Thank you very much for the question, which obviously is a very good one. I'll be frank. This is a project that I've been working on for some time, actually since just after the last election campaign, so for about 18 months. I thought about it prior to that, and it's my initiative. When we launched the museum, we started talking to people about the idea of the museum. Any time there's change to anything—and we're talking about changing Canada's largest museum—there's always a little bit of hesitation.
When I outlined what it is we plan to do, how it is we plan to change the mandate, and the amount of the investment we were talking about, there was instant buy-in. I understand the nature of question period and politics and criticizing priorities and people saying we should do this instead of that. That's fine. That's the nature of democracy. It's not a big deal. However, I think on its own, this proposal has had the support of many, among them, Yves Fortier, who is a member of the Historica-Dominion board of directors, Michael Bliss, and John McAvity of the Canadian Museums Association. People all across the country have come out very enthusiastically and aggressively. It has the endorsement of all of Canada's major national daily newspapers which have all come out and supported this.
I frankly have encountered no opposition. The only opposition to this idea comes from those who would suggest that this money should be spent on other priorities. Again, that's fine. But I think, taken on its own, it's hard to imagine that this country ought not to have an institution that is equal in quality, value, reach, and mandate to the Smithsonian in the United States or the German Historical Museum in Germany or other institutions like those around the world.
Whenever I give speeches on culture, I often remind people that Canada is the second largest country in the world, but in terms of population, we're actually the 34th largest country in the world. We have a lot of divisions, and we know that in this country: east and west, north and south, French and English. There are all kinds of divisions that have always been a challenge in the governing of this country. I've always been a firm believer that these divisions can never be overcome unless we understand each other's individual and shared history.
That's what the opportunity from now until 2017 is all about. We have to have institutions that have a structure at arm's length from government, that are free from partisanship, and that are free from interference. The Museums Act guarantees that. But institutions can have those dialogues and have those debates, and that's what this is about.
Your question of cost is an important one, because we're talking about the budget. The $25 million that we're investing in this is a one-time investment from the Government of Canada. That $25 million is not being taken out of anybody else's pocket. As you all know, we have reduced the budget of the CBC. There is no CBC money going to this museum. This is separate money and is not from that. This is money that was earmarked back during our economic action plan towards events that would speak to Canada's priorities for 2017. This is not money that's coming from other people's pockets.