The headline made me hope for a minute we were turning it into a museum, affordable housing, gifting it to a local housing co-op, or shelter program or something.

At least it’s a fundraiser. Good move in that regard, and very smart to make the donor list public.

For anyone scrolling by curious about the history of 24 Sussex:

The 34-room mansion was built on a cliff overlooking the Ottawa River in the mid-19th century by a lumber baron as a wedding gift for his third wife. The government expropriated the property in the 1940s to consolidate Crown ownership of the lands along the river, but then spent several years unsure what to do with it.

[…] The first prime minister to move in, Louis St. Laurent, did so reluctantly in 1951. Before then, Canadian leaders did not have any fixed address in Ottawa.

[…]

A rapid succession of prime ministers and opposition leaders in the late 1970s and early 1980s caused public outcry for repeatedly redecorating their official residences to suit their tastes using public funds. Mulroney, elected in 1984, tried to cool the controversy by establishing a council to advise on future changes to the houses (the NCC took on the responsibility in 1988).

But soon enough Mulroney was caught up in the so-called Gucci-gate scandal, when it was revealed in 1987 that the Progressive Conservative Party paid C$308,000 to refurbish 24 Sussex and Harrington Lake, the prime minister’s country home outside Ottawa.

[…]

It was labeled a classified heritage building in 1986, but some argue its historical value was lost when it was gutted in 1950.

In the meantime, ironically, 24 Sussex continues to cost taxpayers money. One news report from 2016 pegged the maintenance costs at C$180,000 over five months, including for electricity and snow removal. - 2023 politico