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This article was published 14/6/2017 (1199 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA — While everyone knows when Canada is celebrating its 150th bash, Ottawa is unable to say how much of its birthday money will be spent in Manitoba.

Preliminary spending figures suggest Manitoba — and the rest of the western provinces — are getting far less to celebrate the country’s milestone than peers Ontario, Quebec and Prince Edward Island.

"Manitoba’s got next to nothing," said Kevin Waugh, the Conservative Party’s deputy heritage critic.

The Liberal government has allocated $500 million to celebrate the country’s sesquicentennial, with $300 million for infrastructure projects and $200 million for heritage events.

Of the $300-million infrastructure fund, $92.4 million has been allotted to the western provinces.

The agency responsible for distributing that money — Western Economic Diversification — publishes all the grants it awards, but says it can’t narrow down those which fall under Canada 150 and how much of the fund each province is getting.

Similarly, Canadian Heritage is granting $200 million to events and commemorations, but claims it will take more than a week for a complete province-by-province breakdown, although it was able to provide the Manitoba figures.

Half of the $200-million heritage fund will go to national projects, while the other half is allocated to local communities. Of that, $85 million has been awarded to 575 projects so far, including more than $3 million for 22 projects in Manitoba.

The majority — $1.5 million — is going toward the 2017 Canada Summer Games, of which Winnipeg is the host city.

Waugh questioned how spending on the Games can be credited toward the country’s sesquicentennial since the Games are a recurring event funded by the the federal government. He said he believes the government rebranded its normal spend as part of the anniversary.

According to Canada 150 guidelines, any funded events must be "new and specifically designed to celebrate" the anniversary and "recurring events must show how the activities will be substantially different in 2017."

Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly’s spokesman, Pierre-Olivier Herbert, insists the $1.5 million will only go to special events at the Games that deal with Confederation. "We don’t fund things that would happen otherwise," he said.

According to department documents, the money is earmarked for the Games festival and opening and closing ceremonies.

The opposition parties have panned the Canada 150 funding as a slush fund for one-time events, such as a $2.5-million New Year’s Eve concert on Parliament Hill and a $198,000 red leather sofa touring the country as part of a documentary project.

Waugh also mocked Saturday’s announcement of $1,600 for the City of Winnipeg to plant 200 trees and 200 shrubs. "We’re three weeks to July 1. Is this it? Are they out of money?"

Peter Cantelon, head of the Canadian Fossil Discovery Centre in Morden, says Canada 150 funds should be used for the unglamorous role of preservation.

"Any money that is going into a celebration is not heritage funding, it’s a party," he said.

Cantelon said buildings went up all across Canada in 1967, including Winnipeg’s Centennial Concert Hall. "In another 50 years there will still be evidence of that money... but there will be none for Canada 150."

Download Canada 150 projects in Manitoba

He said there’s a trend for national funds to favour larger provinces and within Manitoba to favour Winnipeg — which has 94 per cent of the previously announced Canada 150 funding but accounts for 55 per cent of the province’s population.

"When you’re already struggling to get your share of Canada 150 within a province and a lot of that goes to Winnipeg, it exacerbates the disproportionate share of funding," Cantelon said. "Heritage is one of those areas that takes a backseat to virtually everything else."

Claudette Leclerc, executive director of the Manitoba Museum, unsuccessfully applied for Canada 150 funding. She said the government has maintained grants for non-anniversary projects.

For example, she said, the federal government has funded her institution’s upkeep and expansion of Alloway Hall through regular Canadian heritage grants that fall outside of Canada 150.

"They made a conscious decision for it not to be about building infrastructure and to be about a celebration — and that’s their prerogative," she said. "I think 150 carries with it some magnitude and weight."

While Ottawa is refusing to release its latest spending plans for Canada 150 funding, a January summary of the heritage grants, disclosed through access-to-information laws, showed the program’s per capita funding for Manitoba was just $2.35, below the national average of $3.98.

By comparison, Ontario’s was at $5.63, Quebec $4.24 and Prince Edward Island $20.97.

The Free Press asked the department last week for a more recent breakdown of funding, but the department said it would need more time.

dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca