Ottawa

Senator’s primary residence update: Christmas lights are still up

Mac Harb wasn’t home when reporters paid his house a visit

Mac Harb, the Liberal Senator who’s under investigation for allegedly claiming a housing allowance improperly, lists his primary residence in a town called Westmeath, Ont., which is 145 kilometres west of Ottawa. That’s within striking distance of Ottawa reporters, a pair of whom recently checked out Harb’s apparent house at 52 Crosby Trail. Both the Ottawa Citizen and the Toronto Star have descriptions of the scene. What we learn, among other things, is that someone at the house has an affinity for Christmas lights, even after the holiday season has long since passed.

From the Citizen:

The only sign of life at Senator Mac Harb’s big brick house in the Ottawa Valley is a tangled string of Christmas lights illuminating a trellis in the morning sun.

The snow-covered driveway and path to the front door of 52 Crosby Trail suggest no one has been on the property that overlooks Marion Island in the Ottawa River for several days.

There was an even mound of snow surrounding the log cabin next to Harb’s home on Crosby Trail, with no visible path to the door. In contrast, the path to Harb’s door appears to have been shovelled more recently

From the Star:

The Christmas lights were still up and shining at the riverside house of Liberal Senator Mac Harb in this small town northwest of Ottawa, but nobody was home.

There were some signs of recent life at the house at the end of the short tree-lined trail Wednesday.

The dish rack beside the kitchen sink, easily visible through the glass panel in the front door, was filled with dishes.

A snow shovel was propped up against the front entrance, and the driveway and pathway to the door appeared to have been cleared within the past couple of weeks.

That made it stand out from the log cabin atop the small hill next door, where the driveway was buried beneath several feet of snow, and the empty house next door to that one.

We also learn in those stories how little nearby residents know of Harb, or even that he lives in the area.

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