A raw ruby-and-diamond necklace and matching earrings given to Prime Minister Stephen Harper by Saudi King Abdullah are in the attic of the prime minister's official residence at 24 Sussex Drive in Ottawa. (CBC)

By CBC News

The Prime Minister's Office is trying to find homes for hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of gifts to Stephen Harper because the government has never enacted clear regulations on what should happen to such items destined to be Crown property, CBC News has learned.

While a few are on display in Harper's offices and in the reception areas of his official residence, most are in storage in the attic of his official residence at 24 Sussex Drive in Ottawa.

Four years ago, the Conservative government passed a new Conflict of Interest Act, which included a public registry for all gifts given to public office holders.

Unlike the U.S. Federal Register, the Canadian government's list does not give an estimated value of the gifts or say where they are. But over the past five years, Harper has handed in 29 gifts, including several pricey watches, pens and extravagant sets of jewelry.

Also among the items in the attic of 24 Sussex Drive:
 

• Two wristwatches, including a Harry Winston timepiece worth about $36,000;
• A desk clock featuring a silver camel mounted on two large slabs of lapis lazuli with silver and gold palm trees; 
• Two S.T. Dupont pens from French President Nicholas Sarkozy and a hand-crafted pen from the Pope; 
• Four pastel drawings depicting the seasons from California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger; 
• A mother-of-pearl carved depiction of The Last Supper; 
• A long grey plastic tube containing a narwhal tusk from the owner of the South Camp Inn in Resolute Bay, Nunavut.
  

PMO spokeswoman Sara MacIntyre said the National Capital Commission has been instructed to draft policies on how to handle these items and ensure they end up in the right hands.

Officials are also open to hearing ideas from ordinary Canadians, she said. The National Capital Commission can be contacted at info@ncc-ccn.ca.

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