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“The Prime Minister and his family find 24 Sussex adequate to their needs and see no need for a substantial renovation program at this time,” Sara MacIntyre, Mr. Harper’s press secretary, said in an email.

In 2008, the Auditor General issued a report that said “extensive rehabilitation” of certain 21st-century amenities had become an “urgent matter.” Some aspects of the home were deemed to be in critical condition, a designation defined as posing an immediate threat to personal safety, heritage preservation, or the environment.

Mr. Harper’s office at the time said the prime minister would not vacate the property between then and the next election. After the October 2008 race, then-Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff offered Mr. Harper the use of Stornoway, the official residence of the leader of the Official Opposition. Another election has since come and gone.

“It’s optics, as far as I can tell,” said Ned Franks, a retired professor of political studies at Queen’s University. “In this climate, he wants to be seen as economizing, and it’s a pretty bad example of economizing to spend umpteen million dollars on your own home. I sympathize with that, but the problem is that it’s not his home — it’s the nation’s.”

Neither the Prime Minister’s Office nor the commission would confirm whether they have recently discussed the renovations — Ms. MacIntyre deferred the question to the Crown corporation, while Ms. Keyes referred the National Post to the “occupant’s office.”