{"id":779678,"date":"2026-07-04T11:24:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-04T11:24:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/779678\/"},"modified":"2026-07-04T11:24:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T11:24:10","slug":"chretien-harper-to-take-key-roles-in-24-sussex-fundraising-campaign","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/779678\/","title":{"rendered":"Chr\u00e9tien, Harper to take key roles in 24 Sussex fundraising campaign"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Former prime ministers Jean Chr\u00e9tien and Stephen Harper were critical to moving the 24 Sussex Dr. project forward ahead of Prime Minister Mark Carney\u2019s announcement about the renovation, the Rideau Hall Foundation says.Justin Tang\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

Former prime ministers Jean Chr\u00e9tien and Stephen Harper, a Liberal and Conservative, will unite to help raise money to renovate 24 Sussex Drive, says the foundation working to solicit donations for the official residence of Canada\u2019s prime ministers.<\/p>\n

The Rideau Hall Foundation says the pair were critical to moving the project forward ahead of Prime Minister Mark Carney\u2019s announcement last week<\/a> about the renovation. He said the house would be revived as a home for future prime ministers after sitting idle since 2015 because of its physical decline.<\/p>\n

\u201cTheir first-hand experience as long-time residents of 24 Sussex Drive will be valuable in all aspects of the project, including the fundraising,\u201d the foundation said in a statement, responding to a question about the role of the two former prime ministers in the project. <\/p>\n

Although the foundation has been raising funds since Mr. Carney launched the effort last Friday, it said Mr. Chr\u00e9tien and Mr. Harper will be involved in a new phase of the fundraising.<\/p>\n

\u201cDetails of their involvement in the fundraising campaign will be shared as part of our formal campaign launch in the early fall,\u201d said Jill Clark, the foundation\u2019s senior manager of communications and media relations.<\/p>\n

Opinion: Restoring 24 Sussex is worthy, but Ottawa shouldn\u2019t be competing for charity dollars to do it<\/a><\/p>\n

Representatives of Mr. Harper and Mr. Chr\u00e9tien did not respond to requests for comment on the foundation statement.<\/p>\n

Mr. Harper, the last of nine prime ministers to live at 24 Sussex Drive since it opened to Canada\u2019s leaders in 1951, previously said he was pleased that the house was being saved as a residence for Canadian prime ministers.<\/p>\n

However, the current leadership of the federal Conservative Party has had reservations about the project. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre<\/a> has said 24 Sussex Drive should not be a priority, given issues of homelessness and the challenges young people face in securing housing in Canada.<\/p>\n

The Rideau Hall Foundation is a charitable organization which exists to amplify the work of the Office of the Governor-General.<\/p>\n

Individuals and other charitable organizations can make donations. Corporate and anonymous donations are banned. Donors must also attest to being Canadian citizens or permanent residents.<\/p>\n

The foundation is aiming to raise $50-million for the project. Mr. Carney has said the government will cover security costs.<\/p>\n

As of Tuesday, the fundraising effort had raised $300,000 in donations and pledges from 1,198 Canadians after Mr. Carney\u2019s announcement, according to the foundation. The average online donation was $209. <\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada will be running a competition for proponents to submit a design for the renovation. Whoever wins the bid will also handle the work of reconstruction.<\/p>\n

In recent years, Mr. Chr\u00e9tien and Mr. Harper had agreed to raise funds for the renovation, but the project did not proceed under the government of former prime minister Justin Trudeau.<\/p>\n

Mr. Chr\u00e9tien resided at 24 Sussex Drive from 1993 to 2003. During that period, Mr. Chr\u00e9tien and his wife, Aline, found themselves in one of the most notorious incidents in the house\u2019s history as a prime ministerial residence.<\/p>\n

Opinion: Finally, someone makes a decision about 24 Sussex<\/a><\/p>\n

One night in November, 1995, Ms. Chr\u00e9tien woke up and spotted a knife-wielding intruder in the residence, just outside the couple\u2019s bedroom. She closed and locked the door, and called police while Mr. Chr\u00e9tien grabbed a sculpture to defend them. RCMP arrested the intruder, but the incident raised questions about the security of the prime ministers\u2019 residence.<\/p>\n

Mr. Trudeau, who led the Liberals to power in 2015, was unable to move into the residence because of its physical decline. Instead, when he was prime minister, he lived in Rideau Cottage on the grounds of Rideau Hall, where the governor-general lives and works. <\/p>\n

Mr. Carney now also lives at Rideau Cottage, and has said he will not live at the renovated 24 Sussex Drive.<\/p>\n

The National Capital Commission, which manages official residences in the Ottawa area, announced in 2022 that it would clear out the house entirely, pending a decision from the federal government on what to do about the property.<\/p>\n

The following year, media obtained documents in which commission staff testified to the residence\u2019s decrepit state. An attempt to control a rodent infestation had left such a large volume of carcasses and excrement in the walls, basement and attic that officials feared for the home\u2019s air quality.<\/p>\n

The commission eventually removed asbestos and other hazardous materials, as well as obsolete heating, mechanical and electrical systems. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Former prime ministers Jean Chr\u00e9tien and Stephen Harper were critical to moving the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":779679,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[49,48,44,714],"class_list":["post-779678","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-canada","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-news","tag-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/779678","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=779678"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/779678\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/779679"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=779678"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=779678"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=779678"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}