In some small way, the next time you open a bottle of wine with dinner or crack open a beer on your deck, you're making a contribution to the Canadian Museum for Human Rights.
The Manitoba Liquor Control Commission is donating $1 million to the museum, according to its chair, Carmen Neufeld. She said the unique $265-million project represents a once-in-a-lifetime philanthropic opportunity for the Crown corporation.
"The museum will put Manitoba on the map not only in Canada but internationally," she said. "(The donation) will pay back exponentially over the years. They're anticipating 250,000 visitors annually, that will translate into more hotel room stays, more people going out for meals, more people buying our product and more people visiting other tourism sites in Winnipeg."
The MLCC is being joined by Manitoba Public Insurance, which is also committing $1 million to the museum.
Brian Smiley, media relations co-ordinator at Manitoba Public Insurance, confirmed it is providing $500,000 immediately and $500,000 a year from now.
He said Manitobans need not fret that their car insurance rates will go up as a result of the donation as the money is coming from the "special risk extension" side of its business.
"This donation will have zero impact on our Autopac rate fares," he said.
Smiley said the special risk extension division competes with private insurance companies to insure other lines of business, such as international trucking firms.
At last count, Gail Asper and her team were about $17 million short of their $105-million goal for private fundraising.
Neufeld said there are no plans as of yet to hold a public event for the donation.
"We're not looking for huge recognition for the cheque we're cutting. We're looking at this as something we should be doing because it's good for the province. We're not looking for a big splashy thank you. It's the right thing to do," she said.
Shannon Martin, Manitoba director of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, said the museum is a worthy public project, but he's not sure it's the mandate of Crown corporations like MPI to use ratepayers dollars to fund them, especially when the province just raised vehicle registration costs by $20 a year.
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