The condoization of Canada's history.

1.)  The Fort York Condos and Penthouses, Toronto - During the year 1903, the government of Canada gave 143 acres of land to the Canadian National Exhibition, with the understanding that the land would always remain public. However, the CNE broke that promise, and companies such as Molson's Beer and Weston Foods annexed the property. The Gardiner Expressway was constructed on the National Historic Site of Canada. I would not be surprised if housing is built on the Plains of Abraham, a battlefield in Quebec City.

The Plains of Abraham: Parcel 1 is 2.3304 hectares, and Parcel 2 is 93.0368 hectares. The photo is from "The Directory of Federal Real Property" website.

2.)  Canada Post Dominion Building, 115 Prince William Street, Saint John New Brunswick. Thousands of Canada Post properties have been privatized since the Mulroney government was elected and they are still being "divested"---properties in Kanata, Ontario; Almonte, Ontario and Lethbridge, Alberta. The government of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau determined that Canada Post owned 2,200 buildings, worth $1.4 billion dollars. See: The 1984 Report of the Auditor General of Canada-Chapter 13-13.6
.Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau also conducted an inventory of real estate holdings of a Crown corporation called the Canadian National Railway. The 1980 investigation determined that the CNR owned 100,000 acres of land, train stations, hotels (including the Scribe Hotel, Paris, France); bridges; rights of way; air rights; culverts, roundhouses and CN Towers located in:
Toronto, Ontario
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
London, Ontario
Edmonton, Alberta.

3.)  Postal Station K, 2384 Yonge Street, Toronto, Ontario - The Montgomery's Tavern National Historic Site of Canada. The former post office was the headquarters of William Lyon Mackenzie, leader of the Upper Canada Rebellion in 1837.

Postal Station K, 2384 Yonge Street, Toronto.

4.)  Former Royal Canadian Mounted Police Headquarters - 255 Jarvis Street, Toronto.

5.) An armoury called Wallis House on Rideau Street, Ottawa.

6.)  Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Jarvis Street Headquarters - Toronto. Glenn Gould recorded albums in the former Havergal  Ladies College. The entire complex was privatized via a Privy Council Order-in-Council:
Land Transfers - Order in Council - Grant approval for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation a.) to sell some 4,898 square metres of land at 263 and 303 Mutual Street to Context Real Estate Inc. and b.) to convey another 4,970 square metres of land at 354 and 372 Jarvis Street in Toronto to the National Ballet School of Canada, for a nominal sum.

7.)  The Chateau Laurier Hotel, 1 Rideau Street, Ottawa - The massive new additions to the Chateau Laurier Hotel are being called " long-term stay suites" ,a synonym for the word "condo." The owners of the Chateau are also converting the Dominion Public Building on Front Street, Toronto into apartments. The Chateau was federal property before Prime Minister Brian Mulroney sold it to the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1988.

8.)  The Sinclair Centre, 757 West Hastings Street, Vancouver British Columbia - The federal building "could undergo massive redevelopment to include office or condo towers." (From: The Vancouver Sun.) Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau named the building the Sinclair Centre to honour his father-in-law James Sinclair. Janet Sinclair, a sister of Margaret Trudeau, told a Globe and Mail newspaper reporter: "I know my father would have felt that government buildings we have built and paid for should continue to be owned by the people of Canada."

The Sinclair Centre, a former Dominion Building located at 757 West Hastings Street, Vancouver, British Columbia.  Dominion Buildings were constructed in practically every Canadian  city and town to house Canada Post; Manpower and Immigration; Canada Customs; the RCMP; the Passport Office and other federal departments. They often featured a clock tower, and Canada's Maple Leaf Flag and Coat of Arms were always visible. (Photo from Wikipedia).

9.)  Harbourfront in Toronto - During the year 1972 the Trudeau government bought 100 acres of industrial land on the Toronto waterfront. The land was going to be revitalized as green space for future generations. And a Crown corporation called Harbourfront was created in 1978. However, 90 acres of the land was eventually sold to developers by the Mulroney and Chretien governments. The waterfront has now been invaded by a proliferation of high rise condominiums, that block any view of Lake Ontario from the city. Toronto's Great Wall of China. As I have said before, I lived in Toronto during the late 1970's, and I spent a lot of time along the waterfront. There were miles and miles of green space, thousands of trees; flowers; sandy public beaches with lifeguards; picnic tables and barbeque grills/ hibachis; food vendors; bicycle trails; dance pavilions from the 1940's; playgrounds and I saw people riding horses. You couldn't pay me to visit the city now, the waterfront has been turned into an urban jungle by a federal Crown corporation that privatized 1,200 acres of CNR land.

10.)  A Canadian Broadcasting Corporation industrial building at 90 Sumach Street Toronto has been converted into luxury apartments. The Brewery Lofts are 14 feet high from floor to ceiling, and feature floor-to-ceiling windows.

11.) The Scribe Hotel, Paris France, now converted into luxury apartments and hotel suites, was a Canadian National Railway real estate asset until 1995. CNR was "commercialized" during the spring of 1995. Also, the government promised that the head office for the CNR would always be located in Montreal. We were never told that CN Rail would sell the head office.

A Globe and Mail newspaper classified ad, December 2007.

12.) A Canadian embassy in Mayfair, London England was demolished to make way for luxury apartments. Gordon Campbell (real estate man for the CPR; Premier of British Columbia) sold Macdonald House for $500 million dollars. Canada is allegedly "saving money" by sharing office space with UK diplomats in foreign embassies.

13.)  Revenue Canada Building, 150 Main Street West, Hamilton Ontario.

14.)  Canada Post Building, 30 Russell Street, Smiths Falls Ontario.

A former Dominion Building, 30 Russell Street, Smiths Falls. (Photo by Barbara Raue.)

)  Habitat 67, Montreal - The people of Canada paid for the construction of Habitat through the Crown corporation Canada Mortgage and Housing. Montreal Mayor Jean Drapeau wanted to see the preservation of all the Expo 67 pavilions, amusement parks and land. However, La Ronde was sold to an American amusement park company; most of the pavilions were dismantled; and Buckminster Fuller's American pavilion, a geodesic dome, was purchased by Environment Canada.

I visited Expo with my classmates.

Former American First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy visited Expo 67 pavilions. Canadian economist John Kenneth Galbraith is walking behind Mrs. Kennedy in the second picture. (I inherited the photos from my Dad.)