REGINA – Imagine if the historic Territorial Building on Dewdney Avenue, now vacant, had been transformed into a shrine to the province’s political history.
It was proposed by the Sask. Party government in 2013, but ultimately rejected by the treasury board.
The Opposition NDP still isn’t letting go of the proposal, saying time spent on developing a ‘Premier’s Library’ by a former top government staffer was a waste of resources.
“I think this is about having something shiny and new (Premier Brad Wall) could cut the ribbon on,” said Warren McCall, NDP MLA for Regina Elphinstone-Centre.
The proposal would have been modeled after the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum in the United States or the Australian Museum of Democracy.
“It’s part of a pattern of misplaced priorities.”
Plans briefly resurfaced in the fall, taking the form of a Museum of Democracy. Those didn’t get the go-ahead either.
“It just wasn’t the right time to move forward with it,” said Lin Gallagher, Parks, Culture and Sport deputy minister. “Would it be in the Territorial Building? Would it be a virtual (online) museum? There were lots of questions.”
The information and privacy commissioner stonewalled an NDP freedom-of-information request, saying the government doesn’t need to share its proposal for the Premier’s Library.
McCall calls it a project of vanity.
“It’s part of a pattern of misplaced priorities,” he told reporters. “The people of Saskatchewan need to know what the government is doing with its time and money.”
Gallagher said there are no plans to revive the idea of a political museum or library, but wouldn’t completely rule it out.
As for the Territorial Building, she said there are still attempts to find a use for it. For now, it will continue to sit empty.
SEE BELOW: A May 2013 proposal for the Premier’s Library of Saskatchewan (highlighting by NDP)