|
March 28, 2008
Museum goes national
Izzy Asper's vision is expected to open in 2010.
RHONDA SPIVAK
This month, the vision of the late media mogul Dr. Israel Asper was realized, when legislation making the Canadian Human Rights Museum a national entity passed the House of Commons and the Senate, and received royal assent.
The museum, which is set to open in 2010, will be built in Winnipeg and is envisioned to be the largest human rights museum in the world. The $265 million project will be the first national museum in Canada outside the Ottawa region.
In an interview, lawyer Gail Asper, Asper's daughter, who is chairperson of the Friends of the Canadian Human Rights Museum, said that the CHRM has a unique mission.
"The goal of the museum is to inspire people to take personal action and personal responsibility for the protection and advancement of human rights in Canada and around the world. The museum is not just a place where we are chronicling history," she said.
"The museum will contain the first national gallery in Canada dealing with the Holocaust. This is something that is long overdue for Canada. It's highly appropriate that the gallery dealing with the Holocaust and anti-Semitism today be in the museum for human rights," she explained.
"It's important to remind people that the Holocaust happened, not just because of Hitler's will to destroy the Jews, but because of the indifference of the world and the complicity of the world. We have to inspire the citizens of the world to work together to ensure that the Holocaust doesn't happen again and that Jews are not persecuted and, of course, that the world steps up and speaks out about any other people that are being persecuted," she said.
Asper added that the fundraising campaign for the museum is at "a critical juncture." She and the supporters of the museum have raised $88 million out of the $105 million in private donations needed before an April deadline, after which construction costs will go up, which could mean the project has to be scaled back.
Asper hopes the legislation will spur a flurry of donations so that the remaining $17 million in private capital can be raised. Once it is, the government of Canada will put forward $100 million, the province of Manitoba will contribute $40 million and the city of Winnipeg will contribute $20 million. The federal government will also contribute approximately $22 million in annual operating funding. The museum has the support of 50 ethno-cultural and human rights groups across Canada.
Asper said, "The idea is that the museum should be a hub of museums of conscience in the world." She concluded, "The museum's website will reach tens of thousands of students around the world, and the museum should be a catalyst for conferences on human rights issues."
The campaign for the museum received a boost recently, when Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment chairman Larry Tanenbaum of Toronto donated $1 million to the project. He was joined by Jim Temerty, founder of Northland Power, and Toronto lawyer Donald MacDonald, who also contributed $1 million each.
In making his gift, Tanenbaum said, "The museum's potential role in educating youth inspired me. When the museum opens, it will help Canada's young people understand human rights violations of the past and what they can do to improve human rights for a better tomorrow. I urge others to contribute and to leave a lasting legacy that will impact tomorrow's leaders."
Rhonda Spivak is a Winnipeg freelance writer.
^TOP
|
