development called Canada Place, a 1,200-unit apartment project inspired by Le Sanctuaire du Mont-Royal in Moscow that was estimated to cost up to $700 million. However, Lépine's projects in Russia were never completed due to a variety of operational and political difficulties. Lépine was financially backed by the Government of Canada, as well as from the Caisse de dépôts et placement du Québec and tenants who had secured office leases, including Samsung. Moscow mayor Yury Luzhkov was also personally involved in the planning of the project. Lépine was asked by the Government of Canada to build the Canadian embassy in Moscow. He was an official representative of the Canadian government and gave a personal tour of Montreal to a Russian diplomatic delegation that included Yury Luzhkov. Lépine also met with Mikhail Gorbachev, and Boris Yeltsin during their respective delegation visits to Montreal. In September 1996, Lépine made his first real estate investment in Ontario. He purchased a low income, 208-unit apartment building known as Rideau-Chapel Towers at 160 Chapel Street in Ottawa, Ontario, on the corner of Rideau Street. After a $18.5 million renovation, Lépine increased the number of units to 397 apartments and tripled the original rent. The property was widely publicized after all 175 tenants were controversially evacuated in September 1996 by orders of the Ottawa fire marshal due to multiple building and fire code violations of the previous owner. Lépine gave $65,000 to the city of Ottawa to help relocate the displaced tenants to new homes. Ottawa Mayor Jacquelin Holzman attended the official reopening of the building, renamed Horizon Tower, with Lépine in June 1997. In 1998, Lépine developed Sussex House, a 85-unit apartment building at 22 Murray Street in the ByWard Market neighborhood of Ottawa, across the street from the newly-built United States Embassy on Sussex Drive. The project was specifically aimed at catering to diplomatic and corporate housing needs. Before opening, Lépine had signed long-term leases with the US Department of State, Nortel and Newbridge Networks for their contract employees. The project cost $10 million. The property was built on land owned by the National Capital Commission, who signed a 66-year leasehold with Lépine. He also developed Robson Court, a 56-unit condominium project in the Kanata Lakes neighborhood of Ottawa, the same year. In 1999, Lépine purchased Drummond Court, a vacant building in poor condition on De Maisonneuve Boulevard in Montreal from the Montreal YMCA.