Holocaust museum gets $100,000 from Ottawa for expansion

Liberal MP Anthony Housefather, centre, attends an announcement at the Montreal Holocaust Museum with its president, Dorothy Zalcman Howard, left, and executive director, Daniel Amar, in Montreal on Aug. 28.

The Montreal Holocaust Museum (MHM) has received a $100,000 grant from the federal government to help with the fundraising for, and marketing of, its planned new location in downtown Montreal.

In making the announcement on Aug. 28, Liberal MP Anthony Housefather noted that the MHM has “witnessed a surge in visitors in recent years and there is a growing demand for its educational services and programming.”

The funding comes from the Heritage Ministry’s Community Capacity Building – Community Support, Multiculturalism, and Anti-Racism Initiatives Program.

Housefather added that the new money is in addition to the $39,000 the MHM received in 2018-19, under the Museums Assistance Program, and the $257,645 the year before under the multiculturalism project.

“I am thrilled that the MHM continues to receive significant federal funding to provide genocide education and teach all Montrealers about what can happen when anti-Semitism and other forms of hatred are allowed to flourish,” he stated. “I strongly support the project to expand the museum and this $100,000 is an important start.”

MHM executive director Daniel Amar said that, “This significant grant recognizes and reinforces the museum’s role as a social actor raising awareness about the universal perils of anti-Semitism, hatred and discrimination. This amount will allow us to take the first steps towards opening an expanded museum in downtown Montreal, while developing our outreach, marketing and communications.”