When it comes to the sorry state of 24 Sussex Drive, the official residence of the prime minister of Canada, there is plenty of blame to go around, starting with a succession of PMs who have declined to do anything about it, seemingly content to watch it deteriorate around them and leave the decision to a successor.
It’s easy to see the appeal of this approach. The price tag for making the necessary upgrades, repairs, and improvements to the house — built between 1866 and 1868, and home to Canada’s prime ministers since 1951 — is currently pegged at around $40 million, a figure that common sense tells us will only continue to rise. Any occupant who is seen to be the beneficiary of this spending will face howls of opprobrium from a significant portion of the electorate, angry at this seeming extravagance and entitlement.
Never mind that it would be the National Capital Commission (NCC) — the body that oversees historical buildings throughout Ottawa, not just 24 Sussex — making the decision to go ahead with the renovations, and not whoever happened to be living there at the time. Never mind that these renovations go well beyond the purely cosmetic, and are necessary for the health and safety of those living and working in the building (which is, or is supposed to be, a place where business of the nation is carried out, not just a posh place for the PM to lay his or her head). And never mind that the current state of 24 Sussex Drive is so bad that our current prime minister, first elected in 2015, has never lived there while PM, because of the many hazards and health concerns inherent in the old building.
Just how bad is the state of 24 Sussex, I hear you cry, and how can the price tag be $40 million? I’m glad you asked. The NCC recently warned that the residence had “reached the point of imminent or actual failure”. It has mould, cracked windows, failing plumbing, and an electrical system that is an actual fire hazard. The roof leaks, there is asbestos and lead throughout many of the interior finishings, and the heating and cooling systems are completely inadequate. The building is infested with rodents, and the walls, attic, and basement are filled with rodent carcasses and excrement.
Aside from the numerous structural deficiencies, the building lacks many of the security features necessary in this day and age. Because of this lack, there are no secure rooms where government business can be carried out, and no rooms, period, where the prime minister can host large events, something the leader of the country is not infrequently called upon to do.
Yet prime ministers from at least Jean Chrétien (who was PM from 1993 to 2003, and had to put buckets on the floor to catch rainwater from the leaky roof) onward have kept kicking the can down the road, unwilling to risk being seen as the one who authorized spending millions of dollars on their home and incurring the wrath of voters. The higher up the political ladder one climbs, the more things become a game of weeks and months, rather than years; taking the long view and looking a decade or so down the road, which is probably how long the necessary repairs to 24 Sussex would take, becomes impossible. After all, the prime minister in office when the repairs are authorized will almost certainly not be there when they’re finished, so why bother sticking your neck out?
The fact is, however, that the state of the Canadian prime minister’s official residence is a national disgrace. 24 Sussex Drive does not belong to one person; it belongs to the nation, to each and every one of us. It reflects, and reflects on, our country, how we see ourselves and want others to see us. If you’re happy with the way it is now, and would scream bloody murder if so much as a red cent was spent on it, then you’re a big part of the reason why there are literal rats in the walls.
editorial@accjournal.ca
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