Canadian Museum for Human Rights

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Architect's rendering of the proposed museum
Architect's rendering of the proposed museum

The Canadian Museum for Human Rights (CMHR) is a proposed national museum to be built in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, at the historic Forks.

Contents

[edit] Proposed Site

The location of the museum was chosen primarily for four reasons:

  • The Forks, being the junction of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, has been a meeting place for thousands of years and is the place where First Nations peoples first assembled to settle disputes peacefully through negotiation. It will once again serve as a meeting place— this time for learning, reflection and fostering positive change in a global sense.
  • Winnipeg is located near the geographic centre of North America and has historically been seen as the Gateway to the West; it is ideal for the student travel program and accessible to people from around the world.
  • Winnipeg is a city of immigrants with dozens of ethnic and cultural communities - each of which has been touched by the issues that animate the field of human rights.

Another reason for locating in Winnipeg is that it is hometown of Izzy and Gail Asper and location of the Asper Foundation. Izzy and Gail Asper spearheaded the campaign to gain support for the museum, and Gail Asper continues to play a role in the museum's advancement after Izzy's passing.

[edit] Proposed Features

Although no museum-quality artifacts or objects have been identified for the proposed museum, the following activities have been enumerated to help spur potential interest in its realization.

  • The proposed museum will have educational and interactive components that chronicle Canada’s human rights journey, and will feature compelling stories and inspirational groups and individuals from around the world. The proposed museum's content will include both human rights triumphs and failures, as it is felt both are necessary to provide an honest and balanced account of the state of human rights through the ages.
  • The proposed museum will also be a forum for dialogue, where legislation such as the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms will be explained and discussed.
  • Historical events such as the Residential School placements will be explained through the unique storytelling techniques employed by Aboriginal Canadian elders.
  • The proposed museum will serve as an education facility for peacekeepers, where they will learn about the culture of other nations before they are deployed.
  • There will be an observatory with current (i.e real-time) information on human rights issues and situations from embedded journalists and activists situated around the world. Visitors will be able to access information about international rights groups and can immediately register to be advocates of these groups if they choose.
  • The proposed museum is meant to be a catalyst for action.[1]


[edit] Funding

The project began with the vision of the late Izzy Asper, the Canadian media magnate, who wanted to create a world-renowned museum in Western Canada; indeed, it may be the first Canadian national museum beyond the area of Canada's capital city, Ottawa. The proposed museum is also seen as an opportunity to further revitalize the downtown core of Winnipeg and the city's tourism industry.

The proposed design for the museum was designed by architect Antoine Predock, and features a "glass sculpture" stylization. The project has been primarily promoted by Izzy Asper's daughter, Gail Asper, and the Asper Foundation, which has committed C$20 million in funding.

The museum will be a national museum, run federally but the building will be built with funding from other levels of government and from the private sector. Specifically, the capital construction and fit-up costs, estimated to be C$265 million will be provided through $40 million in provincial contribution, $20 million in municipal contribution, $105 million raised through the private sector by the Friends of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights and $100 million from the federal government. The Canadian government will fund the operation of the museum, as a national museum, estimated at C$22 million annually.

The Forks Renewal Corporation and the City of Winnipeg are transferring land to the federal government on which the museum will be built.

Depending on funding, construction may begin in the fall of 2008 and the Museum is targeted to open in 2012.

[edit] Funding announcements timeline

  • April 17, 2003: Premier Gary Doer, on behalf of the Province of Manitoba, announced a provincial commitment of $6 million as part of a broader commitment that could result in up to 10% of the capital project – or $20 million.
  • April 17, 2003: The Forks North Portage Partnership announced its support in areas of design and planning and, together with the City of Winnipeg, a donation of an 8.0 acre site at The Forks.
  • January, 2006: The Asper Foundation announced a total donation of $20 million.
  • February 1, 2007: The Asper Foundation had raised $72 million from private donors leaving approximately $89 million to go.
  • April 20, 2007: Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced that the Canadian federal government would pay for building (price unknown) and the operating costs of the museum, which are estimated to be $22 million/year. This may make the proposed museum the first national museum outside of the National Capital Region and may mark the first time that three levels of government and private donors have joined to create a national museum.
  • February 1, 2008: all funding parties sign legally binding agreements to proceed with the museum project.
  • March 13, 2008: Legislation to Amend the Museums Act, creating the Canadian Museum for Human Rights as a national entity, received royal assent in Parliament.

[edit] Operations

In terms of economic impact, it is estimated that the museum will generate a minimum of C$171 million in direct expenditures and an estimated C$122.7 million in spin-off expenditures into the Canadian economy. 1,710 jobs may be created during construction, as well as 495 direct and indirect jobs annually by the third year of operations. An estimated 250,000 tourists are expected to visit the museum in the first year.

Half of the operational budget requested from the federal government will be allocated to fund a national student human rights education and travel program. This program, unique to the CMHR, may bring 20,000 Grade 9 students from across Canada by the second year of operations to participate in a special human rights educational trip.

The program is intended to make students aware of human rights issues, instill values of respect and tolerance and inspire them to become advocates for human rights in their respective communities and throughout their lives.

[edit] Controversy

The proposed museum is not without controversy.

[edit] Location

The proximity of the proposed museum site to some of the most socially and economically depressed areas of Winnipeg have been decried as "savage irony." (http://blog.uwinnipeg.ca/ius/archives/002804.html)

The location is set to be at the Forks, in Winnipeg, which is often regarded as a former aboriginal meeting place [2]. There is evidence that the proposed location will actually be on sacred burial ground [3], and building a human rights museum on sacred land will be a violation of aboriginal rights.

[edit] Naming

Some have suggested that placing the word "Canadian" in the museum's name doesn't make it a national museum. (http://thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=M1ARTM0012931)

The use of the term "museum" has been criticized as being misleading, since the institution is planned to be largely about education and dialogue, while museums have traditionally been repositories for scientific, historical, or artistic objects and artifacts. A more appropriate descriptor may be "institute". It's been suggested that the term "museum" has been cynically chosen for its appeal to potential tourism markets. Naming the museum "Manitoba Institute for Human Rights", though more realistic, certainly hasn't the marketing panache of the proposed alternative.

[edit] Costs

Some have argued that the significant construction and operational budgets could be used to fund actual efforts to advance and support human rights, especially for poverty and aboriginal rights in the neighbouring regions.

[edit] Bias

A group called Canadians for a Genocide Museum is "concerned the museum will not reflect the diversity of human suffering around the world" and that it will "focus mainly on the Holocaust." The group has suggested that such a museum be operated independently of the Asper Foundation. (http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2003/04/17/museum_asper030417.html)

The range of human rights to be discussed within this proposed forum have also ignited controversy. Challenges have been laid down on how the museum will address women's rights, and specifically abortion rights. How GLBTQ rights will be characterized has also been suggested as being a point of controversy. Given the biases of CanWest Global media properties against Palestinian human rights, this may also be an area of contention.

[edit] Conflicting Interests

The family promoting the proposed museum has also been subject to questions regarding its involvement regarding human rights. Izzy Asper had supported, for example, "the Israeli government policy of occupation and settlement" of Palestinian land. (http://www.cupe.bc.ca/files/thewall.pdf) The Asper family has also been seen as an opponent of the Geneva Convention, and "they have promoted war, torture and US unilateral interventions" through their expansive media holdings. (http://sundaymag.ca/index.php?id=237)

The Asper family has also muzzled the journalists working for its media operations, suggesting a less than tolerant attitude to freedom of speech and conscience. (http://republic-news.org/archive/69-repub/69_asper.html)

[edit] Mixed Popular Opinion

An Angus Reid poll taken in early 2007 shows that Canadians are split in their support for the museum, with 48% supporting the initiative and 41% opposing.

Projections of patronage in the order of 800,000 visitors per year have been cited, but criticised as being extremely optimistic and being many times the patronage of the largest museum currently in western Canada, the Glenbow Museum in the more populous city of Calgary.(http://www.angusreidstrategies.com/uploads/pages/pdfs/2007.05.03%20Museum%20Press%20Release.pdf) (http://www.angusreidstrategies.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=news&newsid=51&page=6)

[edit] Design

James Howard Kunstler featured the proposed museum design as the "Eyesore of the Month" in March, 2007, likening its appearance to a "wad of discarded scotch tape." (http://kunstler.com/eyesore_200703.html)

Artist Frieso Boning created an image titled "Winnipeg Trash Museum" which appears to be a criticism of the design of the proposed museum and of aspects of modern architecture in general. (http://www.aceart.org/wordpress/archview.php?p=627)

[edit] References

  1. ^ CMHR - Purpose
  2. ^ The Forks | History
  3. ^ Blanchard, J. (2002) A thousand miles of prairie. Winnipeg: U of Manitoba Press, p 202
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[edit] External links