The National Capital Commission has a dilemma that every owner of a decrepit old car will understand: Should it spend $34.5 million to renovate the crumbling official residence at 24 Sussex Drive or spend $38.5 million and build a new one? The costs of the main residence do not include repairs urgently needed at the pool building ($5.3 million) and caretaker’s house ($2 million). The building is Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s childhood home but he now lives down the street at Rideau Cottage. “The NCC’s role is not to force anybody to move into it, particularly the Prime Minister, but to maintain it,” Jeanes said in an interview. When a private heritage building is vacant and collapsing, then a government may step in to expropriate and preserve it, he noted.

Source: National Post November 22, 2018 03:11 UTC