While other Edmonton politicians reacted with glee this week to the funding announcement for the Royal Alberta Museum, St. Albert MP Brent Rathgeber said it is money the government didn’t need to spend.
After briefly calling off the project last month over a funding dispute, the provincial, federal and municipal governments resolved their difference this week and announced the $340 million museum would go ahead.
Rathgeber said he is concerned about the project because none of the levels of government have the money on hand to pay for it.
“I am concerned about the timing of the project given all three levels of government, ours included, are in a deficit situation.”
The federal commitment will be $122.5 million with the province pitching in $180 million and Edmonton picking up the rest of the tab.
He said all three levels of government have more core priorities they could be focusing on instead of the new museum and it might be better if they focused on those instead.
“I am also subtlety suggesting, especially in time of fiscal tightness, the need to focus on the core activities on which they have been mandated.”
For Edmonton that might mean focusing on streets, sidewalks and snow plowing, as well as the ambitious plans Rathgeber supports for expanded LRT across the city.
Rathgeber uses the analogy of a household where a family would have to prioritize spending, because there is only so much money.
“A responsible parent has to say that the kid’s braces are more important than the sports car.”
Rathegeber said the museum is a want not a need and he doesn’t believe any level of government has the money for wants right now.
“I would say the Royal Alberta Museum fits into the non-essential category. It fits into the nice to have category, but nice to have only becomes affordable when you have a surplus of funds.”
Rathgeber is also concerned that funding museums shouldn’t be in the purview of a national government.
He said the federal government doesn’t have a constitutionally mandated role for museum funding as they do for things like the armed forces or foreign affairs. And when money is tight the government should focus on what it is mandated to focus on.
“Governments have to exercise some discipline, they have to exercise some restraint and the easiest way to do that is to focus on things that are — in a stricter interpretation — within your constitutional mandate.”
The federal government did attach some strings on its funding, requiring that construction be underway before the end of November 2012. The new museum, which is almost ten times the size of the existing one, is expected to open in 2015.
