A NEWPORT family helped build the same Canadian government building which is now being restored by a city engineering firm.

John Jenkins and his son, also called John, worked for engineering firm Whitney Hansen, which helped build the $9 million Confederation Building in Newfoundland.

Mr Jenkins, who was born in Cardiff and later moved to Newport, emigrated to Canada with his second wife Ingrid and son John in 1952, after leaving the army following a stint in Germany during and after the Second World War.

His daughter Pat Bunce, 73, spotted last week’s Argus story about Newport firm Cintec helping to preserve the building’s facade and thought it was fitting given that her father and brother - both Newport men - helped build it.

She said: “They were just cogs in a big wheel but I am very proud of what they did over there.”

The pair, who were aged 46 and 27 at the time the building was completed in the 1960s, met the Queen and Prince Phillip at its opening.

They have both since died but Mrs Bunce still makes regular trips to the country to visit her brother’s children who still live there.

The Confederation Building houses 1,200 staff for all departments, boards and commissions of the Provisional Government of Newfoundland.

Cintec’s £300,000 project to strengthen its facade will take three years to complete.

The company is currently helping to save Egypt’s oldest pyramid and previous restoration work includes Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle and The White House complex.