24 Sussex closure: Ottawa was warned of risks in delaying PM home decision | 24CA News
Almost a 12 months earlier than the closure of 24 Sussex Drive because of disrepair and an infestation of rodents, the chairman of the National Capital Commission’s board of administrators warned that additional delaying a cupboard choice on the destiny of the residence would put the entire construction in danger.
The mansion, which sits on a first-rate riverfront property a number of kilometres from Parliament Hill, served as the house for Canada’s prime ministers between 1950 and 2015.
Concerns concerning the deteriorating state of the constructing prompted Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his household transfer into a unique official residence after he was elected. For almost eight years, they’ve lived at Rideau Cottage, which is on the grounds of close by Rideau Hall.
Since then, the federal Liberal cupboard has frequently deferred making a call about whether or not to revive the heritage property.
It’s seen as a little bit of a political quagmire. In 2018, Trudeau remarked that no prime minister needed to spend taxpayer {dollars} on 24 Sussex.
In January 2022, the NCC board’s chairman Marc Seaman wrote to Filomena Tassi, the then-public companies and procurement minister, “expressing concern around the delay of a cabinet decision beyond December 2021 on the future of 24 Sussex Drive.”
The issues are detailed in a briefing observe from the Privy Council Office, the executive arm of the federal cupboard. It was obtained by The Canadian Press underneath access-to-information legal guidelines.
In the letter itself _ sections of which have been redacted _ Seaman mentioned he needs to convey “the board’s strong view that continued deferment ? carries real risks to both the physical integrity of the building itself and our ability to execute our fiduciary responsibility as stewards of this most important classified heritage building on behalf of all Canadians.”
The property had been used for outside receptions within the years since 2015, and workers had been nonetheless utilizing some rooms.
But in July, Seaman knowledgeable the federal government of the fee’s plans to shut the residence fully, saying the work that wanted to occur “by no means pre-empts any future decisions by the federal government regarding the use and purpose of the residence.”
Last fall, a rodent infestation, worries {that electrical} points may begin a fireplace and excellent water injury, amongst different points, led the fee to find out that 24 Sussex now posed a well being and security threat to the remaining workers who labored there. The constructing was formally shuttered to take away aged techniques and asbestos.
It will stay closed for a minimum of the following 12 months, after contractors moved in final week to start that work, based on fee spokeswoman Valerie Dufour.
The Canadian prime ministers’ residence, 24 Sussex, is seen on the banks of the Ottawa River in Ottawa on Monday, Oct. 26, 2015.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
Officials blame the deterioration of the 34-room mansion on consecutive governments’ unwillingness to spend cash on repairing and performing correct maintenance of the home, which was first inbuilt 1868.
A spokesman for Public Services and Procurement Minister Helena Jaczek, who changed Tassi within the function final August, mentioned Thursday it continues to work with the fee “to develop a plan for the future of 24 Sussex Drive.”
The fee has mentioned the federal authorities is reviewing choices for the property, which sits on greater than two hectares and features a 12,000-square foot most important home with 34 rooms, a pool home and two safety guard kiosks.
A draft report titled “Revitalizing the Official Residence of the Prime Minister of Canada” _ additionally launched to The Canadian Press via entry legal guidelines _ reveals that the fee provided the federal government a collection of particular choices, together with a really useful strategy and a listing of execs and cons.
However, all the main points about these choices are redacted.
The paperwork additionally establish points with the house past its crumbling bodily state. The structure and safety measures don’t cross muster to function a contemporary prime minister’s residence, which is supposed to host worldwide friends and numerous occasions, they counsel.
“It is limited in its ability to support official functions and day-to-day activities, with poor accessibility, insufficient-sized rooms and lack of support spaces,” comparable to barrier-free washrooms, reads one doc.
It goes on to say that whereas roughly 20 per cent of the house is designed for the prime minister and household to dwell in, privateness is a matter.
“There is no clear separation between the private and official spaces,” it says.
A 2021 report from the fee on the state of its property mentioned there was $36 million value of deferred upkeep to finish at 24 Sussex, not together with safety or different infrastructure upgrades.
© 2023 The Canadian Press
