Tribute to Liberty missed fundraising target for victims of communism memorial

• Victims of communism monument should be moved off controversial site, government says

According to documents obtained through access to information, Tribute to Liberty, the proponents of the Memorial to the Victims of Communism,committed to raise $1.26 million asits share of the $5.5 million project in an agreement with the Department of Canadian Heritage.

But by the April 2015 deadline outlined in that agreement, the group reportedto a steering committee that it had only raised $900,000.

"We are disappointed that to date only fourof the eightpledges of $100,000each have honoured their pledges,"the group's treasurerAlideForstmarris wrote in anApr.22 emailtoLorraine Pierce-Hull, the coordinator of commemorations and public art at the heritage department.

Project rebooted last week

The memorial project has been controversial even leading toa lawsuit over the location, as well as the size of the project. There have also been accusations the project lacked consultation with the City of Ottawa and other stakeholder groups.

Heritage MinisterMlanie Joly decided last week to reboot the project.

Jolynixed the decision to build it next to the Supreme Court of Canada, instead suggesting to the National Capital Commissionbuilditfarther west of Parliament Hill, in the Garden of the Provinces and Territories.

The government hascommitted to absorbing the cost ofretenderingthe design process for the site.Construction for the project has now been capped at $3 million, with Tribute to Liberty and theDepartment of Canadian Heritage splitting the cost.

The former agreement did not bind Tribute to Liberty to its fundraising commitment.

Ludwik Klimkowski, the chair of TTL, saidhis group should have no trouble raising the $1.5 million.

Confirmed donors drop

Raising private donations appeared tostall ahead of the federal election campaignas the controversy over the project grew, as suggested by email correspondence and notes from steering committee meetings that included representatives from the government departments, the National Capital Commission and Tribute to Liberty.

The cornerstone of the memorial was a Wall of Remembrance featuring 1,000 names of victims of communism "serving as a symbolic representation of the 100 million lives lost to communism worldwide," according to Tribute to Liberty.

Each name came with a $1,000 price tag, raised byindividuals, groups or family members.

Tribute to Liberty reported it had accumulated 481 names inan April email. But by the May 13meeting, the notes from the meeting state the groupcould only confirm under 300.

Klimkowski did not provide an update to that figure when reached on Tuesday,saying he preferred not to give a public number before his meeting with the Heritage Minister next month.

A spokesperson for the Department of Canadian Heritage says the ministry has so far spent $370,000 on "design competition, land surveys and threat/risk assessments for the old site.The National Capital Commission says ithas spent $75,000 to help on soil assessment and design, as well as human resources.