Need to know: Feds sell London property for $530M
The story When the government says it wants to save money, we often assume job cuts are on the way. Usually, that’s true. But the feds are getting creative as they look to balance the books as soon as possible. They just wrapped up the sale of Macdonald House, a lavish home in London for Canada’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. The current man in the job, former B.C. premier Gordon Campbell, says the government will also undertake a massive refurbishment of the iconic Canada House in Trafalgar Square, as well as an adjacent building that formerly served as a Canadian military headquarters. All told, Campbell says he’ll "send home" about $150-200 million. As for his own digs, he’s moving into an apartment that used to house the High Commission’s deputy. Every little bit counts.
The stat$530 million: the sale price of Macdonald House, purchased by Lodha Group, a large Indian developer
The quote "It’s a large redevelopment opportunity in one of the best garden squares, in one of the best locations, in probably the most sought after city on the planet. They don’t come along very often." —Simon Stone, director of national development at Savills Plc, the firm that sold the building
What’s above the fold
| The Globe and Mail | Quebec failed to balance its budget this year. |
| National Post | A Mountie who smokes medical marijuana was stripped of his uniform. |
| Toronto Star | A former Ornge CEO wants $1 million in unpaid bonuses. |
| Ottawa Citizen | Federal bureaucrats sometimes use all banked sick leave before they retire. |
| CBC News | Many public defibrillators in Canada are inaccessible to the public. |
| CTV News | Federal Liberals took a six-point lead in a new national poll. |
| National Newswatch | Tory backbenchers want to limit the Prime Minister’s power. |
What you might have missed
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