$33M pledged for Métis heritage centre

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This article was published 15/10/2022 (801 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Manitoba Métis Federation has pulled in more than $33 million in federal and provincial funding to build a heritage centre in downtown Winnipeg.

Federal Northern Affairs Minister Dan Vandal, also MP for St. Boniface-St. Vital, announced $23.1 million in federal money Saturday for the Métis National Heritage Centre in an address at the federation’s annual general meeting.

“This is a one of a kind heritage centre for education here in Manitoba, here in Winnipeg, and at Portage and Main — our city’s, our province’s most important corner, one of Canada’s most important corners, where there will forever be a… strong Métis presence, describing and explaining the past, the present, and most importantly, the future,” Vandal said Saturday.

The federal government has already put $5.1 million toward the planned heritage centre, which will be constructed in the old Bank of Montreal building at the southeast corner of Portage and Main.

The federation and BMO struck a deal for the sale of the historic building in May 2020 for the centre.

The provincial government is also contributing $10 million to the project, Premier Heather Stefanson said in a pre-recorded video address to the assembly Saturday.

“The Red River Métis founded this province and the MMF continues to support thousands of Métis citizens and families to create a better life for their children and their grandchildren,” she said.

The centre will showcase Métis history with workshops, artifacts and photo exhibits, along with traditional and contemporary arts, Vandal said in a news release.

The $23.1 million in federal cash is being pulled from the Green and Inclusive Community Buildings program. Further details of the provincial funding were not available Sunday.

The project will include “large reductions” in greenhouse gas emissions, energy savings and accessibility components that “will exceed current standards,” according to the news release.

Federation president David Chartrand said at the time the deal was struck that the iconic intersection, which was the intersection of two major Red River Cart trails, was the ideal place to ground the Métis legacy.

“It is symbolic that when you stand inside our new heritage centre at the corner of Portage and Main and look through the doors, you are facing Northwest into our Homeland. This is the corner where all roads westward began,” he said in a statement Saturday.

The historic building at the corner of Portage Avenue and Main Street was built in 1913, as part of the city’s original bankers’ row.

Bank of Montreal staff were to have cleared out in the spring of 2020, hastened by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The bank announced plans in the fall of 2019 to move its staff across the street to the office tower at 201 Portage Ave.

The deal with the federation was then announced publicly on May 12, 2020, the 150th anniversary of the province’s founding.

The federation has not yet said when the heritage centre will open.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @erik_pindera