On December 12, 2009 the CTF received a response to our August 26, 2009 email to Federal Canadian Heritage Minister James Moore on cost overruns at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. The response was disappointing to say the least.

As you can see in Minister Moore's letter, he notes that one of the first tasks in front of the Museum's newly created Board of Trustees was to "review the projected construction budget".

In other words, the federal government had just agreed to build the Museum, but wasn't sure how much it cost. That is on par with a family agreeing to buy a house, but not knowing the price. Obviously the latter rarely happens. Well, neither should the former.

The Minister also dismissed the figure of $265 million for building the Museum as an "estimate" put forward by the Museum's proponents. However, just five months earlier, his staff had assured the Senate that it had done due diligence on the project and that its total budget was $265 million. Not surprisingly, approval for the project was on the line when his staff assured the Senate that their number was firm. The exchange can be viewed here.

As noted in my previous blog entry on the subject, the project is now sitting at $310 million and facing a $45 million hole. Not surprisingly, taxpayers have been asked to contribute even more to the project.

Although most would consider the intent of the Museum to be noble, the Museum has become another great example of why taxpayers, not governments, should be deciding which cultural projects to fund.