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The federal government has never revealed how much the property is worth. The $1-million estimate came from comments made last summer by Ludwik Klimkowski, chair of Tribute to Liberty, the charity formed in 2008 to raise money for the memorial.

At the time, Klimkowski told the Citizen that Tribute to Liberty had signed a memorandum of understanding with three federal departments to provide about $4 million in total support for the project.

Two of the departments — Canadian Heritage and Citizenship and Immigration — contributed a total of $3 million and Public Works provided the land but no money, suggesting an approximate value of $1 million for the site.

The Citizen asked Public Works this week for its valuation of the property, which will remain in public ownership after the memorial is built. In an email, the department replied: “No valuation has been undertaken as the land is not being disposed of.”

In an interview Thursday, Padolsky said it was “incredible” that the department would commit a prime piece of public land without telling Public Works Minister Diane Finley how much it was worth.

“They would have to have a handle on it,” he said. “They are stewards of the federal property portfolio. They have got to have a good command of all aspects of it.”

In his letter to Harper, Padolsky says the true cost of the memorial to taxpayers is at least $20 million, based on the most conservative estimate of the land value, the $3 million federal contribution and other undisclosed costs such as annual maintenance, contingencies and the national competition that selected the winning monument design.