Good afternoon, Mr. Chair and members.
We are very honoured by this invitation and pleased to be given the opportunity to present our suggestions as part of your study of Canada's 150th anniversary in 2017. I'm going to check my notes to make sure I stay within the 10-minute time limit.
The commemorative celebrations in 2017 will undoubtedly afford a unique opportunity to highlight important events in the development of our nation and the remarkable accomplishments of Canadians. Museums of all sizes across the country have a special role to play in preparing for these celebrations. The heritage they preserve, the history they share, the research they conduct, the works they display, the artistic presentations they organize and the partnerships they develop are just some of the contributions museums make to promoting a better understanding and appreciation of the history and achievements of Canadians.
Like every other museum, Exporail, the Canadian Railway Museum, is committed to protecting and promoting heritage—-in our case, a railway heritage that is of particular significance to contemporary society and future generations. Exporail is Canada's largest railway museum and, in the opinion of museologists, one of the finest in the world. The museum celebrated its 50th anniversary on July 21, a date that also marked another important Canadian event: the 175th anniversary of the launch of Canada's first public railway linking La Prairie, on Montreal's South Shore, with Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu.
The museum houses a treasure of national interest: the collection of the Canadian Railroad Historical Association. Owner and operator of Exporail in Saint-Constant-Delson, Quebec, the CRHA is a non-profit organization incorporated under federal law in 1941. It has 800 members and 11 divisions covering all regions of the country.
The museum's impressive collection includes 168 locomotives, streetcars and other rolling stock, close to 10,000 artefacts, 1,000 scale models and 200 archive groups containing more than 250,000 plans, photographs, maps, documents and other material. According to a report prepared by Lord Cultural Resources Planning & Management Inc., a leading firm of museum consultants, ours is a national collection of international calibre. We share our railway vehicles, exhibitions and archives with various museums across the country, including the Revelstoke Railway Museum, the Railway Museum of Eastern Ontario, the Canadian Museum of Rail Transport, and the New Brunswick Railway Museum.
We believe that "Railways: Builders of Canada" is a theme that should be included in the event. The 150th anniversary of Confederation will celebrate the British North America Act, which created Canada as we know it today. Introduction of the steam locomotive to Canada and construction of the railways connecting the Maritimes with Upper and Lower Canada provided a cheaper and faster means of transporting people and freight over long distances. Expansion of this innovative method of transportation would even become a condition for several provinces to agree to join the federation.
In political terms, when the last spike of the Canadian Pacific Railway was driven on November 7,1885, Canada truly began to exist as a nation. In other words, the railways made Confederation not only possible but viable.
If any time remains at the end of the presentation, the president of the museum will show you the 1881 contract between the Canadian Pacific Railway Syndicate and the Government of Canada for the construction of a transcontinental railway, fulfilling one of the main requirements of the BNA Act.
Canadian railways have always played a significant role in the development of communities across our vast country, specifically by opening new lands for settlement, facilitating communication, developing tourism, encouraging immigration, fostering innovations in engineering, driving industry in the east and agriculture in the west, and providing access to Canada's natural resources. Today more than ever, railways continue to be the lifeblood of the country. In our opinion, one of the goals of the 2017 celebrations should be to hold this heritage high for Canadians of all ages to appreciate.
While railways have made an important contribution in all regions of the country, Quebec remains the birthplace of the railway in Canada and home to the nation's first five public railways: the Champlain & St. Lawrence Rail Road,1836, the Montreal & Lachine Railroad in 1847, the St. Lawrence & Industry Village Railroad in 1850, the St. Lawrence & Atlantic Railroad, in 1852, and the Grand Trunk Railway of Canada in 1853. This province is also the hub of an industry of which Bombardier Transport is now a world leader.
We would like to make the following recommendation. In our opinion, it is essential that activities to commemorate the 150th anniversary leave a concrete legacy. The railway heritage that commemorates the building of our great nation deserves a national museum. If the motion adopted by the Parliament of Canada in February 2007 recommending that the government recognize Exporail as the national railway museum were to be implemented, this would serve as an enduring, valuable and symbolic gesture for all Canadians. This project could continue the public-private partnership already in place at Exporail: if the current financial involvement of the railway industry, the Government of Quebec, local municipalities, private enterprise and individuals were to be complemented by the full support of the federal government, the long-term position and visibility of Canadian railway heritage would be ensured.
With regard to our second recommendation, we believe that the invitation for museums to participate in the 150th anniversary celebrations should include financial support. Museums are uniquely positioned to keep memories alive by presenting, sharing and preserving heritage. An appropriate level of funding for commemorative projects would help them to achieve their mission. This could take a lot of forms. Museums have ideas, but we suggest that a fund be established to restore railway equipment, large heritage objects. That could also take the form of upgrades to museum equipment and infrastructure to ensure that heritage is preserved. It could be circulating exhibitions that can be presented outside a museum and at other institutions. In short, there are a host of ideas because museums are extremely creative. They need only be offered the opportunity to do so for them to deliver events in which the community and communities will take part.
As for our third recommendation, we believe that a commission or independent organization should facilitate activity planning for the 150th anniversary. Non-profit organizations would be asked to work with that organization and with federal institutions such as Canada Post, the Royal Canadian Mint, ports and airports, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Parks Canada and VIA Rail Canada, to name but a few examples.
In conclusion, we thank you for listening to our presentation and wish to inform you that Exporail will be lending the British-built locomotive Dominion of Canada—a gift received in 1967 as part of celebrations marking the Centennial of Confederation—to England's National Railway Museum, considered to be the most prestigious museum of its type in the world. It will be on display in 2013-2014 for the 75th anniversary of the world speed record set by the locomotive Mallard. One million visitors are expected to attend the exhibition.
Finally, 2017 is also the centennial of the victory at Vimy Ridge, the culminating point in the war effort by Canadian railway troops. The unique expertise of these Canadian railway construction units, acquired primarily right here in Canada, was recognized by all of our allies. This victory earned Canada the right as a nation to sign the Versailles peace treaty in 1919.
Thank you.