A construction worker walks past the front entrance to 24 Sussex Drive in Ottawa in May, 2023.Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press
Here is an evergreen news story if there ever was one: the Prime Minister’s official residence has problems.
Yes, we are talking about that again – the PM’s digs. Except this time we aren’t talking about 24 Sussex. We’re talking about the cottage that the Prime Minister of Canada had to move into on the grounds of the Governor-General’s residence because the historical home of our country’s leaders was no longer fit for human habitation.
It is difficult to recall a story in recent times that has better symbolized the small-town nature of this country than the debate over the PM’s residence. Actually, there really hasn’t been much of a debate. Rather, it’s been the refusal of former occupants of 24 Sussex to carry out desperately needed renovations and security upgrades over fears there might be a public outcry. Consequently, when Justin Trudeau became PM, he refused to move into the mansion with the fabulous grey stone façade because it posed a danger to him and his family.
This, the home he grew up in as a child when his father, Pierre, was prime minister.
So, in 2015, Trudeau the Younger moved into the red-brick house on the grounds of Rideau Hall.
Opinion: The state of 24 Sussex is an insult to Canada
Now, the cottage has been rendered “inadequate,” according to an internal government memo obtained by CBC News. The residential neighbourhood in which it’s located poses a security risk while the building itself lacks enough space for the needs of a PM and his staff.
And so here we are again, talking about a home for the PM. And it’s so tedious.
The issues at 24 Sussex should have been addressed years ago. When Jean Chrétien was PM, he brought reporters in to see the bucket that was collecting water leaking into the residence as a result of a faulty roof. It was a symptom of the many problems the glorious old home had. Yet, Mr. Chrétien (and his successors) refused to do anything about it.
As The Globe and Mail said in a 2023 editorial, 24 Sussex was “a monument only to our failures.”
In 1999, it was estimated the repairs and upgrades needed to fix the home would cost $4-million – or just over $7-million today. A report prepared by the National Capital Commission in 2022 estimated 24 Sussex needed more than $36-million in repairs. I’m sure that would be well north of $40-million now. Some estimates have put the bill as high as $100-million, which seems absurd.
A few years ago, Mr. Chrétien and former PM Stephen Harper, the last person to live at 24 Sussex, offered to fundraise the money necessary for the long list of needed repairs. Mr. Trudeau scotched that idea. And really, is that what it’s come to? We’re going to fundraise to fix the PM’s home? Perhaps we could hold a national bake sale? Or maybe 24 Sussex could get charitable status allowing it to qualify for 50-50 draws at NHL games.
Think big!
Prime Minister Mark Carney needs to address this situation once and for all. The three options are: repair 24 Sussex, build a new home somewhere else or upgrade Rideau Cottage. I vote for No. 1 – renovate 24 Sussex.
Built in the late 1860s by the lumber baron, Joseph Currier, it is a stunning home designed in the Gothic Revival style. It sits in a spectacular, forested setting. It became the PM’s residence in 1951, with Louis St. Laurent its first occupant. Everyone from Queen Elizabeth II to Winston Churchill to U.S. presidents John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan, to name just a few, have visited.
We need to protect that history.
Mr. Carney can’t be afraid of the price. Needed renovations, including possibly adding a wing to provide much needed space, must occur. As noted, it won’t be cheap. But this project, whichever option is chosen, only gets more expensive the longer this dreary drama drags on.
The public will be fine with whichever decision is made. The last major poll on the matter, done by Angus Reid in 2023, showed broad public support for investing in the PM’s residence. The survey indicated people felt “political cowardice” was to blame for the lack of action to this point.
It’s true: PMs frightened of what the public might say decided it was better to let the walls of 24 Sussex rot and crumble around them than do something about it. Mr. Carney, please show Canadians you have a spine, that you’re not afraid to do the right thing.
Fix 24 Sussex now.