Harrington Lake

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The Harrington Lake estate is both the name of the official country retreat of the Prime Minister of Canada and of the land which surrounds it. It is located in Quebec a few kilometres north of Ottawa in an area known as Gatineau Park, amidst the Gatineau Hills.

The lake itself and the area around it are also referred to as Lac Mousseau. The name "Harrington" is thought to be a misspelling of "Hetherington", the name of a family which settled in this area. The French name "Mousseau" comes from another early settler to the area, Louis Mousseau.

1 History
- 1.1 Other Canadian official residences
- 1.2 Analogous facilities
2 External link

[edit] History

The lake and the property had been acquired by the federal government in the 1950s in order to build up preserves of natural areas around the Capital. They became an official residence in 1959 when supporters of prime minister John Diefenbaker suggested that he needed a quiet place to go fishing, not too far from Ottawa. In 1959, Harrington Lake became an official country residence for the prime minister. During the first Prime Ministership of Pierre Elliot Trudeau, his then wife Margaret added a vegetable garden which according to Kim Campbell's autobiography still provides the house with fresh produce.

Campbell was also the only Canadian Prime Minister to have spent her entire term in office residing at Harrington Lake. Initially, Campbell took up residence at Harrington Lake so that her predecessor, Brian Mulroney, could continue to reside at 24 Sussex until renovations on his new private residence in Montreal were completed. Once Mulroney vacated 24 Sussex, Campbell had not finished moving to 24 Sussex before being defeated in the 1993 election.

The estate is not open to the public, but the Mackenzie King Estate, the retreat of Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King at Kingsmere, offers a bucolic tourist attraction filled with echos of Canada's past a few kilometers south in Gatineau Park. Meech Lake, where the Meech Lake Accord was negotiated in 1987, is also nearby.

[edit] Other Canadian official residences

Rideau Hall (1 Sussex Drive, Ottawa) - official residence of the Governor General and of the Queen when she is in Canada
La Citadelle (Quebec City) - second official residence of the Governor General, and of the Queen, in Quebec City
24 Sussex Drive (Ottawa) - official residence of the Prime Minister
Stornoway (residence) - official residence of the Leader of the Opposition
The Farm (Gatineau Park) - official residence of the Speaker of the House of Commons
7 Rideau Gate (Ottawa) - official guest house of the Canadian government