Canada's national portrait gallery should be located in Calgary instead of Ottawa as a "statement about Canada's nationhood," says the president of the western city's performing arts centre.

Colin Jackson, president of Calgary's Epcor Centre for the Performing Arts, said he has heard the portrait gallery will be located in a building being built in downtown Calgary by energy giant Encana — which is consistent with information brought up by Ottawa MP Paul Dewar in the House of Commons last week.

Dewar said he expects the federal government to make a formal announcement about the project before the end of the year.

'It makes an awful lot of sense as a statement about our nationhood … This is something that's a national enterprise, not just an Ottawa enterprise.'-Colin Jackson, president of Calgary's Epcor Centre for the Performing Arts

The government has not yet confirmed any details about the location of the gallery, which would display the highlights of a portrait collection held by Library and Archives Canada.

Jackson said there are many reasons the gallery should be in the same city as Prime Minister Stephen Harper's own home riding of Calgary southwest — and not in the historic U.S. embassy building in Ottawa that was its original proposed location.

"Our culture is our culture from sea to sea to sea," Jackson said.

"It makes an awful lot of sense as a statement about our nationhood.… This is something that's a national enterprise, not just an Ottawa enterprise."

He added that Calgary is near the Banff Centre, one of the country's major art schools, while Ottawa "is not — I'm sorry to report — the national capital of culture."

In Calgary, he said, the portrait gallery would be a valuable teaching tool for the art school.

Project 'tainted' by secrecy: Dewar

Dewar said he has no problem with the gallery being moved to Calgary, but said the move would be "tainted" by the secrecy around it. 

Dewar added that he would like the government to discuss its plans for the gallery openly before it is too late to change those plans.

"This is about our national treasures and they're not up for sale," he added. "And to say that these should be housed in a private headquarters of an oil company is something I think needs discussion."

But Jackson said private negotiations would be normal practice if Encana is funding a significant part of the project.

He added that he thinks it's a good idea to encourage private companies to offer public amenities such as day-cares and galleries in private buildings.