Donations for the Mother Canada statue planned for Cape Breton fell sharply in 2015, even before Parks Canada pulled its support for the project.

Tax records for the Never Forgotten National Memorial Foundation show donations fell by more than 40 per cent from 2014 to 2015.

The organization, which started the project to commemorate Canada's war dead, received $498,000 in donations in 2015. That was down from $865,000 in 2014.

Not enough funding

Parks Canada initially agreed to provide land at Green Cove in the Cape Breton Highlands National Park for the 24-metre statue. (Joan Weeks/CBC)

Parks Canada initially agreed to provide land at Green Cove in the Cape Breton Highlands National Park for the 24-metre statue. In February 2016, it withdrew that offer citing, among other things, the lack of funding available from the foundation.

Sharply divided views of the politics, planning, community impacts and what's appropriate for a memorial created a national controversy. Initial supporters included a former prime minister, celebrated artists and high-profile journalists. Those opposed to the Mother Canada memorial formed a group called Friends of Green Cove to fight the construction.

Five months later, the foundation's web site still says the statue will be located in Green Cove. No one from the Never Forgotten National Memorial Foundation returned CBC's request for information by late Monday.

Expenses down in 2015

The first phase of the memorial was estimated to cost $25 million and proponents expected it to be completed by

July 2017. The foundation ended 2015 with $21,337 in the bank. That's up from $6,215 the previous year.

Expenses for the project were down significantly in 2015 with total expenditures of $296,000. That includes $111,000 in

professional and consulting fees and $117,000 in unexplained expenses.

In 2014, the project`s expenses of $877,000 were more than its revenue of $865,000. Those expenses included $630,000 in unexplained costs and $143,000 in consulting fees.