The renovations on the House of Commons could cost anywhere between $42 million and $100 million. Now I am up for having a nice place for MPs to work because the building is one of the central places where foreign dignitaries come, and also due to the historical beauty of those buildings. I used to live in Ottawa and being a history buff, I enjoyed walking down to Parliament Hill to take pictures and look at the craftsmanship of the buildings. They are amazing. However one major point of the renovation should be to keep the classic look of the building. The “Crystal Palace” as it is now being called is something I just do not get. I know it will only be a temporary home for the House until the permanent House gets all fixed up. But at over $40 million of taxpayers’ money, do the members really feel this is a wise way to crack out some money during a time where the country is still crawling out of the worst financial meltdown since the Great Depression? For around seven years the glass dome will house the politicians who run the country. Now, when they are debating the rights and wrongs of Canada and beyond, at least they will be able to look up when frustrated and see the sun in the sky or if they are working late, maybe some stars. This could encourage them to change the time of day the gatherings happen. Maybe MPs will prefer the nighttime chatter under the pale moonlight. A glass dome does put forward a few more questions in my head about how it will affect what happens on the Hill. Will all this new light from above be a dawning for a new age of thinking? If the glass lets in some extra vitamin D, will they be leading a healthier lifestyle? Could this lead to more days off in winter? Many domed stadiums in the past have run into issues with the weather in Ottawa they do have some heavy snow days. I hope someone along the way took the snow into account because, if not then, we could have our own snow landing in the house. Of course this could be leading for a new way for decisions to be made. Picture it, a debate that gets out of hand being settled not by yelling and thumping of desks. That’s right, snowball fights used to make the decision when all else fails. More people might take an interest in the broadcasts of debates if there was the chance of a great Canadian snowball. For now the decision has been made and the dome of glass will be a home for a while for all those men and women who get into power at the federal level. The overall cost of fixing up the Hill will eventually cost Canadians more than $5 billion according to a report on the CBC. That is a lot of money over the years to fix up a place for the MPs to sit, yell, thump and harumph. (Don’t thump too hard as you do have glass over you now). In the end with all of this money being spent I just hope those MPs remember who is paying for their nice glass dome and newly renovated House and they go out of their way to help out the everyday Canadians who pay the price in the end.