Horgan said the costly task was the “wrong decision at the wrong time” and that the government had heard opposition from British Colombians “loudly and clearly”. “I made the wrong call,” he said. “I got a call when British Colombians were thinking of other concerns.” Horgan explained that the British Colombians were reluctant to accept a $ 800 million price for the project, as the province faces a shortage of doctors, rising living costs and other critical issues stemming from the pandemic. A poll released last week by the Angus Reid Institute found that 69 per cent of British Colombians oppose the plan. The museum upgrade, announced in May, includes plans to demolish and rebuild the museum in Victoria over nearly a decade. The prime minister said the province is now “returning to the plan” and the museum will remain open indefinitely. He announced that an extensive consultation process would be launched to ensure that British Colombians have the opportunity to provide information on how to upgrade the Royal Museum BC. Horgan said he does not support a renovation and still strongly believes the building needs to be rebuilt. Tourism Minister Melanie Mark defended the reconstruction, describing the museum in its current state as “non-functional”. He said it needed seismic upgrades, it was full of hazardous materials such as asbestos and lead, inaccessible to people with disabilities and structurally inadequate to maintain its current collection or host large exhibits. Exterior of the Royal British Columbia Museum in Victoria in 2021. (Mike McArthur / CBC) Following criticism of the museum’s reconstruction plans, the province released more than 2,300 partially adapted pages of reports and annexes supporting the work in question to explain why a complete reconstruction is needed.
