As chairman of Tribute to Liberty’s board, Klimkowski played an integral role in raising $1.5 million CAD to develop the monument. Donations were made initially as part of a virtual “buy a brick” campaign for a memorial element called “Pathways to Liberty,” wherein donors purchased bricks at a set price and could dedicate the bricks to commemorate alleged victims of communism. Ultimately, this component was shelved in favor of the Dedication Wall, which was to feature a list of donors who had contributed over $25,000 to the project (called the Donor Recognition Element), as well as a Wall of Remembrance featuring up to one thousand business-card-sized plaques, listing the names of alleged victims of communism. These nameplates represented donors who had provided between $1,000 and $24,999 to Tribute to Liberty.
According to a 2021 CBC News report, some of the donors include former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, and former Alberta Premier Jason Kenney. Kenney championed the project while he was a cabinet minister in Harper’s government. Senator Linda Frum, sister of Iraq War propagandist and Atlantic Senior Editor David Frum, is among the project’s legacy donors, having committed over $100,000 CAD.
The uncensored sections of the documents confirm Canadian Heritage knew hundreds of donors contributed with the understanding that their money would cover specific commemorative elements. Although Guilbeault decided to abandon the specific recognitions, there was no indication Canadian Heritage intended to refund the money to the project’s donors. When asked about this, Czajkowski told Jacobin that TTL transferred the money they collected to the NCC, not Canadian Heritage. She referred to all questions concerning refunds — including whether TTL had asked for one — back to the charity.
While hundreds of private donors may have contributed to the monument’s price tag, taxpayers nevertheless were on the hook for the lion’s share of the cost, covering about $6 million of the $7.5 million total.
As reported by CBC News in 2021, some of those listed as “victims of communism” were in fact suspected war criminals, Nazi collaborators, and other assorted fascists. Names listed for commemoration on TTL’s website included Roman Shukhevych, Ante Pavelić, and the Order of Vitéz. Shukhevych led the wartime Ukrainian Insurgent Army, which was responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of Belarusians, Jews, Poles, and Ukrainians. Pavelić led the Ustaša, the fascist movement that ran the Independent State of Croatia, a Nazi puppet state chiefly responsible for the Holocaust in the Balkans. Vitéz members organized and benefited from the Holocaust in Hungary and then became leaders of the Hungarian Nazi puppet state late in the war.