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The attack lines are spooled and ready to go. They almost write themselves.

“Oh, they’re finally fixing up 24 Sussex Drive, are they? But of course they are. God forbid the Dauphin should have to suffer living conditions that were somehow OK for the Mulroneys, Chretiens, Martins and Harpers. Oh no, no no … only the best for the Trudeaus, by all means, spare no expense …”

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And there you’ll have it: The perfect emblem of a profligate new regime, taxing and spending with abandon, the incoming PM feathering his nest after all that high-sounding guff about the middle class.

Except, there’s this: Repairing the decrepit, drafty old barn, which is what this once-grand 34-room mansion on the banks of the Ottawa River has become, is right and necessary. It’s either that or the wrecking ball; yet its demolition would be a disgrace. For repairs to go ahead without fuss, and without the customary idiotic political ping-pong, would be a small, heartening signal of a new tone in Ottawa.