New site sought for government command centre during emergency

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Plans are in the works for a new backup site to house the Prime Minister's Office and his large team of political staff and bureaucrats in the event of a terrorist attack or other emergency.

Having a backup command centre for the Prime Minister is not a new concept, but government reports and memos obtained through Access to Information provide a rare window as to how the government might run in the event of a major emergency and what would be needed.

The documents reveal that officials are looking to establish a new "alternate site" to house the occupants of the Langevin Building, which includes the Prime Minister's Office and its public service arm, the Privy Council Office.

The Langevin Building is on the south side of Ottawa's Wellington Street, across from Parliament Hill. It is connected to the Blackburn Building, which has a main entrance from Sparks Street, a pedestrian mall.

"Business interruptions affecting occupancy may include: blackout, fire/flood, terrorist attack, biological and chemical threats," states a draft PCO memo prepared for signatures by Marie-Lucie Morin, the Prime Minister's national security adviser; François Guimont, the deputy minister of Public Works; and a third person whose name is blacked out by the government for security reasons.

"Essential services such as mail sorting, secret printing, meeting rooms, etc., will also form part of the alternate site," states a February, 2010, report titled "Implementation Plan PCO Primary Alternate Site."

The alternate site would include a communications centre and an ability for the Prime Minister to deliver live broadcasts and videotaping.

The documents, which were created over the past year and obtained by Ottawa researcher Ken Rubin, indicate the search for a new site has been going on since at least early 2008 when a list of 22 sites was compiled. By February of 2010, the list had been whittled down to three Crown-owned properties and appears to have been further narrowed to one location.

The documents do not identify the three potential sites, but it appears from the notes that they are buildings already in use by the federal public service. There is also no indication as to the cost of the exercise.

"The plan's principles are to keep costs to a minimum and to use existing infrastructure where possible," states one note from March.

Michel Juneau-Katsuya, a former intelligence officer with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, said the current security surrounding the Langevin Building is not "the best." However, he said, it is appropriate given the high level of RCMP security that follows the Prime Minister wherever he goes. It is also important to show the government is not hiding behind a bunker because of the threat of terrorism, he said. Then there's the cost factor.

"Moving out of the Langevin Building and going somewhere else would imply substantial, substantial spending," he said. "It would be very, very expensive."

Multiyear renovations of the parliamentary precinct are forcing many changes to MP office space and committee rooms, but the Langevin is not scheduled to be affected.

A spokesman for the PCO, Raymond Rivet, said the plan for an alternate site is only a draft. He said there are no plans to permanently move the PMO or PCO out of the Langevin Building.

"Current security measures are appropriate," he said. "We continually assess and enhance security measures for the building, often unobtrusively."

The Langevin Building, which was built between 1884 and 1889, has a history with fire. In 1979, sparks from a fire that destroyed the neighbouring Rideau Club led to a blaze on the roof of the Langevin Building. Firefighters succeeded in putting it out, but a fleet of vans were on hand to rescue important documents if needed.

The building had become the Prime Minister's Office only four years earlier. Before that, Langevin had served as the Department of the Interior and Indian Affairs, the Department of Agriculture and the Patent Office.