OTTAWA – The Canadian government has spent billions trying to solve the country’s housing crisis. But when it comes to repairing the prime minister’s own dilapidated official residence? This is a different story.
The picturesque mansion, known by the address 24 Sussex Drive, spans 34 rooms and is tucked away next to the Ottawa River. Built in 1868, it has been the designated home of the country’s prime ministers since 1950.
It is divided into private and public areas, allowing the prime minister’s family to live in part of the house while official events are held in a separate area.
This is an ideal setting given the hosting duties of a head of government. But the country’s current prime minister, Justin Trudeau, hasn’t lived there since he was a child.
Former prime minister Stephen Harper moved out after losing the 2015 federal election to the Liberals, and Trudeau chose not to move into the home where he lived as a boy when his father, Pierre Elliott Trudeau, was prime minister — instead settling into a residence. on the nearby grounds of Rideau Hall.
The issues plaguing 24 Sussex today are the same ones that have kept Trudeau from returning home. Only worse.
A 2021 report by the National Capital Commission, the body that manages the country’s official residences, said the heritage-listed property had gone without “significant investment” for more than 60 years and was in need of “costly and urgent repair”.
Price: $37 million.
The devastation has become so severe that the building is now closed to all staff. The commission announced this week that “continued aging and deterioration of materials and systems” require “more significant action” to prevent fire hazards, water damage and air quality issues. Removal of asbestos and “obsolete” systems will begin next spring.
The idea that 24 Sussex is now too dangerous to set foot on has renewed questions about the federal government’s long-term plans for the building. The opposition parties want answers.
“When people are struggling to make ends meet, it’s hard to justify spending millions to renovate an official residence,” NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said in a written statement Friday.
“But a decision just has to be made: neglected renovations, delays and indecision about what to do with the building is what has caused costs to rise.”
Bloc Quebecois critic Julie Vignola said in a written statement that successive Liberal and Conservative governments have not spent the money to ensure the residence remains in good condition, which has pushed the cost of the renovations to nearly $40 million.
“We cannot afford to pay the price for the complete lack of accountability of the federal government,” he said in French.
Procurement Minister Helena Jaczek, whose portfolio includes the NCC, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday.
For David Flemming, chair of the advocacy committee at Heritage Ottawa, 24 Sussex is a case of “negligent demolition” and an issue his group has been calling for action on for years.
He said it was common to see private individuals and developers allowing heritage buildings to fall into disrepair. “It’s a bit embarrassing to have your national government do something like that.”
Sir Winston Churchill and Queen Elizabeth II were among Sussex’s 24 distinguished guests.
Fleming acknowledged the prospect of the federal government spending millions to fix up the prime minister’s residence might not be a big deal, but said it was “the cost of doing business as a country.”
Trudeau addressed these sights in an interview with the CBC in 2018. “No prime minister wants to spend a dime of taxpayer dollars on the upkeep of this house,” he said at the time.
Before he was elected Conservative leader, Pierre Poilievre criticized Trudeau several years ago for renovating another of the prime minister’s residences at Lake Harrington in western Quebec. At the time, he argued that construction was not done transparently.
Poilievre did not respond Friday to a request for comment on what he thinks should happen at 24 Sussex. He currently lives with his family in Stornoway, where the official opposition leader usually resides.
This house is slightly smaller, with only 19 rooms, but like the Prime Minister’s residence, it is designed with space to host official events.
Meanwhile, the NCC said it has cost about $122,000 a year to run 24 Sussex in its current state for the past three years.
Fleming said his group would like to see “something” done with the property. Period.
Over the years there has been no shortage of offers to help.
Back in 2015, some suggested that a reality TV makeover show should be the one to give 24 Sussex a much-needed facelift.
In fact, Ben Mulroney, son of former prime minister Brian Mulroney and a former resident himself, was among those tossing around the idea.
The state of the mansion has become something of a joke in Canadian culture.
When Paul Martin was prime minister in the early 2000s, he took part in a skit with comedian Rick Mercer where they covered one of the windows with plastic using a hair dryer – a DIY trick to keep out the cold.
“It gets a bit of a dressing down here in the winter,” Martin said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on November 18, 2022.
