ADAMS: #Mansiongate: The Grift at Stornoway

Stornoway, the official residence of Canada’s Opposition Leader, is a stately, tree-shaded mansion with classic architecture and lush gardens. Image credit: National Capital Commission

Let’s talk about Stornoway. Not the Scottish town. The $20-million taxpayer-funded mansion in Ottawa. The one meant to house the Leader of the Official Opposition. And no, that’s not Pierre Poilievre anymore. That job belongs to Andrew Scheer. Yet somehow—miraculously, entitledly, disgracefully—Poilievre is still living there.

Welcome to Mansiongate.

Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre lost his seat in the last election. He didn’t retire. He didn’t step down. He wasn’t redistricted out of existence. He straight-up lost. By over 4,000 votes. To Bruce Fanjoy. In his own backyard.

So what does he do? Does he resign from party leadership? Nope. Does he take time to reflect? Not a chance. Instead, according to the National Post, Scheer will be letting Poilievre stay in the mansion—like it’s his birthright—while he starts shopping around for a new seat like it’s a goddamn real estate listing.

He’s forcing a Conservative MP in a province he hasn’t lived in for 25 years to give up their seat so he can play musical ridings and force a needless, costly by-election.

Imagine the audacity of losing your job, then demanding your former employer let you keep the corner office while you interview for jobs somewhere else. This isn't just unethical. It’s a joke. And it’s on our dime.

What Stornoway Is Supposed to Be

Let’s get one thing straight: The idea that the leader of the losing party gets to live in a mansion is already kind of stupid. It’s a weird colonial leftover that reeks of elitism. Most Canadians can’t afford rent, but we’re out here funding an opposition mansion? Come on. Still, if we’re going to have the thing—and clearly, we do—then it should at least serve a clear function.

Stornoway is meant to be the place where the official opposition can live while holding government accountable—from inside Parliament. It is not a retirement home for a failed leader. It is not a clubhouse for sore losers. And it damn sure isn’t a crash pad while you audition for a seat in a province you haven’t stepped foot in since 1999.

Pierre Poilievre is no longer the Leader of the Opposition. He is no longer a Member of Parliament. He’s just… some guy. Some guy, living rent-free in one of the most expensive government residences in this country. That’s not leadership.

If Carney Pulled This, You’d Lose Your Minds

If Mark Carney ever lost his seat and refused to leave 24 Sussex—saying he needed to “figure things out” while staying in taxpayer-funded luxury—Conservative social media would be on fire. Rebel News would have drones over the lawn. Ezra Levant would be live-streaming Carney’s recycling bins. Every MP from Red Deer to Renfrew would be calling for a criminal investigation. And you know what? They’d be right.

This is indefensible. It doesn’t matter what party you support. If you claim to care about “accountability” and “wasteful spending,” then you have to call this what it is:

A shameless, hypocritical, taxpayer-funded squatter stunt. Pierre Poilievre has turned the opposition residence into a partisan Airbnb—and you’re footing the bill for this obnoxious, Maxime Bernier style grifting.

To Conservative Voters: This Is Your Moment of Truth

You don’t have to like Mark Carney. You don’t have to agree with the Liberals. But if you care about basic ethics—if you meant any of what you’ve been saying for the last ten years about government waste—then you cannot sit this one out. This man is disrespecting the voters, the system, and you.

You voted for a fighter. You got a freeloader. Now is your chance to prove you’re better than the cult. Better than the double standards. Demand he leave Stornoway. Demand he stop this phony by-election circus. Demand integrity—from your own side.

Because if you won’t? Then everything you ever said about Trudeau’s scandals? About ArriveCAN? About entitlement and privilege? It was all performative.

Mansiongate is real. It’s embarrassing. And it’s your responsibility to end it.