When tourism and culture are key contributors to our local economy, municipal support for the heritage sector is direct economic development.
Whitehorse city council’s August 27 decision to reject a partnership with a trio of established local museums was fiscally short-sighted.
The city encourages community groups to form partnerships to pool their strengths and more effectively access limited funding. Recently, the Yukon Transportation Museum, Old Log Church Museum, and Copperbelt Railway and Mining Museum did just that.
They collaborated on a project that would see each museum develop the strategic and collections plans that would ensure their long-term operation and financial health.
The group requested $10,000 to augment $150,000 in other resources to show municipal buy-in, but council turned down their application and denied their partnership.
I understand that council will shortly be reviewing their decision to withhold support. When they do so, I urge them to consider the long-term economic benefits of investing in this project, versus the short-term savings to a city that just reported strong fiscal health.
Michael Kokiw
Candidate for Whitehorse city council