Richmond Municipal Council voted to support the Inverness County Asylum Commemoration Project.
At last night’s regular monthly meeting in Arichat, council approved a recommendation from its committee-of-the-whole session to defer a $9,000 funding request to budget deliberations.
Council also voted to authorize the signing of a joint project request for provincial support, and acknowledge the municipality’s role in the project by passing a resolution to engage the municipal IDEA Committee in the project.
District 3 Councillor Brian Marchand voted against both motions.
Richmond Municipal Building in Arichat
Following a presentation at the committee-of-the-whole session by Inverness CAO Keith MacDonald and Inverness County’s Director of Culture and Community Development Morgan Murphy, Marchand said he had problems with “public statements” made about Richmond County’s involvement with the history of the asylum.
At the time, Marchand said officials and families thought they were doing what was best for those who resided at the facility.
The District 3 Councillor also expressed doubts that the provincial government would be willing to provide $50,000 in funding for the project given the size of the fiscal deficit estimated by Nova Scotia’s Department of Finance.
