[4] However, its volunteer Board of Directors[5] envisions a future when the PGC will partner with the federal government to secure an inspiring physical space in the National Capital Region.

Opportunities for innovative web-based, interactive exhibition and educational programs will be built into the PGC’s digital infrastructure and operations from the outset.

The PGC's Board of Directors does hope to build a world-class collection of portraits of the people of Canada, from all regions of the country and from all walks of life, in the future.

In 1904, Arthur George Doughty, the newly-appointed Dominion Archivist, began to include maps, flags, posters, portraits and other visual records to the nation’s growing collection of written material.

[7] Today, the LAC’s portrait collection includes over 20,000 paintings, drawings and prints, four million photographs and several thousand caricatures, as well as 10,000 medals and philatelic items.

Designated as a Classified Federal Heritage Building,[10] the former U.S. embassy is valued for its classic Beaux-Arts architecture and for its prime location directly across from Parliament Hill.

Dr. Lilly Koltun, head of LAC’s Art and Photography Division, was appointed director general and plans were put in place to expand the building with a modern wing.

Included in the design were administrative facilities, restoration laboratories, a lecture theatre and a rooftop café overlooking Parliament Hill.

[14] In 2006, despite five years of planning and $11 million dollars already invested in the project, the Government of Canada, under the leadership of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, stopped further work on the building, citing escalating costs.

“In this time of global economic instability, it is important that the federal government continue to manage its own affairs prudently and pragmatically,” stated Minister of Canadian Heritage James Moore in a media release.

[20] In August 2016, the Government of Canada, under the leadership of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, invited Canadians to provide their input and ideas on the future use of the former U.S.

Hunter, who was one of the driving forces in realizing the Ottawa Art Gallery’s new building, joined Senator Patricia Bovey, former director of the Winnipeg Art Gallery, to assemble an advisory group[5] of artists, designers, writers, historians, politicians, senators, journalists, lawyers, executives and business leaders from across Canada to make the case for the PGC.

The Right Honourable Beverley McLachlin, former chief justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, agreed to serve as the advisory group’s patron.

Artists featured were: Wally Dion, Christine Fitzgerald, Thaddeus Holownia, Ruth Kaplan, Peter Krausz, Arnaud Maggs, William Notman, Karen Stentaford, Stephen Stober, Robert Tombs and Herbert Taylor.

[31] Artists featured were: Jaime Black, Catherine Blackburn, Rande Cook, Erika DeFreitas, Danièle Dennis, Olivia Johnston, Séamus Gallagher, Jean-Sébastien Gauthier, Christina Hajjar, Laura Hudspith, Jocelyn Keays, Suzy Lake, Meryl McMaster, Zinnia Naqkvi, Annie France Noël, Dainesha Nugent-Palache, Laurence Philomène, Skawenatti and Sage Szkabarnicki-Stuart.