Skip to Content News Archives Economy Energy Oil & Gas Renewables Electric Vehicles Mining Commodities Agriculture Real Estate Mortgages Mortgage Rates Finance Banking Insurance Fintech Cryptocurrency Work Wealth Smart Money Wealth Management Investor Personal Finance Family Finance Retirement Taxes High Net Worth FP Comment Executive Women Puzzmo Newsletters Financial Times Business Essentials More Innovation Information Technology FP500 Podcasts Small Business Lives Told Tails Told Shopping Financial Post Store Obituaries Place a Notice Advertising Advertising With Us Advertising Solutions Postmedia Ad Manager Sponsorship Requests Classifieds Place a Classifieds ad Working Profile Settings My Subscriptions Saved Articles My Offers Newsletters Customer Service FAQ News Economy Energy Mining Real Estate Finance Work Wealth Investor FP Comment Executive Women Puzzmo Newsletters Financial Times Business Essentials HomeFP CommentWilliam Watson: Let’s GoFundIt: Toonies for two-four (Sussex Drive) If Ottawa can't get a prime minister into 24 Sussex Drive by the end of this decade, it should give up its grandiose plans for the economy You can save this article by registering for free here. Or sign-in if you have an account.24 Sussex Drive in Ottawa. Photo by TONY CALDWELL/PostmediaOn his recent retirement show, 86-year-old Melvyn Bragg, host of BBC’s long-running podcast, In Our Time, used a nice phrase — “epidemic of incompetence” — that characterizes the way many of us feel about modern times. The New York Times’ Ross Douthat wrote last week about how “The crisis of the West isn’t about who governs, but that no one can.” Britain, channelling postwar Italy, seems about to dump its sixth prime minister in 10 years, which is even more prime ministers than the Edmonton Oilers have dumped coaches over the same period. Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.Exclusive articles from Barbara Shecter, Joe O'Connor, Gabriel Friedman, and others.Daily content from Financial Times, the world's leading global business publication.Unlimited online access to read articles from Financial Post, National Post and 15 news sites across Canada with one account.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword.Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.Exclusive articles from Barbara Shecter, Joe O'Connor, Gabriel Friedman and others.Daily content from Financial Times, the world's leading global business publication.Unlimited online access to read articles from Financial Post, National Post and 15 news sites across Canada with one account.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one account.Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.Enjoy additional articles per month.Get email updates from your favourite authors.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one accountShare your thoughts and join the conversation in the commentsEnjoy additional articles per monthGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountorOur own new federal government, now more than a year in office, promised to build things “at a pace not seen in generations.” The pace of its announcements is certainly impressive, but the pace of its building is actually pretty familiar: slow to nonexistent. Which is not entirely its fault: these days every announcement prompts a barrage of lawsuits. Get the latest headlines, breaking news and columns.By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.The next issue of Top Stories will soon be in your inbox.We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try againI’m not a big fan of government, an institution we have far too much of in the 21st century. But we do need government. And though we can get along with incompetent government — as Adam Smith said, there is a lot of ruin in a country, and Lord knows we’ve had our share — how much better it would be if we could have confidence in government’s competence. As hockey coaches will tell you, confidence is built one step at a time. To help re-build Canadian confidence, how about we commit ourselves, paraphrasing President Kennedy, “to achieving the goal, before this decade is out,” of having a prime minister sleep in 24 Sussex Drive without danger of being nibbled by rats or otherwise inconvenienced. The Americans got to the moon in just over eight years. In the three-plus remaining years of this decade, surely we can get one official residence renovated. When I was a kid, every school child knew there was the White House, 10 Downing Street, the Elysée Palace and 24 Sussex. Kids in other countries didn’t know 24 Sussex but Canadian kids certainly did. For practical but also symbolic reasons, we should be OK with giving the head of Canada’s government a place to live and meet people that’s close to work — and Google says 24 Sussex is a six-minute drive or half-hour’s walk from Parliament Hill. When I got to my late teens and beyond it struck me as wholly charming that our prime minister’s residence bore the same number as our country’s favourite denomination of its favourite beverage: the “two-four.” No doubt there’s lots wrong with 24 Sussex. It’s too close to a major street, the RCMP says. Its architecture is undistinguished, the architectural snobs say. (Abstract and inhuman would be so much better!) It’s not remotely what you’d do, say perfectionists, if you were starting from scratch — though that makes it a lot like the country, well short of perfect and not what you’d do if you were starting again from scratch. But it’s got a dramatic view from atop a cliff overlooking the Ottawa River. It’s, as mentioned, centrally located. It’s a pleasant enough limestone Victorian (and Happy Birthday, Your Majesty!). Its construction was commissioned in 1866, when Canada was still on the drawing-board, and completed in 1868, our first full year of existence as a country. Granted, it wasn’t until 1951 that a prime minister (Louis St. Laurent) lived there. For fear the area would be commercialized (how central-Canadian!) the federal government had expropriated it in 1943, around the time government began taking over everything. Before St. Laurent could move in, $500,000 of renovations ($6.8 million in today’s dollars) had to be completed. The early postwar years were a confident time for the country. We were getting our own Canadian-born governor-general. Our Supreme Court had just been given final say on court cases. And we had a fine new prime ministerial residence. But St. Laurent was a dozen prime ministers ago, more than enough, in a still-young country like ours, to constitute tradition. The main drawback to 24 Sussex is in fact that it is owned by government, in particular the National Capital Commission, so every decision about it must be subject to exhaustive study and any expenditure on it be top-dollar. (The NCC doesn’t pay contractors in cash.) As a country, we used to do things on-time and on-budget. Re-opening 24 Sussex could be a test of our new but quickly aging government’s ability to get things done. There are now more than 41 million Canadians. What would it be worth to each of us to have an official residence where our primary elected official can actually reside? I suspect at least a toonie. A one-time cost of two bucks from each of us would be $82 million. Even in Ottawa it should be possible to do a serviceable renovation for 82 million bucks. But that’s it: $82 million, no more. Maybe a GoFundMe page will be necessary. It would be a way of raising interest and support and, with limits on donations, preventing Trump-style corruption. Maybe we should commission one of the HGTV home-reno shows to track the project. If we need new laws saying Ottawa may proceed in spite of local regs or bylaws or the NCC, well, we’ve got a majority government now. Let’s get on with it. If the federal government can’t pass the very simple 24 Sussex test, it should renounce its more grandiose ambitions and give the economy over to the private sector. Join the Conversation This website uses cookies to personalize your content (including ads), and allows us to analyze our traffic. Read more about cookies here. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.