The crumbling official residence megamix
Fix 24 Sussex before I write about failing to fix 24 Sussex again
Friends have been writing on social networks that if 24 Sussex is a rat-infested hellpot, it’s because the media are making it impossible to make rational decisions. I feel like I haven’t been keeping my end of that bargain up. So here’s your weekend big read on crumbling official residences.
I’ll start with my opinions.
It’s reasonable for Canada to have official residences for its head of government, its head of state, and, I’d argue, the big diplomatic missions. Those residences should be impressive. That will always cost a lot of money. The occupants of those residences will live in greater luxury than you or I do, and we’ll pay for it.
Delaying necessary maintenance multiplies later costs. This becomes more obvious as time passes. There is robust evidence that a long succession of prime ministers ran 24 Sussex Drive into the ground, but whenever the place does get fixed or replaced, we should start by blaming Stephen Harper and Justin Trudeau for prolonging the indecision and multiplying the sticker shock.
Inability to make coherent decisions about this sort of thing is far from being a problem only in Canada. It is far from being only a neurosis of the current Prime Minister. Governments in many places are often reluctant to be seen spending on themselves first. But if we agree with my first two points — that governments need official residences and that delaying their maintenance is a false economy — then sometimes they’re going to have to put some money down.
Blaming ThE mEdiA is childish. Journalists complain about everything. You need to be able to make decisions anyway.
The state of Canada’s official residences will never appear on a list of Canada’s top 50 problems. But it’s just so fun to write about, so off we go.
I will now show my work. Eighty-three percent of today’s post lies below this paywall, and some of it is snarky.