Invoice Morneau wished former prime ministers to deal with Sussex Drive declineJanuary 24, 2023

Former finance minister Invoice Morneau says he as soon as proposed bringing collectively previous prime ministers to evaluate the situation and maintenance of two publicly funded residences for Canada’s leaders, however the concept was ignored.

In his newly revealed memoir The place to From Right here: A Path to Canadian Prosperity, Mr. Morneau mentioned he was involved for the deteriorating state of the prime minister’s official residence, 24 Sussex Dr., and the governor-general’s Rideau Corridor.

“I obtained little or no response to my concept, which I attributed to an unlucky worry of backlash from numerous quarters towards spending public funds on what had been basically two non-public residences,” wrote Mr. Morneau, who was an MP for 5 years and served as finance minister earlier than resigning from cupboard in 2020.

Mr. Morneau’s ebook and feedback had been launched amid questions, specifically, a few long-term plan for a residence for the prime minister.

Since main the Liberals to energy in 2015, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his household have been dwelling in Rideau Cottage on the grounds of Rideau Corridor, as a substitute of close by 24 Sussex Dr., which turned the prime minister’s official residence in 1951.

Mr. Trudeau has beforehand mentioned 24 Sussex Dr., in-built 1868 as a lumber baron’s house, has been uncared for by many generations of politicians and prime ministers and is “in horrible situation.” The Nationwide Capital Fee, which manages official residences within the Ottawa space, has chronicled the decline of the property from neglect, and has mentioned it will price about $36.6-million to correctly renovate the constructing.

Mr. Morneau, recalling his go to to Rideau Cottage in August, 2020, to debate his exit from cupboard with Mr. Trudeau, mentioned Canada deserved a showplace residence for its chief. “Rideau Cottage wasn’t it,” he writes, describing the home as missing in “architectural attraction or grace.”

He left cupboard within the fallout over private ties to WE Charity, which secured a contract through the pandemic to distribute lots of of hundreds of thousands of {dollars} to college students. He repaid $40,000 to cowl bills from journeys he and his household took with WE as soon as he mentioned he turned conscious of the prices.

Neither the federal authorities nor the capital fee has introduced a plan for both upgrading 24 Sussex Dr. or constructing a brand new prime ministerial residence, though the Rideau Cottage choice is formally seen as a short lived measure.

Claire Pokorchak, publicity supervisor for Mr. Morneau’s writer, ECW Press, in addition to a spokesperson for the previous finance minister, Sharan Kaur, mentioned Mr. Morneau had no additional touch upon the prime minister’s residence past the remarks within the ebook.

Requested about Mr. Morneau’s feedback, a spokesperson for the Prime Minister’s Workplace, Alison Murphy, additionally mentioned it had no touch upon the matter. Olivier Pilon, press secretary for Helena Jaczek, the Public Companies and Procurement Minister, mentioned there was no replace on the way to proceed.

A brand new ballot launched Monday discovered 50 per cent of Canadians surveyed oppose renovating 24 Sussex Dr. at an anticipated price of $36-million to $38-million, whereas 41 per cent consider a makeover is the most effective answer.

The analysis additionally discovered that 64 per cent of respondents consider the largest barrier to required renovations has been a worry of political fallout.

The survey by the Angus Reid Institute was carried out between Jan. 13 and 16 and sought the views of 1,602 Canadian adults who’re members of an Angus Reid Discussion board. The analysis has a margin of error of plus or minus two share factors, 19 instances out of 20.

Shachi Kurl, president of the Angus Reid Institute, mentioned Canadians perceive, as owners or individuals in rental companies, {that a} fundamental tenet of getting a house is sustaining it.

“There’s a sense that if one thing is crumbling, it in all probability behooves you to decide round its maintenance or its abandonment. You’ve acquired to do one thing by some means,” she mentioned.

Ms. Kurl mentioned she anticipated there’s in all probability a method to body the argument for motion on the residences in a way that will be acceptable to Canadians.

Though 69 per cent of these surveyed supported giving the prime minister housing at public expense, solely 39 per cent supported residences for the governor-general, 25 per cent backed housing for the opposition chief, and 19 per cent permitted of housing for the Speaker of the Home. All are at the moment offered residences.