[DIV id=headline] [H2]Lifestyles of the millionaire in Parliament[/H2] [H3 id=deck]Conservative MP goes first class on his Ottawa pad, in a building Alanis Morissette may call home [/H3]
[DIV id=author] [P class=byline]JANE TABER
[P class=source]From Monday's Globe and Mail
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[DIV id=article style="FONT-SIZE: 100%"] [!-- dateline --]Ottawa[!-- /dateline --] — For speaking out against his own government, Garth Turner predicted he would be assigned a "renovated washroom somewhere in a forgotten corner of a vermin-infested dank basement" for his Parliament Hill office.
That didn't happen. The newly elected Conservative MP for Halton, Ont., was given a nearly new office in the Justice Building.
And now you should see where he lives: No vermin near his downtown pad, and the only fur you'd find around it is mink.
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Mr. Turner, who lived in Ottawa as an MP in the Mulroney government and later as a cabinet minister in the short-lived Kim Campbell government, has moved into a two-bedroom condominium in what is the most swank address in the city — 700 Sussex Dr. The building is called, simply, "700 Sussex."
While most MPs live in hotels or soulless cookie-cutter high-rise apartments close to Parliament Hill, Mr. Turner chose to go first class. MPs earn $147,700 a year and are allowed to claim up to $20,000 in living and meal expenses if they can provide receipts.
Mr. Turner's new flat is in the 11-storey luxury building, where some units have sold for between $1-. and $2-million. It boasts business leaders and senior politicians, including Belinda Stronach, as its occupants.
The millionaire-turned-politician lives on a higher floor than Mr. Turner and is on the floor where singer Alanis Morissette is rumoured to have bought a unit for herself and another for her mother. It was reported that Ms. Stronach paid as much as $1-million for her pad.
Mr. Turner, who is also wealthy, says he has seen Ms. Stronach (but not Ms. Morissette) in the building, which is all plush carpets and dark rich wood in the public spaces, and they have exchanged "a little political nod."
Mr. Turner says, too, that he has run into Thomas d'Aquino, head of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives, in the hallway in his slippers. Mr. d'Aqunio recently purchased a two-storey penthouse on the southeast corner of the building.
And then there's high-tech executive Larry O'Brien, of Calian Technologies, who has a suite on the same floor as Ms. Stronach.
Mr. Turner is renting his two-bedroom fifth-floor apartment for about $2,500 a month (other units have rented for $3,800.) He sometimes brings his Siberian husky, Cheka, along for a couple of days.
Eventually, he says, he hopes to buy a unit because of its "killer location."
The condominium building is on the site of the old Daly Building, which provoked controversy when it was torn down because of its Chicago-style architecture. It is next to the Fairmont Chateau Laurier hotel and about a five-minute walk to Parliament Hill.
Mr. Turner's apartment has a fabulous view of Ottawa's Byward Market. It also contains the typical high-end finishes, including granite counters and a marble floor in the kitchen, and hardwood floors set off by thick elegant baseboards throughout.
Mr. Turner thinks quality of life is important for a politician, noting that constituents don't want a "grumpy MP."
There's a gym on Mr. Turner's floor and 24-hour concierge service, which is so attentive that when Ms. Stronach was dropped off by a friend after a dinner one night her feet were barely allowed to touch the ground before she was whisked into the building.
The underground garages are heated, and there are two restaurants at the bottom of the building.
Occupants of the 70-unit building began moving in about a year ago, said Neil Malhotra, vice-president of Claridge Homes, the condominium's developer.
"We were trying to create something that would be very unique in Ottawa, trying to create something that would be a landmark fitting of its location, being that it is located very close to the Parliament Buildings and some of Ottawa's more historic buildings like the Chateau Laurier," he said.
"The main goal was to try to create the premium building in the city."
And it appears he achieved his goal. Eyebrows were initially raised over the prices of the units and the building's luxury features.
But Royal LePage's Brent McElheran said he didn't think it would be a hard sell.
"I don't think Ottawa is as small as some people think any more. I think it's really turning into a bigger city," he said.
"When they first came out ... people were kind of oohing and ahhing, but when you look at the location and how it's been developed, people bought into it just for the pure address and location.
"Location, location, location."
[img height=262 alt="Conservative MP Garth Turner at home last week in his tony two-bedroom Ottawa condo at 700 Sussex Dr. The painting at left is by Canadian Norval Morrisseau. The view out the window is of the trendy Byward Market. Bill Grimshaw/The Globe and Mail" src="vny!://images.theglobeandmail.com/archives/RTGAM/images/20060403/wxsussex03/0403turner.jpg" width=330]
Conservative MP Garth Turner at home last week in his tony two-bedroom Ottawa condo at 700 Sussex Dr. The painting at left is by Canadian Norval Morrisseau. The view out the window is of the trendy Byward Market. [CITE class=source](Bill Grimshaw/The Globe and Mail)[/CITE]
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