At a time when Canada faces a nation wide housing crisis, homelessness remains an unmet challenge that no level of government can address alone, and Canadians are losing their homes to fire, floods and tornadoes, 聽a discussion about where our Prime Minister should live, may seem unwarranted. Yet, confront the question we must, in part because 24 Sussex is, for better or worse, part of our national identity, and our shared history, 聽even when that history entails occupying and building on unceded territory.
Our event took place at 杏吧原创鈥檚 Dominion Chalmers Centre. It was moderated by聽 Andrew Cohen, a recently retired Professor in the School of Journalism at 杏吧原创 University and columnist for the Globe and Mail and the Ottawa Citizen. He is a graduate of the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs. In a career of 45 years, Andrew has worked in Ottawa, Toronto, Washington, London and Berlin. He is the founding President of Historica Canada.
The panel considered a聽 range of questions and in the process stimulated debate and discussion. We were 聽fortunate to have secured the foremost leading experts on the subject who shared with us their views from legal, architectural, conservation and governance聽 perspectives. The panel included:聽The Honourable Sheila Copps, former Cabinet Minister;聽Marc Denhez, President of Historic Ottawa Development Inc.;聽Mark Thompson Brandt, TRACE Architectures Inc.; and聽Patricia Kell, Executive Director, National Trust for Canada.
The event was a great聽 success. Over 300 people attended the event in person and virtually. The discussion struck聽 the right balance聽 between informed debate, public consultation and聽 innovative thinking. Our panelists were excellent without exception. They聽 challenged the prevailing wisdom and debunked some core 24 Sussex “myths.”