DND Planning $1 Billion Additional HQ Building Near Nortel Site

By: David Pugliese, The National Post 

The Department of National Defence is planning a new $1.1 billion building in Ottawa’s west end, even while employees are settling into its $800-million headquarters complex at the former Nortel campus.

The department has set its sights on what it calls a new operational headquarters, which it expects to host 4,500 civilian and military personnel. That facility will be in addition to the headquarters at what was once the technology company’s campus on Carling Ave. which will house almost 9,000 employees. DND also intends to keep its massive complex at 101 Colonel By Drive in downtown Ottawa.

The new operational headquarters, to be constructed in the mid-to-late 2020s, will be located close to the Nortel site and will be home to various commands including the Canadian Special Operations Forces Command and the Canadian Joint Operations Command, DND spokesman Daniel Le Bouthillier confirmed.

The office of the vice-chief of the defence staff will also be located in the new building. “In order to centralize these efforts, the Department of National Defence requires a modern facility that enables secure joint operational command, control, communications, coordination and capabilities for operational planning and control of Canadian Armed Forces operations domestically, continentally and globally,” said Le Bouthillier.

The plan will see employees moving into the new operational headquarters starting around 2029, after which DND would vacate its facility at Star Top Rd. in Ottawa’s east end. It is not clear whether another department would move into that building, which is owned by a private company and leased by the federal government.

The government announced last week it wants to hire an architectural and engineering firm to design the new 75,000-square-metre facility — an advance notice so interested parties could apply for the security clearances necessary to bid on the contract.

In making a case to spend the original $800 million on the Nortel complex, senior DND officials claimed there would be substantial savings from consolidating employees in the one location, arguing that the 42 DND and Canadian Forces office locations in Ottawa and Gatineau would be reduced to seven or fewer, leading to savings of $750 million in office rent alone over the subsequent 25 years. No mention was ever made of the need for an additional purpose-built facility.

Former Nortel campus off of Carling Ave in Ottawa, Ontario on Monday Sept. 26, 2016. Tony Caldwell / PostmediaFormer Nortel campus off of Carling Ave in Ottawa, Ontario on Monday Sept. 26, 2016. Tony Caldwell / Postmedia

But Le Bouthillier said the Liberal government’s new defence policy outlined the need to have a single operational hub to enable the key military commands to produce accurate and timely advice, improving command and control for military decision makers, increasing information sharing and boosting the protection for key military personnel in case of a natural disaster or other security incidents. The specific location of the new headquarters will be determined during the options analysis phase of the project, but it will be in close proximity to the Carling site, he said.

Between the Nortel campus and the new headquarters, more than 13,000 of the 20,500 DND employees and Canadian Forces personnel working in locations throughout Ottawa and Gatineau will eventually be concentrated in Ottawa’s west end. To date, only 3,600 of the planned 9,000 staff have moved into the former Nortel complex, the relocation process running about two years behind schedule.

Some DND employees and Canadian Forces personnel have voiced concern over the move to the Carling Ave. site, pointing out that many live in Orléans and the commute will be long. A June 2011 briefing note prepared for then-deputy minister Robert Fonberg described the Carling site as a “relatively remote location.”

Some DND civilian employees have opted to take jobs with other federal departments rather than work in the west end of Ottawa, but the government was unable to provide details about exactly how many have done so.

KAF Cenotaph at Former Nortel Site - Does it Make Sense?

By: David Pugliese, The Ottawa Citizen 

It was recently reported that the memorial to fallen Canadian troops that was once at Kandahar airfield in Afghanistan will be rebuilt in the west end Ottawa by the summer of next year.

The memorial, known as the Kandahar Airfield Cenotaph, will be located on the former Nortel Campus, the new site for National Defence headquarters.

An exact location on the grounds has not yet been decided but the cenotaph is expected to be in place by the summer of 2017, Canadian Forces spokeswoman Lt.-Commander Diane Grover, told Defence Watch.

Grover said that because it is expected that the cenotaph will be within a secure area of the new headquarters site, details still have to be worked out about providing access to the public and families of the fallen.

Some Defence Watch readers, however, have questioned how much visitation by the public the cenotaph will receive once it is rebuilt at the Nortel complex?

For sure, the military and civilian DND staff who operate at the Nortel campus will see the memorial. And the families of the fallen will be sure to visit, although special arrangements will have to be made to provide them with access to the cenotaph which will be enclosed in a glass pavilion.

But since the site is not in downtown Ottawa, it likely won’t be seen by many visitors to the city, or its inhabitants, unless they want to make a special trip to the west end.

There is no question the cenotaph is a powerful one, probably more so than many other military memorials. It has, etched in its black granite, the images of all Canadian military personnel killed in Afghanistan.

In 2011 a military working group recommended that the cenotaph be located on DND property at Dow’s Lake in Ottawa. One of the reasons? That would be the most accessible site for the public as it is a well traveled location, particularly for visitors to the capital.

At the time three Ottawa venues were considered the most serious options as a home for the cenotaph; Beechwood Cemetery, the 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.

“When weighing the criteria, the Memorials WG (working group) considered Sanctity to be the most important, followed by Visibility and Accessibility,” Devlin was told in the documents obtained by Postmedia.

The Dow’s Lake option came out on top, followed very closely by Beechwood Cemetery, according to the briefing. The Nortel Campus was a distant third (even as a location for a new headquarters, military staff have referred to the site in various documents as “isolated.”)

Somewhere along the line all that changed.

KAF Memorial to be Built at Former Nortel Site by 2017

Written by: David Pugliese, The National Post

A memorial to fallen Canadian troops that was once at Kandahar airfield in Afghanistan will be rebuilt in the west end of Ottawa by the summer of next year.

The memorial, known as the Kandahar Airfield Cenotaph, will be located on the former Nortel Campus, the new site for the National Defence headquarters.

An exact location on the grounds has not been decided but the cenotaph is expected to be in place by the summer of 2017, said Canadian Forces spokeswoman Lt.-Cmdr. Diane Grover.

“The KAF Cenotaph was repatriated from Afghanistan at the closure of our combat mission and is currently in storage,” she said. “As a powerful memorial to those who died in the service of Canada, it will be placed on display for viewing by the friends and families of the fallen, the defence team and the public.”

The Kandahar Memorial when it was located at Kandahar Air Field, Afghanistan. Photo: Colin Perkel

Grover said an analysis concluded the cenotaph would not be able to endure long-term exposure to the elements so it will be housed within a new structure. That building will be a 12-metre by 25-metre pavilion, according to DND documents produced last year and obtained by Postmedia. The cenotaph weights about 225,000 kilograms, the documents noted. An artist’s concept prepared for the DND shows a glass enclosure around the cenotaph.

Grover said that because it is expected the cenotaph will be within a secure area of the new headquarters complex, details need to be worked out about providing access to the public and families of the fallen.

Over the next several years, the DND will transfer about 8,500 military and civilian employees to the former Nortel Campus on Carling Ave. Some employees and military personnel are already working from the site.

The cenotaph at Kandahar airfield became a symbol for many Canadians of the losses during the Afghan war.

Canadian Forces personnel and Afghan employees built it in 2006 and added to the monument over time. On the cenotaph are 190 plaques that honour 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 U.S. military personnel and a civilian member who died while serving under Canadian command.

The granite plaques are etched with the photographs of those who died.

The military has the original drawings for the cenotaph as well as photos and video to help in reconstructing the monument in Canada. The cenotaph is in storage at an Ottawa warehouse.

In 2011 a military working group recommended the cenotaph be located on DND property at Dow’s Lake in Ottawa.

A CAF Member places a Poppy on the Kandahar Memorial during Remembrance Day in Afghanistan in 2008.
Photo: Post Media File Photo

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 and the Dow’s Lake property, according to a July 2011 briefing note prepared for then army commander Lt.-Gen. Peter Devlin.

“When weighing the criteria, the Memorials WG (working group) considered Sanctity to be the most important, followed by Visibility and Accessibility,” Devlin was told in the documents obtained by Postmedia.

The Dow’s Lake option came out on top, followed closely by Beechwood Cemetery, according to the briefing.

The Memorials working group acknowledged that although their recommendation was for Dow’s Lake, a different method to rate the criteria for a location “may be preferable, for reasons not apparent to the Memorials WG.”

The briefing note pointed out that, in the early stages of the evaluation process, one general said Beechwood Cemetery was his favourite option, while another preferred the Nortel site.

In an email to Postmedia in 2011, the DND noted that the cenotaph would be unveiled in 2014. But military sources said that delays in rebuilding the monument in Canada were expected.