Ottawa residents and Ontario taxpayers are funding one of Canada's most iconic cultural institutions — but the Ford government won't let them see what a secret financial audit found about it.
The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) in Toronto was the subject of a deep-dive financial review completed by global consultancy Ernst & Young near the end of 2022. Queen's Park commissioned the audit after concerns arose about the museum's finances. Now, more than three years later, the province is refusing to release the report — even as questions swirl about what's inside.
What We Know About the Report
According to reporting from Global News, the Ernst & Young audit raised eyebrows for at least one explosive reason: it reportedly floated the idea of selling off ROM artifacts as a financial solution.
The ROM is home to more than 13 million objects spanning art, culture, and natural history. The notion of deaccessioning items from its collection — particularly under government pressure — would be deeply controversial in the museum world and among Ontarians who consider the ROM a public trust.
The Ford government has declined to make the report public, citing confidentiality. Critics argue that taxpayers who fund provincial cultural institutions have a right to know what direction their government was considering.
Why This Matters for Ottawa
This isn't just a Toronto story. The ROM is an Ontario institution — and provincial cultural policy decisions made at Queen's Park affect residents across the entire province, including Ottawa.
The province provides significant public funding to major cultural institutions. If a government-commissioned report was recommending monetizing public collections, that sets a troubling precedent for how the Ford government views publicly owned heritage assets — from museums to archives to conservation lands.
Ottawa has its own rich ecosystem of museums and galleries, many of which receive provincial support. The secrecy around the ROM audit raises legitimate questions about whether similar reviews have been conducted elsewhere, and what recommendations may have been quietly shelved — or quietly acted upon.
Calls for Transparency
Opposition MPPs have pushed for the report's release, arguing that suppressing a publicly funded audit contradicts basic principles of government accountability. The museum itself has not publicly commented on the contents of the report.
Arts and culture advocates across Ontario have raised concerns that the province's handling of the ROM situation reflects a broader tension between fiscal conservatism and the public stewardship of cultural heritage.
What Happens Next
So far, the Ford government shows no sign of releasing the report. Without it, Ontarians — including Ottawa residents with a stake in how their province treats public institutions — are left to speculate about what Ernst & Young actually found, and what the government may have seriously considered doing about it.
For a province with world-class museums and a rich cultural identity, that's a transparency problem worth watching.
Source: Global News Ottawa. Read the original report.
