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More than half of Canada’s sitting senators have asked Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to create a National Portrait Gallery in the former U.S. embassy building that faces Parliament Hill.
In a letter released Tuesday, 55 of the 99 senators say they’d like to see 100 Wellington St. turned into a gallery like those in London, Washington and Canberra. The cross-party support came after four senators voiced support for the idea in the Red Chamber, including independent Sen. Doug Black.
“I think we should tell our story in the most prominent, visible, public location that we can, and it’s right at the centre of the national capital,” Black told the Citizen.
In the last three weeks, even as the Senate struggled through tense filibusters over government bills and accusations of hyper-partisanship, Black’s staff called each senator’s office, asking for support for the gallery proposal. As of Tuesday afternoon, the list includes 55 names, though Black said the number had gone up to 60 by the evening.
“Imagine getting 60 senators on the same page. It’s fabulous,” he said.
Two of the senators from Ottawa seemed split on the proposal, with Kim Pate included in the afternoon list, but not Vern White. Neither could be reached late Tuesday.
The letter says Library and National Archives Canada is sitting on “the second largest collection of portraits in the world” with more than 20,000 paintings.
Adorned with a Canada 150 logo, the letter from the senators says a national gallery “must reflect artistic works of all origins and cultures, indigenous as much as immigrant artists.”
The building on Wellington Street is owned by Public Services and Procurement Canada, which asked 7,000 Canadians online last fall how it should be used. The department narrowed down six ideas, including a gallery, museum and indigenous cultural centre. “An announcement on the future use of 100 Wellington is expected in 2017,” the department says online.
The senators’ letter said young people disproportionately visit similar American and British galleries, but the government’s polling found support for a gallery low among millennials, and high among those aged 55 or older.
Black admits the gallery is “far from a slam dunk,” but calls himself “an Alberta senator and an optimist.”
The building has been a federal heritage building in 1985. Jean Chrétien’s Liberal government slated it for a national portrait gallery in 2001, but prime minister Stephen Harper halted those plans shortly after taking office in 2006.
“I recognize that it’s an expensive undertaking. I understand that not everybody is in favour of creating a gallery,” Black said.
Neither Public Services and Procurement Canada nor the Prime Minister’s Office had an immediate response to the letter.
查看原文...
In a letter released Tuesday, 55 of the 99 senators say they’d like to see 100 Wellington St. turned into a gallery like those in London, Washington and Canberra. The cross-party support came after four senators voiced support for the idea in the Red Chamber, including independent Sen. Doug Black.
“I think we should tell our story in the most prominent, visible, public location that we can, and it’s right at the centre of the national capital,” Black told the Citizen.
In the last three weeks, even as the Senate struggled through tense filibusters over government bills and accusations of hyper-partisanship, Black’s staff called each senator’s office, asking for support for the gallery proposal. As of Tuesday afternoon, the list includes 55 names, though Black said the number had gone up to 60 by the evening.
“Imagine getting 60 senators on the same page. It’s fabulous,” he said.
Two of the senators from Ottawa seemed split on the proposal, with Kim Pate included in the afternoon list, but not Vern White. Neither could be reached late Tuesday.
The letter says Library and National Archives Canada is sitting on “the second largest collection of portraits in the world” with more than 20,000 paintings.
Adorned with a Canada 150 logo, the letter from the senators says a national gallery “must reflect artistic works of all origins and cultures, indigenous as much as immigrant artists.”
The building on Wellington Street is owned by Public Services and Procurement Canada, which asked 7,000 Canadians online last fall how it should be used. The department narrowed down six ideas, including a gallery, museum and indigenous cultural centre. “An announcement on the future use of 100 Wellington is expected in 2017,” the department says online.
The senators’ letter said young people disproportionately visit similar American and British galleries, but the government’s polling found support for a gallery low among millennials, and high among those aged 55 or older.
Black admits the gallery is “far from a slam dunk,” but calls himself “an Alberta senator and an optimist.”
The building has been a federal heritage building in 1985. Jean Chrétien’s Liberal government slated it for a national portrait gallery in 2001, but prime minister Stephen Harper halted those plans shortly after taking office in 2006.
“I recognize that it’s an expensive undertaking. I understand that not everybody is in favour of creating a gallery,” Black said.
Neither Public Services and Procurement Canada nor the Prime Minister’s Office had an immediate response to the letter.
查看原文...
