This is actually a very important issue, particularly for those in Winnepeg, but it does have pan-Canadian consequences because this museum is a really important one.
The Canadian Museum for Human Rights process was started some years ago. It started under the previous Liberal government. Verbal agreements were made by Prime Minister Chrétien. Monetary commitments, and political commitments, for lack of a better word in the right sense, were made by Prime Minister Martin. We said that if we won the election in 2006, our government would honour those commitments and move forward with the museum, and we have done so.
When we decided to support the creation of this museum, it was a $100 million capital investment by the Government of Canada. At the time it was originally $20 million a year to operate it, I think. The money to operate it has now been increased to about $21.7 million, but the $100 million capital to build it has remained the same. The museum has encountered many challenges going forward on the cost of building it.
The original budget to build the building itself was $240 million and it's now $351 million. Many of those costs were, frankly, unforeseen, particularly the cost of steel. There were also some issues with the ground and the weight of the museum and architectural design. There were some challenges. It's one of those things that taxpayers get frustrated about very quickly. Unfortunately, it is what it is, but we have done our best to mitigate the costs. We have come up with a solution to this that maintains the budget of the Government of Canada and our commitment to the museum without putting new costs onto taxpayers.
The $100 million hard cash commitment to build the museum remains what it is. The $21.7 million per year cost to operate the museum remains what it is. What we have done, and this is reflected in the supplementary estimates, is to ensure the museum will open on time as planned, which is at the end of 2014, if memory serves. The original plan to have the museum open when it was planned to open will be maintained.
What we have done is we have taken the $21.7 million in operating costs, an annual cost that is part of the A-base funding of the Government of Canada—so it's simply another national museum with its annual cost—and we have taken its operating costs for the coming few years and we have cut them in half. We've taken the half of operating funding that was going to be in the coming five or six years and lumped it together into one sum and paid it forward, essentially. In the years going forward—the coming five years—its operating cash is going to be cut in half, but then it will spike back up once we get to the year when the advances are all paid.
We thought it was a responsible way to deal with an unforeseen challenge without putting new pressures on Canada's fiscal situation.
The museum will open on time with the mandate that Parliament has given it, with no new cost to taxpayers, and the museum can go forward. Again, this is a museum. It's a pretty remarkable financial success story. About two-thirds of the cost of building the $351-million building are not being borne by the Government of Canada, yet it's a Government of Canada museum. Most of those costs are being borne by the private sector, by those who believe passionately that Canada should have an institution that talks about human rights both at home and abroad. Support has come from the City of Winnepeg, and the Province of Manitoba. Other provinces as well have kicked in money for this. The Friends of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights have done a brilliant job of fundraising and making sure this is a success.
It's an important topic and I thank you for raising it because I know a lot of people, when it comes to the museum, the funding and what's going on, it's a pretty intense debate. In Winnepeg people have a clear understanding of what we've done and why, and it's been well received. The NDP provincial government has been great to work with on this project, as has Winnipeg's mayor and city hall.
I also know this is an issue that all Canadians want to see fixed and remedied to a successful outcome when it opens in two years, and I think we're there.