With 24 Sussex Drive still largely uninhabitable, Prime Minister Mark Carney will soon take up official residence at Rideau Cottage, according to the Privy Council Office.
The official residence of the PM has been closed to deal with asbestos, lead and rodents
With 24 Sussex Drive sitting desolate and in need of millions of dollars in renovations, the government says Prime Minister Mark Carney will soon take up official residence at Rideau Cottage.
The crumbling Ottawa home on Sussex Drive had long been the official residence for Canada’s prime ministers, but has sat empty since 2015 as workers dealt with mould, asbestos, lead and rodents. With successive leaders unwilling to be seen spending money on the 19th-century building, it’s fallen into various states of ruin and turned into a political quagmire.
In an email to CBC, the Privy Council Office (PCO) said Carney, who already lived in the tony Ottawa neighbourhood of Rockcliffe not far from 24 Sussex, had been temporarily staying at an official guest residence for security reasons.
He was only sworn in as prime minister a few days before triggering a federal election, which kept Carney and his wife Diana Fox Carney on the road for weeks.
“In line with their security recommendations, he will soon be residing in Rideau Cottage,” said PCO spokesperson Pierre-Alain Bujold.