Do hotel stays hint it’s checkout time for NDP leader?
OTTAWA • NDP leader Tom Mulcair last month disclosed that he is carrying mortgages on four separate properties, including a “secondary residence” in Quebec City, but has been living out of a suitcase when in Ottawa.
As speculation swirls about whether he will remain party leader, Mulcair hasn’t purchased a new home or even rented an apartment in Ottawa or Gatineau, suggesting he might not be planning a long stay in the National Capital Region.
Mulcair has been staying in Ottawa hotels since he was forced to leave Stornoway, the official residence of the leader of the Official Opposition, after the NDP was reduced to thirdparty status in the October federal election.
In the first conflict-of-interest disclosure Mulcair filed with federal ethics commissioner Mary Dawson since the election, he reported that he and his wife, Catherine, jointly hold mortgages on four properties, as well as a line of credit, all with the Royal Bank of Canada.
In his previous disclosure, filed a year earlier, Mulcair reported holding a mortgage on only one property. The Mulcairs own a home in Beaconsfield, west of Montreal and far from his downtown riding of Outremont. They have repeatedly re-mortgaged the home since they acquired it in 1983.
It is unclear whether Mulcair neglected to report the mortgages on the other homes in his past declarations, or whether he simply added new mortgages in the past year.
His office wouldn’t say why he chose to declare the loans only in January.
“Mr. Mulcair’s primary residence is in Montreal and it remained his primary residence during his time as Leader of the Official Opposition,” Mulcair aide George Smith said an email.
“As the NDP no longer has access to Stornoway or other official residence, Mr. Mulcair has stayed in a hotel during his time in Ottawa. Their secondary residence is indeed in Québec City and their two cottages are in Quebec.”
Mulcair’s family has long held property near Lac Marois, in the Laurentians.
In April, he filed a notice of “material change”, telling the ethics commissioner he had attached a mortgage to another residence. Then, on an election campaign stop in the Quebec City area in September, Mulcair told supporters that he and his wife owned a second home in the city.
“As you may know, Catherine and I lived for many years in Quebec (City), our second son was born in Quebec (City),” he said in Lévis. “Our attachment to the city and region are so strong that Catherine and I still own a residence in Quebec.”
Mulcair lived in Quebec City in the 1970s, after graduating from law school, and worked as a provincial government lawyer. He later returned to the city as a Liberal member of the National Assembly from 1994 to 2007.
Mulcair’s future as NDP leader is uncertain after the party’s mediocre showing in the federal election. He will face a confidence vote at the party’s upcoming national convention in the spring, unless he announces his resignation before then.
Should he stay on, he will likely travel outside Ottawa often to build up support among New Democrats across the country.
Many MPs prefer to stay in hotels on days they are required to be in Ottawa. Indeed, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stayed at the Château Laurier hotel when he wasn’t campaigning for the leadership of the Liberal Party.
For Mulcair personally, the change of his party’s standing meant his salary was cut by $80,000, he lost his $2,000 car allowance, and can no longer live rent-free at Stornoway.
The disclosure records do not indicate the total amount of debt on the properties or his line-of-credit. He is required to disclose only liabilities that exceed $10,000.
In 2012, the Ottawa Citizen reported that Mulcair had repeatedly re-mortgaged his home in Beaconsfield, rolling over 11 mortgages on the property and adding more debt each time. Debt on the property rose from $58,000 to $300,000, land registry records showed.
Mulcair, who earned a high salary as a government lawyer and later, provincial cabinet minister, declined to explain why he was borrowing the money against his home. His office called it “a private matter.”