Plan for fate of crumbling 24 Sussex expected by fall, minister tells MPs
Public Services and Procurement Minister Helena Jaczek says the Liberal government expects to have a plan for the future of 24 Sussex Drive by the fall.
Jaczek appeared today before a House committee on government operations and was pressed by Opposition MPs on when her government intends to make a decision about the official residence of the prime minister.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his family have not taken up residence in the mansion, which was closed to staff last fall due to its worsening condition, including a rodent infestation.
The National Capital Commission, controller of the property, says contractors recently began removing aged electrical systems and asbestos, which is necessary regardless of any decision on the building's future.
A spokeswoman says the current work is expected to take one year and cost $4.3 million.
Jaczek says the government expects the commission to provide a detailed list of options for the property's future, and the minister told MPs she anticipates having a plan by the fall.
IN DEPTH

ANALYSIS What do the policies Poilievre's party passed say about the Conservatives' future?
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre spent the summer speaking about housing affordability, a core focus that attendees at the party's Quebec City convention were quick to praise him for. But by the end of the weekend, delegates opted to instead pass policies on contentious social issues. What does that say about the Conservatives' future?
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Opinion

OPINION Don Martin: Canada is back on the world stage. And mostly alone.
Justin Trudeau got one promise right: Canada is back on the world stage. Sadly, it’s for all the wrong reasons, writes Don Martin in an exclusive opinion column for CTVNews.ca.
opinion Don Martin: Nice try, Prime Minister Trudeau. But it's too little, too late
Nice try, prime minister. But likely too little, too late and too transparently desperate to serve as a realistic government-salvage strategy, writes Don Martin in an exclusive opinion column for CTVNews.ca.
opinion Don Martin: Poilievre doesn't feel your pain, but he's sure good at communicating it
Probably no other leader, including Justin Trudeau, has landed in a party leadership with less real-world work experience than Pierre Poilievre, says Don Martin in a column for CTVNews.ca. But Poilievre's an able communicator, and this weekend's Conservative convention is a golden opportunity for him to sell himself as PM-in-waiting.
opinion Don Martin: Who will step up to have 'The Talk' with Trudeau?
Ego and vanity are a potent combination in leadership politics, and in his exclusive column for CTVNews.ca, Don Martin writes this condition is infecting Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's mindset as he seems deadly serious about seeking re-election in 2025.
opinion Don Martin: I've never seen anything quite like the control-everything regime of Trudeau's government
Voters in four byelections delivered status quo results on Monday that show, if you squint hard enough, that the severely tainted Liberal brand has staying power while the Conservatives aren’t resurging enough to threaten as a majority-government-in-waiting, writes Don Martin in an exclusive column for CTVNews.ca.
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