RAM funding debacle just political cover to back out of the project
Edmonton – Official Opposition Culture Critic Laurie Blakeman says the debacle over Royal Alberta Museum (RAM) funding is merely an exercise in sloppy accounting and the excuse the provincial Tories have been waiting for to back out of a project they never really supported in the first place.
The provincial government announced yesterday that their federal counterparts had committed an additional $92 million to the project. But late yesterday it was confirmed that the federal Tories had only ever committed to $30 million for the RAM, as outlined in the Government of Alberta’s own media release of April 7, 2011. The project is now on indefinite hold.
“Does the provincial government really expect Albertans to believe that a project of this magnitude could come so close to start of construction only to have tens of millions in funding yanked at the last minute?” Blakeman asks. “Is it really credible that the province could only manage to get a ‘verbal agreement’ for the $92 million in federal funding? They didn’t think that maybe they should get that in writing? What reputable business or agency commits to a project of this size when it has only a handshake deal?”
Blakeman says the provincial government could move the museum forward if they really wanted to. “If they really had the will to build this museum, they’d find a way,” Blakeman says. “It’s disingenuous to blame the feds for this.”
Official Opposition Leader Raj Sherman is also critical of the province’s decision to abandon such an important project. “Alberta needs this museum for a wide range of educational, economic, cultural and historical reasons,” Sherman says. “The museum could have been built by now at its original price, if the PC government hadn’t stalled and flip-flopped. Once again, their bad management has hurt the people of Alberta.”
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