National Defence HQ (Carling) | 60 Moodie Drive [former Nortel campus]

[rocketphish]

DND's Carling headquarters in a cellphone dead zone

David Pugliese, Ottawa Citizen
Updated: January 30, 2020



Government cellphone users at Canada’s new defence headquarters have found themselves in a communications dead zone, with federal officials warning it could take up to two years to find a permanent fix.

Rogers, which had been the cellular telecommunication service provider to the federal government, had a cell tower near the former Nortel campus, which by March will house 9,300 military personnel and federal employees.

But in 2017 — the year Department of National Defence employees started moving to the new Carling Avenue headquarters — the main telecommunications contract went to Bell Canada.

“Bell did not have service coverage in the campus area and once DND began to migrate users to Bell, this issue was raised immediately to the attention of Shared Services Canada and they engaged with Bell,” explained DND spokesman Andrew McKelvey.

To deal with the problem on a temporary basis a portable transmission tower was erected in June 2019 at the Carling Avenue headquarters and small cellular base station will be installed there in March.

Shared Services Canada stated in an email that it continues to work on a “permanent solution” to the cellphone issue but that the situation can vary from building to building at the DND headquarters. There are 10 buildings at what is known as National Defence Headquarters (Carling), it added.

“What works for one building does not necessarily work for others,” Shared Services Canada noted in the email.

It hopes to have a permanent solution in place within a year or two.

The portable cell tower costs $250,000 for a one-year period. The cellular base station cost $295,000 to purchase. Taxpayers are footing the bills.

DND officials say there are no issues with landline phone systems or Internet connections.

The federal government spent more than $800 million to buy the former Nortel facility and upgrade the buildings for DND’s requirements.

Over the past year, the DND has been dealing with a number of issues as a result of the move of staff to the Carling Avenue facility.

The headquarters only has parking for about half of the 9,300 employees who will eventually work there and bus transportation to the site is limited. As a short-term solution, leases have been negotiated with various private parking lots in the area. Lotteries have been held so staff can win a parking spot. The department is also working with OC Transpo on improving bus service.

Some DND employees are transferring to other federal departments because of lack of public transit to NDHQ Carling or because of the lengthy vehicle commute to the site.

Even before the move some DND employees and Canadian Forces personnel were raising concerns because of the lengthy commute. A June 2011 briefing note prepared for then-deputy defence minister Robert Fonberg described the Carling Avenue site as a “relatively remote location.”

DND said the move of personnel will be completed in March when the last of the 9,300 employees is expected to arrive.

“The buildings themselves are unlike anything else in the Defence Facilities Portfolio and provide the Defence Team with a healthy and inviting work environment to work better together in a modern, collaborative work environment conducive to the challenging work of Defence,” DND said.

“Natural light is abundant. Plants and water are prominent; both indoors and outdoors and there are many kilometres of nearby fitness trails.”

The defence campus consists of about 28 hectares once owned by Nortel and 120 hectares leased from the National Capital Commission. DND will also continue to operate its downtown Ottawa headquarters at 101 Colonel By Dr. as well as some other office locations in Ottawa and Gatineau.

The federal government maintains that over time it will see substantial savings from consolidating many of the department’s employees into one site.

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/natio...hone-dead-zone

[rocketphish]

Taxpayers spent $537 million upgrading NDHQ Carling but it’s listed as being in poor condition

David Pugliese, Ottawa Citizen
Updated: February 3, 2020

The new Defence department headquarters at Carling Avenue has been listed in the federal government’s building directory as being in poor shape.

More than a quarter of all federally owned, leased or licensed buildings in the Ottawa-Gatineau area, including many landmark downtown buildings, are in critical or poor condition, according to the government’s own assessment. Facilities listed in poor condition in this latest federal report include almost all of the buildings at National Defence Headquarters’ Carling Campus location.

The buildings are listed in the Treasury Board Secretariat’s Directory of Federal Real Property which outlines the condition of federal facilities. According to the Treasury Board Secretariat, a designation of poor indicates that, “Some or all asset systems are compromised or show serious signs of deterioration. Risk of some systems failure is likely, with high O&M costs and unplanned maintenance and repairs.”

The inclusion of National Defence Headquarters (Carling) has prompted questions, particularly since taxpayers have in the last couple of years spent $537 million upgrading and refitting the buildings at that location.

So why was NDHQ Carling put on the latest Treasury Board list?

The federal government won’t answer that question. But Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) says there is no cause for concern.

“The Carling Campus buildings are in excellent condition and safe for employees and building occupants,” Procurement Canada spokesman Marc-Andre Charbonneau told Defence Watch. “Carling Campus is not currently on PSPC’s list of assets in critical condition. We will work with TBS (Treasury Board Secretariat) to ensure that this is reflected in the Directory of Federal Real Property list.”

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/natio...poor-condition

[rocketphish]

Change in telework arrangements at NDHQ Carling angers some DND employees
The new DND headquarters at the former Nortel facility only has parking for about half of the 9,300 employees who will eventually work there.

David Pugliese, Ottawa Citizen
Updated: February 4, 2020

Nine months ago staff at National Defence’s Carling campus were asked to consider telework — working from home — as the Defence Department tried to deal with the parking issues plaguing the west-end Ottawa location.

The new Department of National Defence headquarters at the former Nortel facility on Carling Avenue only has parking for about half of the 9,300 employees who will eventually work there. Encouraging telework was one of the solutions for the parking fiasco while others included leasing arrangements for various parking lots in the vicinity and a lottery among employees to win a parking space.

But employees now report that in early January the telework option was abruptly and significantly scaled back for those in the Director General Compensation and Benefits (DGCB) section at Military Personnel Command. Those employees who did telework two or three times a week have been scaled back to one day.

The employees say those changes came directly from Brig.-Gen. Virginia Tattersall. No other organization at National Defence Headquarters (Carling) has changed its approach to teleworking.

Two weeks’ notice of the change were provided so those who had taken DND up on its suggestion to work from home are now scrambling to change their personal circumstances. After being approved last year to work at home, some DND employees cancelled their daycare arrangements. Others gave up their parking passes at the Carling Campus or made carpooling arrangements based on their specific circumstances.

There was no business reason given for the change in the telework arrangement.

Some employees noted that the motto of DGCB is “People First.”

DGCB consists of 93 military and 301 public servant positions.

The Department of National Defence says the change at DGCB was the result of a management decision. No specific reason for the change was provided.

However, DND points out, there is no entitlement for employees to be able to work from home. In addition, the federal government is under no obligation to provide parking to employees, the department added.

“As widely communicated, a Flexible Work Arrangement (FWA) is voluntary and not a change in terms and conditions of employment — as such, approval remains at the discretion of the manager and should not be viewed as a right or an entitlement,” the DND noted in a statement to Defence Watch. “Many factors contribute to the assessment of the feasibility and suitability of Telework and Compressed Work Week flexibility options – clearly not all jobs and roles at DND will be able to accommodate flexibility.”

The DND stated it did not anticipate issues regarding the elimination of telework for some employees.

“Telework is not a solution to the parking issues — telework must be deemed to be a beneficial way of working and must be considered in light of feasibility and suitability in each case,” the DND added in its statement.

The employees, however, counter that it was DND’s senior management who approved the selection of a new headquarters which doesn’t have enough parking nor adequate public transit. The move to the Carling Campus has been in the works for eight years but no solution was found to these issues, some DND employees added.

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/natio...-dnd-employees

[rocketphish]

Afghanistan Memorial Hall in Ottawa damaged by water — repairs planned for later this year

David Pugliese • Ottawa Citizen
Publishing date: Aug 12, 2020 • Last Updated 1 hour ago • 3 minute read

The new memorial hall in Ottawa to honour those killed during the Afghanistan war has been damaged by water and will cost around $500,000 to repair.

The Afghanistan Memorial Hall at the Department of National Defence’s Carling Avenue headquarters was officially opened last year but a leaking roof and other issues have caused officials to close the building.

“Over the winter, environmental damage was discovered in and around the Afghanistan Memorial Hall,” said Department of National Defence spokesman Dan Le Bouthillier.

The memorial hall has been closed since February to allow for maintenance work, he added. A project to repair the problems is expected to go out to tender later this month, with work to be completed by December, Le Bouthillier said.

The memorial hall houses the cenotaph that had been built at Kandahar Airfield during the Afghanistan war. Canadian Forces personnel and Afghan employees originally built the cenotaph in 2006 and added to the monument over time. On the cenotaph are plaques that honour 158 Canadian Forces members who died as well as Foreign Affairs official Glyn Berry, Calgary Herald journalist Michelle Lang, and Marc Cyr, a civilian from a company under contract to the DND. Other plaques honour 42 U.S. military personnel and one civilian who died while serving under Canadian command. The cenotaph was dismantled and transported to Canada from Afghanistan in 2011.

“While the building itself was damaged, the Kandahar Cenotaph and all its components, which include the Plaques of the Fallen, were not impacted and remain fully intact,” Le Bouthillier said. “The prominent features of the memorial also remained in mint condition and continue to be protected and preserved.”

The cenotaph weights about 225,000 kilograms and a DND study concluded that it should be housed in a new structure as it could not endure long-term exposure to Canadian winters.

Construction of the Afghanistan Memorial Hall started in May 2017.

The hall, which had a total project cost of approximately $3 million, was built by Laurin & Company and handed over to DND and the Canadian Forces in March 2018, Le Bouthillier said. The building had a one-year warranty which expired in March 2019, he added.

Dennis Laurin of Laurin & Company noted that roofing warranties typically extend past a one-year period. “If it was a warranty issue with the roof then it would have been dealt with,” he explained. “If it’s going out to tender then presumably it’s a design issue.”

Laurin & Company was not responsible for the design of the memorial hall, he added.

Le Bouthillier could not provide a cost estimate for the repair work needed as that might affect the bidding process for the job. But defence sources say the repairs are expected to cost at least $500,000.

Le Bouthillier said the work to be done is needed to “ensure the safety of personnel and visitors, and to restore the structural integrity of the building.”

The work will include repairing the surface of the roof and adding protective roofing material, repairing the exterior building envelope, restoring the water damaged on the interior, and modifying the landscaping to rectify drainage issues, he added. Repairs will also be done to fix the damage caused by small animals.

Le Bouthillier said the families of those killed during the Afghan war can still visit the memorial upon request. Staff remains onsite to conduct such visits under strict established measures to ensure the safety of all, he added.

A small group of DND personnel and military personnel dedicated the cenotaph in May 2019. But the Canadian Forces faced intense criticism from the families and the public when it was revealed that families of the fallen weren’t invited to that event. The event was inexplicably kept secret for several days until the military quietly announced it but only on social media. Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Jon Vance later apologized for the military’s mishandling of the event and a rededication ceremony with the families was held in August 2019.

In 2011 a military working group recommended the cenotaph be located on DND property at Dow’s Lake in Ottawa. At the time three Ottawa venues were considered the most serious options as a home for the cenotaph: Beechwood Cemetery, the new DND campus at the former Nortel site on Carling Avenue and the Dow’s Lake property, according to a July 2011 briefing note prepared for then army commander Lt.-Gen. Peter Devlin.

The Dow’s Lake option came out on top, followed closely by Beechwood Cemetery, according to the briefing. There was concern installing the cenotaph at the headquarters at Carling Avenue would limit the number of people who could visit the memorial.

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/natio...-6214a0f1c22c/

[rocketphish]

Afghanistan Memorial Hall






https://www.canada.ca/en/department-...-memorial.html

[caveat.doctor]

There is also a GCworkplace set up. Note this is different from GCcoworking. "GCworkplace" refers to the style of workstation/furniture set up; "GCcoworking" is the collection of various locations where people can choose to work at any given time.

















Completely empty and all ready to go, whenever people start being able to physically come to work!

-

Also, the address in the thread should be changed to 60 Moodie Drive, which is what is actually used for the campus now.

[caboose]

Originally Posted by rocketphish

Afghanistan Memorial Hall






https://www.canada.ca/en/department-...-memorial.html

This was a stupid idea from the beginning. At any point, did any civil servant flag that putting a memorial in a secure facility might be problematic?

[VANRIDERFAN]

This idea is likely too late, but would there be any way for the Ottawa LRT to loop over to NDHQ Carling instead of having potentially 3k people having to be shuttled from Moodie to Carling? Why has this not been considered?

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by VANRIDERFAN

This idea is likely too late, but would there be any way for the Ottawa LRT to loop over to NDHQ Carling instead of having potentially 3k people having to be shuttled from Moodie to Carling? Why has this not been considered?

It was considered. The direct route to Kanata (Stage 3) using the existing and long planned RoW was ultimately chosen.

This is similar to Blair, which falls short of serving CSIS and CSEC (half a kilometre instead of a kilometre), or Tremblay to the RCMP, which is half a kilometre but in one of the most pedestrian hostile environments possible.

As long as they implement a frequent and efficient bus shuttle between Moodie Station and the DND campus, service should be pretty good. Good MUPs can encourage staff to walk or bike the "last mile".

We can't have the train make major detours for every Federal Campus that's just outside what would be considered decent walking distance.

Originally Posted by roger1818

Or converted to 2031 dollars?

The thing I don't get is why all of the proposed routes go to the CTC? Here are the options considered:


LRT Corridor Options for North Kanata

[Catenary]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

It was considered. The direct route to Kanata (Stage 3) using the existing and long planned RoW was ultimately chosen.

This is similar to Blair, which falls short of serving CSIS and CSEC (half a kilometre instead of a kilometre), or Tremblay to the RCMP, which is half a kilometre but in one of the most pedestrian hostile environments possible.

As long as they implement a frequent and efficient bus shuttle between Moodie Station and the DND campus, service should be pretty good. Good MUPs can encourage staff to walk or bike the "last mile".

We can't have the train make major detours for every Federal Campus that's just outside what would be considered decent walking distance.

Speaking of MUPs, the NCC is rebuilding the one along Moodie between the highway and Carling Campus to a higher standard:

https://twitter.com/NCC_CCN/status/1300386626225541120

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by Catenary

Speaking of MUPs, the NCC is rebuilding the one along Moodie between the highway and Carling Campus to a higher standard:

https://twitter.com/NCC_CCN/status/1300386626225541120

Good to hear. That should be a huge help.