Rubin: Price keeps climbing for Ottawa’s still-unfinished communism memorial

The Memorial to the Victims of Communism project has been controversial since it was first suggested during the Stephen Harper era.

Years later, it still has not been completed and public costs, once pegged at $1.5 million, are up millions more, to at least $7.5 million so far, according to documents I obtained using Access to Information legislation.

Almost from the start, the monument generated debate, with some saying it was too political or even too right-wing. So its original message was somewhat toned down, to “thank” Canada for being a place of refuge for peoples fleeing communist regimes. But it never was meant to be a monument recognizing Canada as a haven for refugees of all backgrounds fleeing injustice, oppression and persecution. It was about communism.

The Ottawa Citizen said the Tribute to Liberty group that promoted the memorial had contributed $1.5 million towards the project. The CBC reported the donors included some people and groups with known fascist ties. Some private donors will not see their names highlighted on the final memorial.

Then there was the contentious placement of the monument. Initially, it was to be constructed next to the Supreme Court of Canada and Archives Canada buildings, but some felt the site was too prominent and that the memorial conflicted with those institutions’ values.

The current site, selected in 2016-17 for a scaled-down monument, is still prominent: across Wellington Street and next to the Garden of the Provinces and Territories, which honours the component governments and peoples who make up Canada.

A Jan. 23, 2017 NCC-Canadian Heritage agreement with the Tribute to Liberty group was put in place in 2018. But there have been delays in building the scaled-down monument, attributed to the pandemic, though the difficulties started before then.

NCC records I obtained through access to information noted delays due to imprecise designs; a construction management model that allowed for starting such projects before design was complete; and the withdrawal of the design firm, Paul Raff Studio Inc., from the project.

An Oct. 5, 2021 NCC board of directors discussion noted that “financial considerations should be more precise in future design competitions.” The board authorized a contract of $3,761,650 to manufacture and install the artwork.

A payment of more than $625,000 went to Paul Raff Studio, which had won a design competition that cost the Department of Canadian Heritage $117,653.94 to run. Then the NCC, not satisfied with PRS’s work, embarked on a sole-source basis, giving the contract to Dymech, a metal fabricator, to do the artistic work. This led to changes in the artistic fabrication designs and the materials to be used. The art piece itself, the NCC estimated at $2.5 million.

The construction, now being done by Pomerleau Inc, has gone up in price from the initial 2018 estimated $1-million price tag. The NCC authorized an increase of more than $500,000 to Pomerleau, and a total construction project increase of $3,929,660. The escalating costs included problems with building the foundation needed to support the art sculpture installation.

NCC and Canadian Heritage spokespeople wrote to me in late May that the project will be completed by “late 2023,” saying that a total price tag of $7.5 million, authorized by the NCC on Oct. 5, 2021, still holds.

But it’s very likely going to be much higher. The NCC has not been willing to provide a fresh, detailed estimate. The costs of more than a decade-and-a-half of many agencies’ time spent on this file are not calculated in.

For now, the memorial site is a fenced-off area with a partial foundation that’s not likely to be open before 2024, given the long history of delays.

One 2022 NCC record notes that the setbacks “will have significant risk to the NCC’s reputation.”

Monument building in the capital has taken on a life of its own. Once again, the NCC’s ability to manage projects is at issue. Taking years to build, at excessive cost, with much controversy, the Victims of Communism memorial is Exhibit One.

–Ken Rubin is an Ottawa-based investigative writer.