Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Pierre Trudeau’s former sister-in-law outraged at Conservatives’ sale of federal buildings

James Sinclair was Margaret Trudeau’s father. That makes Janet Sinclair Pierre Trudeau’s one-time sister-in-law: facts that the Vancouver Province didn’t see fit to mention in their story. But I will, for the benefit of you young ‘uns.

A daughter of James Sinclair, the former federal cabinet minister for whom Vancouver’s Sinclair Centre is named, is appalled that Ottawa has sold the building and nine others to a West Vancouver company.

“We are urging Prime Minister Stephen Harper to not sell the Sinclair Centre or the other buildings and keep these public assets that benefit all taxpayers,” said Janet Sinclair.

“My late father would be shocked . . . not because it’s named after him but because he was dedicated to public service and that’s what this building does as well -- serve the public as a valuable asset for all time.”

The government has sold the Sinclair Centre, another building at 401 Burrard St. and seven others across Canada to Larco Investments Ltd. of West Vancouver for $1.64 billion. It plans to lease them back for 25 years for $1.3 billion. The deal closes in October.

Sinclair’s statement was released by the Public Service Alliance of Canada, which represents federal workers.
--Vancouver Province, today

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well, if she's in such a twist, why doesn't she raise the money from similarly outraged Canadians and buy it?

Anyways, I have always maintained they named the wrong airport after Trudeau--it should have been Mirabel, it was his pet project after all.

OMMAG said...

If only we could erase ALL vestiges of that insidious legacy!!

Joan Tintor said...

Ditto on the airport!