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Preston Manning gets a mansion after all

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Published: June 26, 1997

So Preston Manning is going to move into Stornoway, the official residence which Canadians provide for their leader of the opposition. Good for him.

Stornoway was built in 1914. In the 1950s, it was purchased by a group wanting to provide a home for the Conservative opposition leader. In the ’70s it was sold to the government for $1. It has been home to every opposition leader since George Drew in the 1950s, with the exception of the Bloc leaders, Lucien Bouchard and Michel Gauthier.

Selling it, as Manning has suggested in the past, should not be considered since it is a heritage building and one of just six official residences which the government maintains, surely a modest number for a country of our size and influence.

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Manning’s argument that he was not to the manor born and has never lived in a 34-room mansion was specious at best.

With the possible exception of Pierre Trudeau, wealthy in his own right, most of Canada’s politicians haven’t lived in houses that size with a staff of four to run the operation.

To buy another, smaller house, as Manning wanted, would be an additional cost to the public purse, surely something which neither taxpayers nor Manning himself could countenance.

The fact is that Mr. Manning is now the Leader of Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition.

He has gone from being a prairie populist and the leader of a rump party to being the third most influential person in the Canadian government, after the governor general and the prime minister.

With the position goes responsibility.

One of those responsibilities is to maintain in the eyes of Canadians and the world certain standards.

Ottawa, like other countries, operates on a private as well as a public level.

One of the roles of an official residence is to provide a private venue where politicians, diplomats and mandarins can mix and talk out of the glare of the public eye.

It is also reality that there is a certain amount of symbolism that goes with the position of official opposition leader.

One of the symbols is the chauffeured limousine, which Mr. Manning accepted. The other is the house in Rockcliffe Park which he has finally agreed to move into.

Both Mr. Manning and the Reform Party must accept that they are now in the big leagues.

It’s no longer Preston from Calgary or Mr. Manning Goes to Ottawa. It’s Mr. Manning Represents Canada.

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