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City strikes out on National Gallery
Posted By Larocque, Corey
Niagara Falls has officially struck out in its bid to host the national art gallery, but the city never really got in the game and local official went to bat only half-heartedly.
The competition to host the National Portrait Gallery of Canada closed last week, and despite Coun. Wayne Thomson’s attempt to muscle in on the competition, Niagara Falls was never in the running.
The National Portrait Gallery is a long-awaited federal museum that will display portraits of prominent, historic Canadians. It was a Chretien-era project that has taken this long to get off the ground. Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government carried through with plans to develop it, but instead of guaranteeing it go in Ottawa (the original plan had been to put it in the former U.S. embassy, directly across the street from Parliament Hill), the Conservatives created a competitive process in which nine Canadian cities bid on the right to host it.
In true Conservative fashion, the government was looking for a public-private partnership that would see some of the construction costs borne by the private sector. Ottawa’s bid for example, would see it built by a condominium developer in exchange for the city permitting him a higher density on one of his other projects.
It’s certainly a new way of financing public cultural institutions. Last year, the federal government opened the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, located in Winnipeg, partly because the Asper family foundation chipped in on construction.
The portrait gallery, however, has renewed the uniquely Canadian controversy about whether national institutions should always be located in the capital or whether they should be spread around to other major Canadian cities. Fortunately, Niagara Falls has ducked that fray by being excluded from the competition.
In November, Thomson suggested Niagara Falls get in on the action. Politically, it was a no-brainer for the former mayor to go to bat for Niagara Falls to host the gallery. Swing for the bleachers and hope for a home run. If, by some miracle, Niagara Falls gets it, he looks like a genius. If, as expected, Niagara Falls is passed over, oh well – nothing ventured, nothing gained.
Nothing wrong with Thomson’s logic. A solid case could be built for Niagara.
Ottawa’s own criteria would have made Niagara Falls a contender. The Department of Canadian Heritage said it should be in a prominent location (hello … Niagara Falls), accessible to travellers (QEW, Pearson airport, four international bridges nearby), and situated in a populated area (Niagara region’s population is similar to Halifax and Quebec City, which were invited to bid).
Since the contest was already open, barging in was kind of impolite. But after Thomson went to bat, there wasn’t a lot of enthusiasm anywhere else. City clerk Dean Iorfida wrote a letter on the city’s behalf, extolling the virtues of Niagara Falls. Conservative MP Rob Nicholson got the letter and wrote one of his own to Heritage Minister Josee Verner. End of story.
Now that Niagara is officially out of the running, maybe it’s for the best. It would be pretty difficult to argue Niagara Falls has been neglected lately by either the provincial or federal governments.
This city scored big last year when the federal and provincial governments came through with $35 million each to help build the Niagara Convention and Civic Centre. Think about that: It’s like every Canadian chipped in a dollar to help build our convention centre. And every Ontarian kicked in another four dollars.
For years, business leaders and politicians have said a convention centre would be “the missing piece of the puzzle.” It’s supposed to be the thing that brings conventions to Niagara in the dead of winter, creating a year-round tourism industry that will support more jobs 12 months a year.
Ottawa also has a longstanding commitment to chip in $25 million toward the construction of a people mover, a mass-transit system that has also been high on Niagara’s priority list for years. If the city ever gets its act together to develop one, that cash would flow too.
The relationship between Niagara Falls and the federal government has been kind of like the Rolling Stones song – “You can’t always get what you want, but if you try some time, you just might find you get what you need.”
Instead of swinging at every pitch, maybe it’s in the best interest of Niagara Falls and all Canadians to have a more selective eye.
clarocque@nfreview.com
Article ID# 1035385
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