ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — The Newfoundland and Labrador government's purchase of four custom-built Victorian-style sofas for more than $136,000 shows "insensitivity" toward residents struggling to make ends meet, an opposition critic said Tuesday.

Progressive Conservative tourism critic Craig Pardy said he does not object to the $22-million renovation project to turn the historic Colonial Building in St. John's into a public museum and tourist attraction. "I know it's a huge part of our history," Pardy said in an interview Tuesday.

But spending $136,265 for four sofas inside the restored building is excessive when many in the province are struggling, he said: "I don't think that's a wise expenditure ... and I would suggest that they ought not to have been purchased."

Online tender documents show the government awarded a $136,265 contract to local firm Redwood Construction in November to build four "Bourne chairs" for the Colonial Building. Opened in 1850, the building housed the colonial government, and later the provincial legislature for the first 10 years after Newfoundland joined Confederation in 1949.

Tourism Minister Steve Crocker said the project to turn the site into a public museum and tourism destination began in 2009 and is on track to be complete in time for this summer's tourist season. The Bourne chairs will be part of the site's appeal, adding to its historical authenticity and feel, he said in an interview Monday.

He described the sofas as circular, with a length of about 2.4 metres and a back rest 1.2-metres high, and agreed they are shaped somewhat like nipples. Each one can sit up to 10 people, he said.

"This is not something you can go to a furniture store and buy. These are things that have to be created," Crocker said.

He acknowledged that at first blush, the $136,265 price tag for the chairs may seem high. "But you have to put it in context of what it is we're doing here," he said. "We have a building here in the city that dates back to 1850. And in order to put that in the repair, or in the situation, so that we can use it as a provincial historic site ... we have to put it back to what it was."

The building will be "a generator, for many, many years to come, of revenue for the province," he added.

Crocker said government staff should be applauded for keeping the overall Colonial Building project within budget rather than be criticized for contracting a local company to build replica sofas.

The controversy comes as the Newfoundland and Labrador government announced Tuesday it has contracted financial services company Rothschild & Co. to review the province's asset portfolio — which includes its liquor corporation and shares in oil and gas projects — and "assess how to best maximize its potential," a government news release said.

In May, a provincial economic recovery team estimated the province’s overall “financial exposure” at $47.3 billion, once the debt carried by province-owned corporations is factored in. The team suggested a review of provincial assets with an eye to possibly selling them off in order to pay off debt.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 14, 2021.

The Canadian Press