When reached by phone today, Vancouver NPA councillor Elizabeth Ball said she had just read an article about the Vancouver Art Gallery on the Straight website.

It concerned Sport and Cultural Development Minister Coralee Oakes's statement that the province won't include $50 million in next year's budget to help fund a new VAG on the Larwill Park site in downtown Vancouver.

"Although I respect the minister for stating what is a fact—at the moment, it's not in the budget—things move around, times change, and I'm quite sure the art gallery] will proceed," Ball said.

In April, city council granted approval-in-principle for the art gallery to move to the large city-owned parking lot bounded by Cambie, West Georgia, Beatty, and Dunsmuir streets. However, one of the conditions is that the province contribute $50 million on top of a $50-million gift in 2008.

The council-imposed deadline for $50 million in provincial funding and $100 million in federal funding is April 30, 2015.

So does the province's refusal to offer more funding mean the project is dead?

"Oh, absolutely not," Ball responded. "Absolutely not."

The NPA councillor said that the city could have a "very positive effect" if civic officials communicated in a friendly manner with the provincial government, rather than engaging in "ongoing attacks" in the council chamber.

"I think there's a way of asking for something that you need or that's important without making the government of the day—whatever the government is—look bad," Ball said. "It's human nature, right? People are going to want to help things that are going to make everybody feel better about things as opposed to making them feel worse."

She cited the example of her and then-mayor Sam Sullivan approaching federal officials to obtain funding for the renovation of the Cultch in East Vancouver. She also claimed that Premier Christy Clark is keenly interested in arts and culture, noting that under her leadership, the B.C. Arts Council's funding rose sharply.

"I know that the premier is extremely informed," Ball said. "The other evening, I was at the symphony with her. She was speaking to [conductor and composer] Bramwell Tovey in the most knowledgeable way about music, about instruments. And so I think what we have here is a premier who understands the needs of the rest of the province to buy into something that really does affect them and that they need. And when they understand how important it is, I believe that things will move forward."