Harrington Lake Diefenbaker suggested that he needed a quiet place to go fishing, not too far from Ottawa. Later that year, Harrington Lake was chosen as the site for an official country residence and the buildings were formally designated as a secure residence for Canada’s prime ministers. During the first prime ministership of Pierre Trudeau, his then-wife, Margaret, added a vegetable garden; according to Kim Campbell's autobiography "Time and Chance", the garden still provided the house with fresh produce at the time of that writing. Campbell was the only Prime Minister to have spent her entire term in office residing at Harrington
Gatineau Park acceptable standards, a conclusion that park advocates met with scepticism. The NCC also confirmed staff for the contractor were not certified in the maintenance of summer trails in the park, as required by their contract. More recently, on April 30, 2014, the Conservative government defeated the latest private member's bill pertaining to Gatineau Park, a bill that had been tabled by Hull-Aylmer NDP MP Nycole Turmel. The Conservatives argued that the bill (C-565) was too restrictive, since it applied only to Gatineau Park and not to other green space in the National Capital Region. They also said they voted against