I will ask my first question. I won’t receive an answer, but at least the question will be on the record.

Leader, it has been widely reported that the official residence of Canada’s Prime Minister at 24 Sussex Drive is now formally closed, in part due to rodent infestation. In February, an answer provided to one of my written questions on the Senate Order Paper showed that the Trudeau government spent over $800,000 of taxpayers’ money trying to come up with a plan regarding what to do with 24 Sussex Drive.

The Trudeau government has had eight years and has spent over $800,000, and they still don’t have a plan. I can’t think of a more fitting symbol for the entire Trudeau government than this: Even with decaying rat carcasses in the walls, and even after spending more than the average family home costs in Canada, they still don’t know what to do.

How many more tax dollars will be spent before the Trudeau government comes forward with a plan?

It is very regrettable, and I hope all Canadians would share the sentiment that 24 Sussex Drive has been allowed to run into such a state of disrepair that it is no longer fit for human habitation. It is unfortunate, but perhaps part of the political culture, at least in the other place, if indeed not in our country, that the previous prime ministers of both parties have been unwilling — both parties, Senator Plett, as Hansard will reveal. It is regrettable that previous governments and previous prime ministers who were aware of the deteriorating condition chose not to make investments in the ongoing maintenance of 24 Sussex for the benefit of future prime ministers. It is easy to punt the ball, because Canadians are mindful of taxpayers’ money being spent.

The Prime Minister has never lived at 24 Sussex. By the time he was elected, it was clearly in such a state, and now, some years later, we find it completely uninhabitable.