Construction work has just started on 24 Sussex Drive, the prime minister’s official residence. The building has fallen into a state of deep disrepair after years of neglect and inaction.
But the National Capital Commission (NCC), the federal body responsible for official residences, said the new activity shouldn’t be interpreted as a commitment to fully restoring the 150-year-old property that has housed ten of the country’s prime ministers.
The NCC told CBC News this work must be done regardless of what the government ultimately decides to do with the heritage property.
Work started last week on stripping the property of asbestos and removing “obsolete mechanical, heating and electrical systems,” a NCC spokesperson said. The rehabilitation work is expected to take about a year.
The construction activity follows the commission’s decision to formally shutter the residence for health and safety reasons.
While the Gothic Revival-style home, perched high above the Ottawa River, has been unoccupied for years, the property was still being used by some staff until its 2022 closure. It was also used to host garden parties on the home’s expansive two-hectare grounds.
But the once-stately property is now infested with rodents. The property also has been deemed a fire hazard because the property uses outdated “knob and tube” wiring from another era.
The prime ministers’ residence, 24 Sussex, on the banks of the Ottawa River in Ottawa on Monday, Oct. 26, 2015. The building is a designated federal heritage building and has been the official residence of Canada’s prime minister since 1951. Stephen Harper was the last PM to live there. (Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press)
A 2021 report concluded the residence is in “critical” condition and pegged the cost to complete “deferred maintenance” at $36 million. The report set the home’s “current replacement value” at $40.1 million.
The fate of the 34-room mansion is in the hands of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his cabinet.
Despite repeated pleas from heritage advocates, Trudeau has so far signalled he has no plans to save the building.
He’s lived since 2015 at Rideau Cottage on the grounds of the Governor General’s residence — a relatively small home originally built for an aide.
The sorry state of 24 Sussex has heritage enthusiasts feeling dejected.
David Flemming is the chair of Heritage Ottawa’s advocacy committee, a group determined to protect the capital’s built history.
He said it’s “atrocious” that Canada, a G7 country with a $2 trillion economy, doesn’t have a functioning official residence for the head of government.
“The politicians making the decision — this is not their building. This belongs to the people of Canada,” Flemming told CBC News.
“Having a residence for the prime minister is just the cost of doing business as a nation. The truth is we just don’t hold our built heritage in high regard in this country.”
Margaret Trudeau with Pat Nixon holding an infant Justin Trudeau at 24 Sussex Drive in 1972. (Supplied by the White House Photo Office)
Flemming said his group has written letters to Trudeau asking him to make a call on the home’s fate but their pleas have been repeatedly ignored.
“All we want is for something to be done. That’s it,” he said. “We just want him to make a decision. Whether it’s the prime minister’s residence or not, it should be kept as a public building.”
Flemming had pitched former governor general David Johnston as a neutral arbiter to lead a panel of experts to decide on the home’s future.
Given the recent controversy over Johnston’s role as special rapporteur on foreign interference, Johnston’s likely “not the one now,” Flemming said. But the idea still stands, he added — a distinguished panel of non-partisan people should decide how best to restore the dilapidated landmark.
U.S. President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden are greeted by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, right, and his wife Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, left, at Rideau Cottage in March 2023. Rideau Cottage is a relatively small home originally built for an aide to the Governor General. (Andrew Harnik/AP Photo)
Christina Cameron, a professor and former Canada Research Chair in Built Heritage at Université de Montréal, agrees that 24 Sussex can and must be saved.
She last saw the home’s interior in 2018. At the time, she said, the property seemed salvageable.
“There’s no reason why that house couldn’t be rehabilitated,” she said.
“I think it’s really sad. I’ve watched it over the years and no prime minister wants to be seen investing in something for himself. I don’t know how we break the logjam but it’s important that we do because it’s a home that’s critical to our national story, to our narrative as a country.
“So many people important to world history have crossed that doorstep, and we’ve all seen them pictured on that doorstep.”
Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip and former prime minister Pierre Trudeau pose for photographers at 24 Sussex on April 16, 1982. (Ron Poling/Canadian Press)
Cameron said Trudeau should commit to restoring the property and dictate that the work be done on a deferred timeline so that it’s only available for the next occupant.
Trudeau could preserve history while neutralizing claims that it’s a self-serving decision, Cameron said. Or, she said, the home could be re-purposed for public use. Either choice would make it politically palatable for the current government, she said.
“I think the worst thing is to just not do anything,” she said.
The residence has become something of a political hot potato. The multi-million-dollar restoration price tag has deterred both Trudeau and his predecessor, Stephen Harper, from doing anything about a home that dates back to Ottawa’s days as a lumber town.
Trudeau said in April the government is working with “public servants as they chart a path forward for the official residences.”
A spokesperson for Trudeau did not comment on 24 Sussex’s future Friday, referring questions to Public Services and Procurement Minister Helena Jaczek.
A spokesperson for Jaczek told CBC News that they “don’t have much of an update on 24 Sussex.”
“We continue to work closely with the National Capital Commission to develop a plan for the future of 24 Sussex Drive,” the spokesperson said.
At least one former resident, former prime minister Jean Chretien, has said the home is “an embarrassment to the nation” that should be restored.
Maureen McTeer, former prime minister Joe Clark’s wife and author of a book on Canada’s official residences, has said the home isn’t worth saving. The home’s interior was gutted decades ago and it’s lost its historical value, she said in a 2015 interview.
Reached by email Thursday, McTeer said she had no comment on the home’s future.
Maureen McTeer, centre, wife of former prime minister Joe Clark, right, has said 24 Sussex is not worth saving. (Canadian Press Files)
Canada is an outlier among its allies when it comes to official residence repairs.
The British equivalent to 24 Sussex — 10 Downing Street — recently went through an extensive renovation.
The White House was overhauled under former president Donald Trump.
The Lodge, the Austrian prime minister’s official Canberra residence, received millions of dollars in restoration work in 2016.
Stornoway, the official home of the leader of the Official Opposition in Ottawa’s leafy Rockcliffe Park neighbourhood, is also in good condition — it received tens of thousands of dollars in repairs as recently as 2020.
While 24 Sussex has been left to rot, opposition leaders like Rona Ambrose, Andrew Scheer, Erin O’Toole, Candice Bergen and Pierre Poilievre have made use of Stornoway — an early 20th century home built by a prominent grocer that later served as a temporary home-in-exile for the Dutch Royal Family during the Second World War.
Stornoway, the residence of the Official Opposition leader, in Ottawa’s Rockcliffe Park. (Brian Morris/CBC News)
“You know, the federal government does have a good track record when they do decide to do restorations. We’ve got some top-notch architects and conservation people,” Flemming said.
“It just takes some political will — and there’s none of that right now.”
HALIFAX – Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston says it’s “disgraceful and demeaning” that a Halifax-area school would request that service members not wear military uniforms to its Remembrance Day ceremony.
Houston’s comments were part of a chorus of criticism levelled at the school — Sackville Heights Elementary — whose administration decided to back away from the plan after the outcry.
A November newsletter from the school in Middle Sackville, N.S., invited Armed Forces members to attend its ceremony but asked that all attendees arrive in civilian attire to “maintain a welcoming environment for all.”
Houston, who is currently running for re-election, accused the school’s leaders of “disgracing themselves while demeaning the people who protect our country” in a post on the social media platform X Thursday night.
“If the people behind this decision had a shred of the courage that our veterans have, this cowardly and insulting idea would have been rejected immediately,” Houston’s post read. There were also several calls for resignations within the school’s administration attached to Houston’s post.
In an email to families Thursday night, the school’s principal, Rachael Webster, apologized and welcomed military family members to attend “in the attire that makes them most comfortable.”
“I recognize this request has caused harm and I am deeply sorry,” Webster’s email read, adding later that the school has the “utmost respect for what the uniform represents.”
Webster said the initial request was out of concern for some students who come from countries experiencing conflict and who she said expressed discomfort with images of war, including military uniforms.
Her email said any students who have concerns about seeing Armed Forces members in uniform can be accommodated in a way that makes them feel safe, but she provided no further details in the message.
Webster did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
At a news conference Friday, Houston said he’s glad the initial request was reversed but said he is still concerned.
“I can’t actually fathom how a decision like that was made,” Houston told reporters Friday, adding that he grew up moving between military bases around the country while his father was in the Armed Forces.
“My story of growing up in a military family is not unique in our province. The tradition of service is something so many of us share,” he said.
“Saying ‘lest we forget’ is a solemn promise to the fallen. It’s our commitment to those that continue to serve and our commitment that we will pass on our respects to the next generation.”
Liberal Leader Zach Churchill also said he’s happy with the school’s decision to allow uniformed Armed Forces members to attend the ceremony, but he said he didn’t think it was fair to question the intentions of those behind the original decision.
“We need to have them (uniforms) on display at Remembrance Day,” he said. “Not only are we celebrating (veterans) … we’re also commemorating our dead who gave the greatest sacrifice for our country and for the freedoms we have.”
NDP Leader Claudia Chender said that while Remembrance Day is an important occasion to honour veterans and current service members’ sacrifices, she said she hopes Houston wasn’t taking advantage of the decision to “play politics with this solemn occasion for his own political gain.”
“I hope Tim Houston reached out to the principal of the school before making a public statement,” she said in a statement.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
REGINA – Saskatchewan Opposition NDP Leader Carla Beck says she wants to prove to residents her party is the government in waiting as she heads into the incoming legislative session.
Beck held her first caucus meeting with 27 members, nearly double than what she had before the Oct. 28 election but short of the 31 required to form a majority in the 61-seat legislature.
She says her priorities will be health care and cost-of-living issues.
Beck says people need affordability help right now and will press Premier Scott Moe’s Saskatchewan Party government to cut the gas tax and the provincial sales tax on children’s clothing and some grocery items.
Beck’s NDP is Saskatchewan’s largest Opposition in nearly two decades after sweeping Regina and winning all but one seat in Saskatoon.
The Saskatchewan Party won 34 seats, retaining its hold on all of the rural ridings and smaller cities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
HALIFAX – Nova Scotia‘s growing population was the subject of debate on Day 12 of the provincial election campaign, with Liberal Leader Zach Churchill arguing immigration levels must be reduced until the province can provide enough housing and health-care services.
Churchill said Thursday a plan by the incumbent Progressive Conservatives to double the province’s population to two million people by the year 2060 is unrealistic and unsustainable.
“That’s a big leap and it’s making life harder for people who live here, (including ) young people looking for a place to live and seniors looking to downsize,” he told a news conference at his campaign headquarters in Halifax.
Anticipating that his call for less immigration might provoke protests from the immigrant community, Churchill was careful to note that he is among the third generation of a family that moved to Nova Scotia from Lebanon.
“I know the value of immigration, the importance of it to our province. We have been built on the backs of an immigrant population. But we just need to do it in a responsible way.”
The Liberal leader said Tim Houston’s Tories, who are seeking a second term in office, have made a mistake by exceeding immigration targets set by the province’s Department of Labour and Immigration. Churchill said a Liberal government would abide by the department’s targets.
In the most recent fiscal year, the government welcomed almost 12,000 immigrants through its nominee program, exceeding the department’s limit by more than 4,000, he said. The numbers aren’t huge, but the increase won’t help ease the province’s shortages in housing and doctors, and the increased strain on its infrastructure, including roads, schools and cellphone networks, Churchill said.
“(The Immigration Department) has done the hard work on this,” he said. “They know where the labour gaps are, and they know what growth is sustainable.”
In response, Houston said his commitment to double the population was a “stretch goal.” And he said the province had long struggled with a declining population before that trend was recently reversed.
“The only immigration that can come into this province at this time is if they are a skilled trade worker or a health-care worker,” Houston said. “The population has grown by two per cent a year, actually quite similar growth to what we experienced under the Liberal government before us.”
Still, Houston said he’s heard Nova Scotians’ concerns about population growth, and he then pivoted to criticize Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for trying to send 6,000 asylum seekers to Nova Scotia, an assertion the federal government has denied.
Churchill said Houston’s claim about asylum seekers was shameful.
“It’s smoke and mirrors,” the Liberal leader said. “He is overshooting his own department’s numbers for sustainable population growth and yet he is trying to blame this on asylum seekers … who aren’t even here.”
In September, federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller said there is no plan to send any asylum seekers to the province without compensation or the consent of the premier. He said the 6,000 number was an “aspirational” figure based on models that reflect each province’s population.
In Halifax, NDP Leader Claudia Chender said it’s clear Nova Scotia needs more doctors, nurses and skilled trades people.
“Immigration has been and always will be a part of the Nova Scotia story, but we need to build as we grow,” Chender said. “This is why we have been pushing the Houston government to build more affordable housing.”
Chender was in a Halifax cafe on Thursday when she promised her party would remove the province’s portion of the harmonized sales tax from all grocery, cellphone and internet bills if elected to govern on Nov. 26. The tax would also be removed from the sale and installation of heat pumps.
“Our focus is on helping people to afford their lives,” Chender told reporters. “We know there are certain things that you can’t live without: food, internet and a phone …. So we know this will have the single biggest impact.”
The party estimates the measure would save the average Nova Scotia family about $1,300 a year.
“That’s a lot more than a one or two per cent HST cut,” Chender said, referring to the Progressive Conservative pledge to reduce the tax by one percentage point and the Liberal promise to trim it by two percentage points.
Elsewhere on the campaign trail, Houston announced that a Progressive Conservative government would make parking free at all Nova Scotia hospitals and health-care centres. The promise was also made by the Liberals in their election platform released Monday.
“Free parking may not seem like a big deal to some, but … the parking, especially for people working at the facilities, can add up to hundreds of dollars,” the premier told a news conference at his campaign headquarters in Halifax.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
