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    Need to know: Feds sell London property for $530M

    Macdonald House was the home of Canada’s High Commissioner to the U.K.

    Nick Taylor-Vaisey
    <p>Protestors from PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, wearing fake blood smeared suit and mask depicting seals, lie on the steps of Canada House in central London, Tuesday March 31, 2009 to urge Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper to stop the annual seal hunting taking place on the ice flows off Newfoundland and Labrador. The protesters&#8217; backdrop is a parody of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics logo showing a hunter clubbing a baby seal next to interlocking Olympic rings dripping with blood. According to the organizers, this year, as many as 338,200 seals, most of whom are only weeks old, will be shot or bludgeoned to death. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)</p>

    Protestors from PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, wearing fake blood smeared suit and mask depicting seals, lie on the steps of Canada House in central London, Tuesday March 31, 2009 to urge Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper to stop the annual seal hunting taking place on the ice flows off Newfoundland and Labrador. The protesters’ backdrop is a parody of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics logo showing a hunter clubbing a baby seal next to interlocking Olympic rings dripping with blood. According to the organizers, this year, as many as 338,200 seals, most of whom are only weeks old, will be shot or bludgeoned to death. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)

    Canada House in London, U.K. (Lefteris Pitarakis/AP)

    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 MailQuebec failed to balance its budget this year.
    National Post
    		A Mountie who smokes medical marijuana was stripped of his uniform.
    Toronto StarA former Ornge CEO wants $1 million in unpaid bonuses.
    Ottawa CitizenFederal bureaucrats sometimes use all banked sick leave before they retire.
    CBC NewsMany public defibrillators in Canada are inaccessible to the public.
    CTV NewsFederal Liberals took a six-point lead in a new national poll.
    National NewswatchTory backbenchers want to limit the Prime Minister’s power.

     

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    tags:Maclean's Politics