Tod MaffinCanadian Commentator, From Far and Wide · Emotional Support Canadian

24 Sussex Drive is what happens when a country is too polite to spend money on itself

26 Jun 2026 · 3 min

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2:30

The video narrates the rise and current decay of 24 Sussex Drive, the official residence of Canada’s prime minister. Built in 1867 as a Gothic Revival mansion, it became the prime ministerial home in 1951 with Louis St‑Laurent and was occupied by successive leaders until 2015, when Justin Trudeau moved to Rideau Cottage, citing severe disrepair (asbestos, mold, rodents, dead wiring). The interior had to be gutted two years prior to allow safe entry for workers. The narrator explains that the primary reason for neglect is political optics: costly renovations (tens of millions to over $100 million) would look bad while Canadians face housing affordability issues, so each prime minister passes the problem to the next. Former leaders Jean Chrétien and Stephen Harper even offered private fundraising, but no action materialized. A contrast is drawn with the U.S. White House, which has undergone extensive renovations and is currently adding a massive ballroom. The video notes that incoming Prime Minister (fictional) Carney does not plan to live there but may oversee repairs for his successor, while the opposition leader’s residence, Stornoway, remains taxpayer‑funded. The segment ends with a plug for a Prince Edward Island cookbook featuring regional recipes.

Chapters

While the American president demolishes part of his taxpayer-funded residence to build a $300 million ballroom, in Canada, the residence of our leader has been sitting empty for a decade because it is literally falling apart. This is the story of 24 Sussex Drive, a Gothic Revival mansion in Ottawa built in 1867 by a lumber baron, eventually taken over by the federal government and turned into the official residence of Canada's Prime Minister. In 1951, Louis St-Laurent moved in, and almost every prime minister after him lived there too, right up until 2015. That is when Justin Trudeau moved into Rideau Cottage instead, a small house on the grounds of the Governor General's Mansion. Trudeau said the official residence was in such a state of disrepair that it wasn't habitable. He wasn't wrong. Asbestos, mold, rodents, dead electrical systems. Two years ago, they had to gut the interior just to make it safe for workers to enter. So why did this happen? Two words: bad optics. Every Prime Minister since Trudeau knew the math. Renovations could cost anywhere from tens of millions to over $100 million, and fixing up your own residence while Canadians are struggling with rent? None of them wanted that headline. So each one just passed the file to the next guy. Former Prime Ministers Jean Chrétien and Stephen Harper, on opposite ends of the political spectrum, even offered to lead a private fundraising campaign to fix the place. But compare this to the Americans. Since 1800s, the White House has been redecorated, structurally rebuilt, given a third floor, an East Wing, a West Wing, a press briefing room, and is currently getting a 90,000 square foot ballroom that is larger than the entire White House itself. And tomorrow, Friday, things might change. Prime Minister Carney has said he doesn't expect to ever live there himself, but maybe they're fixing it for whoever's next. There will of course be the gnashing of teeth among the opposition. That's their job, of course. It should be noted that the leader of the opposition gets his own place, a taxpayer-funded house called Stornoway. One that the current leader didn't move out of when he lost his seat in the last election. So, you know, grain of potash. Anyway, that's us. We built a great country and then got too embarrassed to maintain the kitchen. The Canadian product for this video is this cookbook. Hundreds of people from Prince Edward Island all chipping in their family's best secret recipes, like a pho recipe from the owner of an Asian market in Charlottetown, to an Acadian meat pie that will make the French weep. You can buy it at peicooks.com.