Shirley's Bay site crumbling
Jan. 14th, 2007 08:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dracodraconisSource: Industry Canada's showcase looking tawdry
OTTAWA — An ill-advised hiring binge during the dot-com boom has come back to haunt Industry Canada.
The department's showcase research labs on the outskirts of Ottawa are crumbling, partly because it hired too many staff during the good times and has since had to cut back drastically on maintenance to pay them, says a new audit.
The research centre, with 157 buildings spread over 600 hectares, is located at Shirley's Bay on the western edge of the capital, along the Ottawa River.
Dating back to 1952, the labs have produced some technical marvels, including Canada's first communications satellite Alouette I.
Industry Canada's Communications Research Centre, or CRC, which carries out cutting-edge research in wireless technology, is the largest tenant and remains site custodian. The Defence Department and Canadian Space Agency also operate key research facilities at Shirley's Bay.
But a new audit says a third of the buildings are in poor condition, and most of the mechanical and electrical systems are near the end of their life expectancy — partly because the centre has been dipping into its maintenance budget to pay staff.
“This shortfall stems from a recruiting drive mounted in response to concerns that scientists would leave the CRC to join local industry during the recent dot-com boom (1997-2001),” says the document.
“As the boom turned to bust, expected departures did not materialize, leaving the CRC with more scientific staff than the salary allocation could support.
“Rather than take action to bring staff levels and salary allocation into balance, the CRC began to transfer funds from the O&M (operations and maintenance) allocation.”
This year, the centre plans to grab $2-million from its maintenance budget to meet payroll demands. That's a large chunk of the funding shortfall for maintenance, estimated at between $1.5-million and $3.8-million a year.
The centre is opening a new photonics lab this year that's expected to increase the annual maintenance burden by $275,000.
Altogether, the Shirley's Bay site is estimated to need about $26-million of capital investment to bring degraded buildings and infrastructure — some of them half a century old — up to acceptable standards.
“It has increasingly become necessary to conduct costly and disruptive emergency repairs,” says the report.
The auditors were also critical of the centre for retrofitting some buildings to make them more energy efficient, reaping annual savings of $500,000, but then plowing those savings into research rather than much-needed maintenance.
The president of the centre, Veena Rawat, defended the policy of dipping into the maintenance budget, saying it provides needed flexibility in the rapidly evolving communications sector.
Ms. Rawat noted that the centre transferred $1-million of its salary budget to the maintenance budget in 2000-2001 and since that time has had to do the reverse, often hiring people for term positions for projects that generate revenue.
“To the question of not trimming staff levels, CRC manages these term positions each year according to its commitments,” Ms. Rawat said in an e-mail response to questions.
“CRC has taken other steps to reduce its salary expenditures, such as reducing new staffing, as well as not filling positions vacated due to internal promotions or departures.”
Thirty-two of the centre's 419 staff positions were cut last year, partly by centralizing human resources at Industry Canada.
Ms. Rawat added that the centre has seen cuts in its operations and maintenance budget of $1-million in each of the last two years as part of government-wide reductions.
The centre says it plans to act on the audit's eight recommendations, but those requiring capital investments will happen only as federal funds become available.
About 1,000 people work at Shirley's Bay.
- DEAN BEEBY for Canadian Press
OTTAWA — An ill-advised hiring binge during the dot-com boom has come back to haunt Industry Canada.
The department's showcase research labs on the outskirts of Ottawa are crumbling, partly because it hired too many staff during the good times and has since had to cut back drastically on maintenance to pay them, says a new audit.
The research centre, with 157 buildings spread over 600 hectares, is located at Shirley's Bay on the western edge of the capital, along the Ottawa River.
Dating back to 1952, the labs have produced some technical marvels, including Canada's first communications satellite Alouette I.
Industry Canada's Communications Research Centre, or CRC, which carries out cutting-edge research in wireless technology, is the largest tenant and remains site custodian. The Defence Department and Canadian Space Agency also operate key research facilities at Shirley's Bay.
But a new audit says a third of the buildings are in poor condition, and most of the mechanical and electrical systems are near the end of their life expectancy — partly because the centre has been dipping into its maintenance budget to pay staff.
“This shortfall stems from a recruiting drive mounted in response to concerns that scientists would leave the CRC to join local industry during the recent dot-com boom (1997-2001),” says the document.
“As the boom turned to bust, expected departures did not materialize, leaving the CRC with more scientific staff than the salary allocation could support.
“Rather than take action to bring staff levels and salary allocation into balance, the CRC began to transfer funds from the O&M (operations and maintenance) allocation.”
This year, the centre plans to grab $2-million from its maintenance budget to meet payroll demands. That's a large chunk of the funding shortfall for maintenance, estimated at between $1.5-million and $3.8-million a year.
The centre is opening a new photonics lab this year that's expected to increase the annual maintenance burden by $275,000.
Altogether, the Shirley's Bay site is estimated to need about $26-million of capital investment to bring degraded buildings and infrastructure — some of them half a century old — up to acceptable standards.
“It has increasingly become necessary to conduct costly and disruptive emergency repairs,” says the report.
The auditors were also critical of the centre for retrofitting some buildings to make them more energy efficient, reaping annual savings of $500,000, but then plowing those savings into research rather than much-needed maintenance.
The president of the centre, Veena Rawat, defended the policy of dipping into the maintenance budget, saying it provides needed flexibility in the rapidly evolving communications sector.
Ms. Rawat noted that the centre transferred $1-million of its salary budget to the maintenance budget in 2000-2001 and since that time has had to do the reverse, often hiring people for term positions for projects that generate revenue.
“To the question of not trimming staff levels, CRC manages these term positions each year according to its commitments,” Ms. Rawat said in an e-mail response to questions.
“CRC has taken other steps to reduce its salary expenditures, such as reducing new staffing, as well as not filling positions vacated due to internal promotions or departures.”
Thirty-two of the centre's 419 staff positions were cut last year, partly by centralizing human resources at Industry Canada.
Ms. Rawat added that the centre has seen cuts in its operations and maintenance budget of $1-million in each of the last two years as part of government-wide reductions.
The centre says it plans to act on the audit's eight recommendations, but those requiring capital investments will happen only as federal funds become available.
About 1,000 people work at Shirley's Bay.
- DEAN BEEBY for Canadian Press
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