This is a one-in-a-million building. Joe Oliver, representing the government that owned the land, certainly could have had some say in this. It's not unusual, nor necessarily scandalous, for local MPs/MPPs to lobby for their local constituencies. Some might say that that is their job.
It's not the government per se that owns the building, though. It's a Crown Corp (CanPost) whose day-to-day operations are supposed to be carried out independently of elected representatives.
This issue plays out way more frequently (for different reasons) in rural Canada where Canada Post has been closing stations and reducing service for decades, under different governments. Obviously every MP would (presumably) want to keep as many postal stations in their riding, but the point of crown corps is to operate independently within the constraints set on it by Parliament through the Budget. It's Canadian Governance 101.
Never mind more obvious, and perhaps more sensitive, examples of political influence in other Crown Corps like the CBC. Again, this IS an issue when the CBC slashes rural services. For good reason though, we would never tolerate local MPs somehow influence the CBC's programing decisions.
To restate, Crown Corps exist for no other reason than to remove routine governance of public services from political influence, even if that politician is representing the interest of their constituency.
And to be clear, I'm not saying I'm happy about this at all, but blaming it on the "Harpo govt" is kind of odd given how sacrosanct Crown Corp independence is. I would doubt any elected official anywhere would have even been notified about this sale before it was announced.
Anyways, the ball is in the City's court now. It's not a Federal Building anymore, so there's no stopping us from designating it a historical site.
