Security concerns might finally solve the 24 Sussex conundrum

To understand why successive governments allowed 24 Sussex to fall into a miserable state of disrepair — and why Justin Trudeau has spent nearly eight years avoiding a decision on whether to rebuild or replace what used to be the prime minister's official residence — one need only consider what Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre had to say about the matter Tuesday.

"The prime minister has had one mansion where his food is cooked, another mansion where he lives, a third mansion on a lake — and that wasn't enough for him, so he built a second lakefront mansion with our money at Harrington Lake," Poilievre said when asked about Radio-Canada's latest reporting on the fate of 24 Sussex. "He's been so focused on building mansions for himself that he's forgotten to get homes built for hard-working Canadians."

There's a lot to unpack in those comments.

The first "mansion" Poilievre refers to is 24 Sussex. Though the house itself is more or less uninhabitable, staff have been using 24 Sussex's kitchen to prepare meals for the prime minister and his family — just as staff have been doing for every prime minister since 1951.

The second mansion is Rideau Cottage, a building on the grounds of Rideau Hall that Trudeau and his family have been living in because of 24 Sussex's dire state (it was reported earlier this year that the walls of 24 Sussex are full of rodent carcasses).

The third mansion is at Harrington Lake outside Ottawa, a residence that has been used by prime ministers since 1959.

Poilievre's comment about a "second lakefront mansion" seems to refer to an old guest house on the property at Harrington Lake that the National Capital Commission, a federal Crown corporation, decided to rebuild in 2018. It was reported in 2020 that the Trudeau family was using the reconstructed building while repairs were being made to the main residence at Harrington Lake.

Perhaps Poilievre would have thrown himself in front of the NCC's contractors to keep that guest house from being rebuilt. But if the Conservative leader became prime minister tomorrow, he would inherit all of the same "mansions."

For the time being, he lives in his own "mansion" — Stornoway, the official residence reserved for the leader of the Official Opposition.

Poilievre still managed to put his finger on what has discouraged successive prime ministers from putting any real effort or resources toward maintaining, let alone improving, the places they officially call home. For Trudeau — whose privileged upbringing has always been a potential point of vulnerability — the politics of 24 Sussex are particularly fraught.

Poilievre's comments also show the timing of the current discussion about repairing or replacing the official residence could not be worse — with widespread anxiety about the cost of housing in Canada and opposition parties blaming the Trudeau government for the problem. If ever there was a time to do something about 24 Sussex, this surely isn't it.

Can security concerns cut through the politics?

But Tuesday's report by Radio-Canada's Daniel Leblanc raises an issue that might go beyond partisanship: the security and safety of the prime minister and his or her family.

The prime minister's security is not an abstract source of concern. A heavily armed man rammed through the gates of Rideau Hall in 2020. That same year, it was reported that the RCMP had opened 130 files on threats made against Trudeau and his ministers in the previous six months, up from 100 files opened in the first six months of 2019.

If 24 Sussex or Rideau Cottage are insufficiently secure — as Leblanc's sources suggest — the arguments in favour of building a new house may become much more straightforward.

There would still be some haggling, of course. Poilievre suggested on Tuesday that he didn't think a new residence would need space to host official receptions. He said the residence should be a "very basic, secure place where a prime minister can live safely."

How "very basic" would we like to get? Should the prime minister get hardwood floors or will laminate suffice? Would marble countertops be too elitist? What about an ensuite bathroom? Or a walk-in closet?

These are obviously very important questions deserving a long national conversation.

But an emphasis on security might be the thread that finally pulls the question of the prime minister's residence out of this political morass.

Still, Trudeau might not want to sign off on a plan for a new house unless or until his government has much more to say for itself on the question of making housing more affordable for everyone who's not the prime minister.