P.E.I. wants others to pay for new museum

by WAYNE THIBODEAU
As published by The Guardian Nov 30, 2009

The Prince Edward Island government wants to pick the pockets of other provinces in an effort to secure the money needed to build a new provincial museum.

The Liberals have long promised to build a centrally located provincial museum.
P.E.I. remains the only province in Canada without one.

But once again there was no money in the capital budget released last Friday for the project.
Provincial Treasurer Wes Sheridan says that’s because the province is lobbying the federal government and other provinces to pay for the museum.

“The dollar value was huge as to what they thought was needed for a provincial museum here in Prince Edward Island,” Sheridan said.

“What we have done . . . as we move forward with our partners in Confederation to say in the 2014 year, when we’re celebrating the 150th year of Confederation and the meetings here in Charlottetown, we’re going to ask our partners to work with us towards this end.”

Last November the provincial government said it was going to build a provincial museum.

While a provincial museum has been promised, no money has been budgeted for the project.
The former government had promised to build a provincial artifactory in Murray River. The $4.9-million project would have housed more than 80,000 items that are currently
being stored at the West Royalty Industrial Park.

But the Liberal government killed those plans, saying Murray River was too far off the beaten track to house the facility.

The idea of having somebody else pay for the provincial museum is not new.
Edward MacDonald of the department of history at UPEI, described the 2014 celebrations as “…a rare and wonderful opportunity” for P.E.I.

“The year 2014 will mark the sesquicentennial of the Charlottetown Conference of 1864, now recognized as a critical milestone on the road to Confederation,” MacDonald wrote, in an opinion piece in The Guardian in September.

“In a small province with limited resources, where it always costs us proportionately more to keep up with the Joneses, 2014 offers a rare and wonderful opportunity. Why not use this ‘one-of’ funding opportunity to create another cultural legacy that will enrich the lives of Islanders, both present and future?

“Let’s use the special funding opportunity of the upcoming sesquicentennial of the Charlottetown Conference to complete the task begun so bravely in 1973 by building a state-of-the-art provincial museum to complement the province-wide network of small, theme museums that currently exist.”

In the throne speech delivered Nov. 12, the province said it’s planning a major celebration to mark the 150th anniversary of the 1864 Charlottetown Conference, which gave birth to Confederation.

Sheridan said the idea is not new. He said more than $400-million went to Quebec City during its recent celebrations.

Those celebrations marked the 400th anniversary of the founding of Québec City.

“We’ll be looking to collect some of those funds as well.”
See comments to this story by readers published on the The Guardian site - Nov 30, 2009

Collaborating on a museum

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR as published in The Guardian Nov 7, 2009
Editor:

I fully agree with Dr. Ed MacDonald's letter 'Let's build a provincial museum' (The Guardian, Sept. 26, 2009).

One thing I would like to add is the need for collaboration amongst all levels of government as was the case in 1964 with the building of the Confederation Centre of the Arts.

Back then, the government of Canada provided the cash investment and the provincial legislature conveyed all of the property (approximately one acre) to the Fathers of Confederation Building Trust. The City of Charlottetown's contribution came in the form of an annual grant in lieu of taxes. Consequently, the Confederation Centre does not pay municipal taxes on the buildings or property. In 2009, this grant amounted to $208,000.

We need to encourage the province to lead the charge in announcing, within the very near future, the formation of a working group to plan a grand celebration of the sesquicentennial of the Charlottetown Conference of 1864. This plan must include the Parliament of Canada acknowledging Charlottetown's place in Canadian history as the Birthplace of Confederation by an Act of Parliament. As well, the new museum should incorporate this important and historical contribution including the many other facets of Island history.

A citizens group worked together to bring about the Confederation Centre of the Arts. Now it's time for the provincial government to provide the leadership to move forward and build a new museum with collaboration from the federal government and the municipal government of Charlottetown.

Philip Brown,

Charlottetown