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The amount of taxpayer money allotted to the Memorial to the Victims of Communism has ballooned to more than $4.2 million — 41 per cent more than the $3 million the federal government has publicly disclosed.

At the same time, the expected contribution from Tribute to Liberty, the charity formed in 2008 to raise money for the controversial memorial, has shrunk to $1,261,550.

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And Tribute to Liberty is struggling to reach even that reduced target, according to the Department of Canadian Heritage, the lead department on the project.

The numbers appear in an as-yet unsigned memorandum of understanding (MOU) between Canadian Heritage, Public Works and Government Services, Citizenship and Immigration Canada and the National Capital Commission obtained by the Citizen under access to information.

The MOU sets out their roles and responsibilities with respect to the proposed $5.5-million memorial, to be built on a 5,000-square-metre site on Wellington Street just west of the Supreme Court. It includes a breakdown of each participant’s financial responsibilities.