer the Community Concert Hall report to City Council for a full discussion at its November 28, 2007 meeting; and

CARRIED as amended