In the News
The condo fit for Shawinigan's 'little guy'
Prime Ministers Pierre Trudeau and Brian Mulroney chose million-dollar mansions in Montreal as their retirement homes. But Jean Chrétien doesn't want to leave his Sussex Drive neighbourhood in Ottawa. For his retirement residence, he has opted for a $720,000 condominium unit a few blocks down the street from his prime ministerial home.
The newly built ground-floor unit is on Dufferin Terrace, a quiet road that faces the Governor-General's estate. The biscuit-brown, 2,500-square-foot brick condo has two bedrooms, a den and three bathrooms and patios in back and front.
One of the residents of the same condo grouping in the city's New Edinburgh area said the block was "a boring place, full of accountants." But Mr. Chrétien is "an unassuming neighbourhood kind of guy," the resident said. "He might like it. It's kind of like your typical London flat."
The Prime Minister is expected to move in to his new residence in January. Officials close to Mr. Chrétien say it is likely he will leave office at the end of the year instead of February of 2004, as was planned. The Liberals select their new leader and new prime minister in mid-November.
Another former prime minister, Joe Clark, lives just up the road from the new Chrétien residence in a less pricey condominium. Mr. Chrétien has cool relations with him, but is on worse terms with his likely successor and new neighbour, Paul Martin.
That Mr. Chrétien decided to live so close to the official prime ministerial residence has come as a surprise. Local media had reported that he would take an apartment in a new complex being built next to the Chateau Laurier hotel downtown.
From his current residence at 24 Sussex Dr., he can look straight down MacKay Street, which corners onto Dufferin Terrace. His new home is about a 12-minute walk away. Mr. Chrétien's purchase of the unit was revealed to residents of the 15-unit complex at a recent meeting. Reaction was mixed, one of the residents said. Residents were not sure they wanted the attention that goes with having a former PM on the block.
Mr. Chrétien's unit sits atop a garage that has an elevator to take him to his flat. Another resident of the block said he was shocked Mr. Chrétien had chosen such a quiet place, where people hang out laundry on their back patios.
Thorne Hudyma, a spokeswoman for the Prime Minister, said Mr. Chrétien expects to spend seven months of the year at the new residence and the rest at his cottage on Lac des Piles near his home town of Shawinigan. She declined to say how the new property is being financed, saying that this was the Prime Minister's personal business.
Mr. Chrétien will be busy in retirement. He will work as a consultant at an Ottawa law firm, do some public speaking for a big fee, write his memoirs and do some work for the United Nations. In the summers, he will be frequently on the golf links. Several members of his club, the Royal Ottawa, live in the condo block.
Early in the year, Mr. Chrétien visited Brian Tobin, the former cabinet minister who lives in a condominium in Ottawa's Glebe area, and asked about the comfort level. Mr. Tobin told him it would suit him well.
The Prime Minister could afford a million-dollar-plus home and work in a Montreal law firm like Mr. Mulroney and, formerly, Mr. Trudeau. But he has always preferred Ottawa over Quebec where, through the years, he has been less popular.
His chief of staff, Eddie Goldenberg, will work out the details of the transition of power with Martin confidant Michael Robinson if, as expected, Mr. Martin is crowned leader in November.
Officially, Mr. Chrétien has always said he will go in February, 2004. However, yesterday, he said he will leave early in the new year, and did not mention the February date. But officials say he has concluded that, since he has no pressing government business early in the year, he can cede the reins of office earlier. The PM's team says it is satisfied that it has accomplished most of the agenda Mr. Chrétien set in August of 2002 when, pushed by the Martin forces, he announced his plan to step down eventually.
The Prime Minister is also aware, officials confided, that given the inevitability of Mr. Martin taking over it would look churlish for him to stay on the extra months and could tarnish his leave-taking.
