PM's Summer Residence

View of Lake(refer to map) from Residence's front lawn

Click Google Earth to see guest boathouse

Anyone who has ever visited Harrington Lake would probably say it's the most beautiful of all Gatineau Park lakes. The high escarpment along its southern shore (A) featuring the highest hill in the Region, the many inlets the largest of which is Edward's Lake (B) and several islands of which Rabby island (C) is the largest, the PM's guest cottage (D), short meandering streams connecting to Meech and Philippe, a mix of deciduous and coniferous trees and a profusion of wildlife including a well stocked lake of grey trout are all attractive features. No other part of the Park has the physiographical uniqueness and ecological diversity of Harrington Lake.

Dr Charles Camsell, Federal District Commissioner from 1947-57, describe the lake as "the most beautiful of the three, (Meech, Harrington and Philippe) about 3 miles long and very narrow. The highest point in the Park is at the eastern end of the lake."

From the Ottawa Journal of April 24, 1954, "Harrington Lake which the FDC purchased three years ago together with 4,300 acres of surrounding land, is the most beautiful section of the park. The FDC acquired it to conserve ... natural beauties for public enjoyment."

Towards a Private Reserve

By the time the Federal District Commission (FDC) purchased the land in 1951, Edwards and Herridge had developed a very attractive Lake Reserve with a tradition of entertaining Ottawa's elite. It would not be easy for the FDC to neglect this privacy or the influence of the people who had come to enjoy it. Similar Lake Reserves had existed in Quebec for many decades, but in the late 1960s many disappeared when the Province legislated that fishing clubs wishing to retain the privacy of a lake had to provide local employment, these added costs resulted in the disappearance of many Lake Reserves..

The initial purchase of land for the Gatineau Park began in 1938-39 when property between Old Chelsea and Ste Cecille de Masham that adjoined Philippe, Harrington and Meech - a total of 20,000 acres - gradually began to be acquired. According to the FDC annual reports in the 1940s, these purchases were for preserving the natural state as a Park for public use. By March 1941 another 14,553 acres had been purchased for $14,591.74, but generally little land was added during the war years.

The 1951 FDC annual report stated "the most important property in the Gatineau", 4,826.20 acres was purchased from Edwards and Herridge for $232,000. The report described the Harrington Lake property as being "comprised of largely forest and unspoiled shoreline ... . Some of the best potential ski hills in the Gatineau are located on this tract and it will be an opportunity over the next years to decentralize such activities from Kingsmere which is more congested."

Edwards continued to lease his former residence during the summers until his death in 1956. Afterwards, Herridge, who retained the use of his property until his death in 1961, encouraged his law partners and friends to lease the Edward's cottage to preserve the privacy of the lake while the FDC decided whether to implement his desire to use the lake as a summer residence for Canada's Prime Ministers.

Even though the FDC had purchased the land for public use, travel on the lake and surrounding land required FDC approval. Records suggest this might not have been easy for the ordinary citizen.

By 1953, there was considerable pressure building for the FDC to describe a plan for the lake and its immediate area. Discussion in the 1940s with Jacques Greber, a French town planning consultant, had resulted in a Joint Senate and House of Commons Committee recommending that tourists should be encouraged to visit the park by building a Lake Louise type destination facility. Another group wanted a major ski facility built on the hill behind the former Edward's cottage.

A dominant person in the discussion was one of the Commissioners, Dr Charles Camsell. In July, 1953 he wrote a proposed policy for his fellow executive committee members to consider. It became the basis for Harrington Lake management policy over the next decade, namely:

"Policy for Harrington Lake

Gatineau Park is a federal park embracing 80,000 acres, of which only 60% is under control of the FDC. The balance is privately owned and likely will be for a number of years. Normally when a National Park is created the Province extinguishes all private titles and then hands the land over to the Government of Canada. In the case of Philippe and Meech all or most of the development has been done privately.

Harrington is different as its shoreline and immediate environment are under the complete control of the FDC and except for the temporary life time occupancy by the former owner of the Herridge property, is unoccupied.

.The lake is the most beautiful of the three, about 3 miles long and very narrow. The highest point in the park is at the eastern end of the lake.

The unique feature of Harrington Lake is its complete control by the FDC and hence it lends itself to the application of a simple and well defined policy. Such a policy should be defined at once, so that the proposals made to the FDC will be considered in the light of the policy. Otherwise we are subject to an ad hoc procedure which is never satisfactory.

The policy suggested for Harrington is to block out an area embracing the whole of the lake and extending back from the shoreline a sufficient distance to allow for the preservation of scenic values and for proper administration of the lake and its environments. This would constitute the "heartland" of the Park, and in it no developments would be allowed except those that are under the complete control of the Commission and in conformity with its policy. The purpose of the area would be to provide a place close to Ottawa and Hull where visitors could enjoy peace and quite, obtain relief from the distractions of busy city life and relax and enjoy the atmosphere of natural surroundings.

In order to implement the policy the following are suggested:

1. no structures

2. forest conservation - protect from fire and vandalism

3. trails

4. shelters and fireplaces

5. fish conservation

6. no motor boats

7. the use of the areas should be designed for the enjoyment of all the people and not for any special group who might wish to exclude any who do not belong to them

The idea presented - namely setting aside an area inside a park for the enjoyment of peace, quiet and relaxation in primitive natural surroundings - has never been adopted in other parks in Canada. It has not been necessary because most are large enough so that these conditions can be found somewhere. Gatineau Park is a small park ... it needs to be protected against undesirable exploitation."

Another key person who influenced the future of Harrington Lake as a Private Reserve was FDC chairman;, Major General Howard Kennedy. With encouragement from various MPs and other influential people, the Chairman promoted the idea of a summer residence for Prime Ministers. According to Maureen McTeer, "Mr J. Ross Tolmie, QC, rented the Edwards place for a month and invited several friends to the lake to fish and relax. One of these friends was Mr Jack Pickersgill, then Secretary of State in the St Laurent cabinet. Mr Pickersgill suggested that the place would make an ideal Prime Ministerial retreat, but failed in his bid to gain Mr St Laurent's support for the idea".

The first public mention of the residence idea came on September 16, 1953 when two members of Parliament from the National Capital region, G.S. McIlraith and Jean Richards, were quoted in the Ottawa Citizen as supporting the idea to make Harrington Lake a summer residence for the Prime Minister. Official announcement of the plan was made on Grey Cup Saturday, November 30, 1957. For many, the announcement was probably lost in the Grey Cup excitement. The Ottawa Citizen and Journal ran pictures of the Edwards residence entitled, "Where PM's Will Spend Balmy Days? Spacious and rustic, this residence on Harrington Lake in the Gatineau Park area, acquired in 1951 by the FDC, has been offered as a summer home for Prime Ministers of Canada. PM Diefenbaker has not yet accepted the offer ...".

In the summer of 1958 John Diefenbaker began to make the occasional visit to Harrington, some referring to these trips as "John the Baptist going into the wilderness". According to Maureen McTeer, "... John Diefenbaker needed some convincing before he would accept Major General Kennedy's proposal.. Because Mr Diefenbaker was a avid fisherman, the best way to persuade him seemed to be by showing him what a good spot Harrington Lake was for trout fishing. And so Stanley Healey, the caretaker, was instructed to take Mr. Diefenbaker fishing and to make sure that he caught a trout."

By mid-summer some members of the House of Commons began to push him for a decision. One such occurrence came during the first reading of the National Capital Commission Act on August 11, when Mr Herridge (from Kootney West) stated that: "The present occupancy of the residence at Harrington Lake, ... is based on rather slim legal foundations. The Prime Minister, coming from the West, may have thought he was living in the pioneer days and that the old squatters' rights still exist ... or possibly the Federal District Commission may have permitted a sort of trial occupancy until the owners, through parliament, decided what the terms of occupancy would be".

The Prime Minister became annoyed and responded, "... There is no occupancy on the part of the Prime Minister of the place in question. Unoccupied as it is, I have spent a few week ends there. ... it has not been and will not be established as the Prime Minister's country residence as far as I am concerned."

Unlike the public discussion during the decision to establish a Prime Ministers residence at 24 Sussex, the Harrington Lake decision was done in secrecy. There was no act or Order in Council to look into the topic; it appears to have been carried out by the NCC, and especially its chairman, Howard Kennedy.

By May 1958, the NCC had completed its legal survey of the 12 acres at the southeast corner of the lake. Late in the summer, Parliament passed Bill C-64 which amended the Prime Ministers Residence Act to include the summer residence (appendix A).

Unfortunately, the decision to make Harrington the official Summer Residence was done before there was a Master Plan for the entire Gatineau Park, something that would trouble park managers in the future. Developing the Park to meet the general needs of the public and the Prime Minister was bound to lead to future land use conflicts.

The anomaly

Whether it was naivety or salesmanship, Chairman Kennedy didn't seem to believe the official residence idea would preclude access by the public. In a meeting of the Executive Committee on June 25, 1958, Kennedy said, "The FDC had decided, several years ago, to keep Harrington Lake in the natural state, and the policy adopted had been suggested by the late Dr Camsell ... Consideration will have to be given to policy regarding fishing in Harrington Lake, under licence, from the end opposite the Prime Minister's lodge as far as Edwards Lake, possibly on a charge basis for the use of the boats etc."..

Maureen McTeer in her research concludes the Chairman probably wanted to completely exclude the public, "...Major General Howard Kennedy, the Chairman of the Federal District Commission, convinced that the Park should remain as untouched and natural as possible. ...set his mind on devising a plan of how best to use the Harrington Lake property in a public way, but without the presence of the public. He endorsed the idea of using the property as a country retreat for the Prime Minister."

In 1961, after William Herridge's death, his property was unofficially added to the Prime Ministers residence, this extended the need for privacy over the northerly half of the lake. The NCC decided to make this the "guest cottage and in 1963 renovated the three buildings to their current use - Herridge's winter home was made into a public cross-country ski chalet, and the summer cottage and change house by the lake as a place for guests of the Prime Minister. It is believed the use of the former Herridge property has never been legally recognized by any amendment to the Official Residence Act.

In May 1965, the NCC took further steps to restrict the public from all of Harrington Lake. At a meeting of the Executive Committee, it was decided,"the area surrounding Mousseau (Harrington) and Edwards Lakes to a minimum depth of 200 ft, be closed to the public to avoid fishing. Also, to procure actual title of the land under Harrington from the province."

In a 1970, Gatineau Park Development Plan report the permanency of the PM's summer residence was still in question "... to assure the consistent, harmonious and efficient implementation of development policies for the nodes of the Camp Fortune to Philippe axis, it will be preferable to leave unchanged, for an undetermined period of time, the present policy concerning use of Lake Mousseau and its surroundings. Indeed, we consider it as essential for the overall balanced development of the Park, that a recreation axis be created ... We will also consider simultaneously the "space-time" factor which predicates the gradual implementation of the development policy. Full development of the nodes at Camp Fortune and Philippe is expected to occur in 15 years. Development will occur in keeping with increased recreation needs. Let Mousseau continue to be used as is, any changes will be based on the experience of attendance at the two poles."

Douglas Fullerton, NCC chair 1969-73, supported the principle that the public should have first choice of access to the Park, and that the PM's Residence would have to be moved elsewhere, inside or outside the park, if public use of the Park warranted.

The 1980 revised Gatineau Park Master Plan completely ignored this view of the intensive recreation axis between Camp Fortune and Lake Philippe. Harriington Lake was taken out of the active recreation zone and placed in a conservation area called the Eardly massif. Also, eliminated was the notion that the PM's residence might have to be relocated, in fact, the residence was not even mentioned as existing in the Park. Even specific Park reports on such topics as geomorphology, fishing and trails no longer mentioned the Harrington Lake area. From 1951 to 1970 it seemed to be implied the public would have some access to the lake, but this was completely removed during the '70s in a quiet surreptitious manner.

Currently, there is no evidence the Harrington Lake area will be developed in accordance with the type of objectives normally associated with Public Parks and seems destined to inhibit public enjoyment of the area. The Camsell concept of a "Park within a Park" contrary to the author's wishes, has been applied to exclude the public from the Harrington Lake area rather than making it a special ecological zone within the Park for everyone's enjoyment.

Comparisons with other countries

Rationalizing the presence of the PM's summer residence is often justified by citing comparisons with other countries, examples:

• Camp David, country residence of the President of the United States

• Chequers, country residence of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

• Harrington Lake, country residence of the Prime Minister of Canada

• Kultaranta, summer residence of the President of Finland

• The Mansion, summer residence of the President of the Philippines

• Harpsund, summer residence of the Prime Minister of Sweden

• Apostolic Palace of Castel Gandolfo which serves as a summer residence and vacation retreat for the pope,

There are also examples of summer residences being returned to the Public or not having them at all:

• François Hollande gives up de Gaulle's summer retreat

• ''Australian people like to see their prime ministers doing what they all do - just going down the beach to veg out,'' Mr Haigh said. ''We definitely don't want to see them with [James] Packer on his launch at Palm Beach … We want them with a towel over the shoulder in their thongs sucking on an icy pole.''