This bill is from the 41st Parliament, 1st session, which ended in September 2013.
James Moore Conservative
Third reading (House), as of June 18, 2013
(This bill did not become law.)
This is from the published bill. The Library of Parliament has also written a full legislative summary of the bill.
This enactment amends the Museums Act to establish a corporation called the Canadian Museum of History that replaces the Canadian Museum of Civilization. It also sets out the purpose, capacity and powers of the Canadian Museum of History and makes consequential amendments to other Acts.
All sorts of information on this bill is available at LEGISinfo, an excellent resource from Parliament. You can also read the full text of the bill.
Bill numbers are reused for different bills each new session. Perhaps you were looking for one of these other C-49s:
Philip Toone NDP Gaspésie—Îles-de-la-Madeleine, QC
Mr. Speaker, the member's presentation was informative, but it might be misleading in some cases.
I am fascinated with the Conservative Party's fascination with renaming everything from the Progressive Conservative Party to the Conservative Party, from the Reform Party—
Canadian Museum of History ActGovernment Orders
An hon. member
There was a CCRAP too.
Philip Toone NDP Gaspésie—Îles-de-la-Madeleine, QC
Yes, there was the CCRA party, and we go on with name changes constantly.
When is the government going to stop with the ribbon-cutting and the appearance of doing work and actually ask the people who are able to make—
Paul Calandra Conservative Oak Ridges—Markham, ON
Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I would hope the member from Sudbury would withdraw his remarks calling members across the way crap. I do not think that adds anything to the debate and the over million Canadians who put us in government not once, twice, but three times. I hope you would ask him to withdraw those comments.
Canadian Museum of History ActGovernment Orders
The Deputy Speaker
That of course was not what the member from Nickel Belt was doing.
Could the hon. member for Gaspésie—Îles-de-la-Madeleine finish his comments?
Philip Toone NDP Gaspésie—Îles-de-la-Madeleine, QC
Mr. Speaker, we must indeed be careful to call things by their proper names. I will therefore start again.
We were at the CCRA party and now we move on now to the new Conservative Party.
The ribbon-cutting, the grandiose shows, do not replace in any way what really needs to be done on the ground. The member spoke to it. It is important that we speak to the professionals to get guidance on how to run a museum properly, yet the government has cut 80% of some of the staff in those very museums. Millions of dollars have been cut to Parks Canada. How exactly are we to run museums without any professional staff to whom we can ask these questions?
I would like his opinion on what we will do now that we have very few people actually doing the work on the ground.
Corneliu Chisu Conservative Pickering—Scarborough East, ON
Mr. Speaker, I want to mention why I am delighted we will have the Canadian museum of history.
I mention one of the exceptional Canadians who I am passionate about and whose memory is connected with a small museum in Woodstock. The Canadian museum of history would be better known to all Canadians. One reason I am here is because of this exceptional Canadian.
Colonel Joseph Whiteside Boyle was born in 1867, when our confederation was born, in Toronto, Ontario, and was buried in Woodstock, Ontario. He made his fortune in the Klondike.
During World War I, Boyle organized a machine gun company, giving the soldiers insignia made of gold to fight in Europe. He undertook a mission in Russia on behalf of the American Committee of Engineers in London to reorganize the country's railway system.
He successfully petitioned the new Bolshevik government of Russia to return archives and paper currency from the Kremlin to Romania. He served as the principle intermediary on behalf of the Romanian government in effecting a ceasefire in 1918 with revolutionary forces in the present Moldova, then part of Romania.
He rescued over 50 high-ranking Romanians held in Odessa—
Canadian Museum of History ActGovernment Orders
The Deputy Speaker
I am sorry, we are almost out of time. I will allow one more question. The hon. member for Westmount—Ville-Marie, a short question please.
Marc Garneau Liberal Westmount—Ville-Marie, QC
Mr. Speaker, I do not always agree with what the government puts out in terms of bills, but I make it a duty of mine to talk with my residents in my riding and ask them what they think of them.
I have to say in all honesty, bringing up the bill and telling people what the bill is accomplishing has resulted in nothing but consternation within my riding. I am in a big city riding with museums, just like a lot of other places in Canada. People there do go to museums, science centres and other things, but they do not understand what this is all about.
One of the people I spoke to said that this was a solution in search of a problem, a problem that did not exist. Why is the government obsessed? There may be 165 people in the country, and they are all sitting over there, who feel they have to rename this museum and change everything when it is not necessary.
Corneliu Chisu Conservative Pickering—Scarborough East, ON
Mr. Speaker, I am proud of the Canadian museum of history. It is representing a country's tradition.
Two great nations founded the country. I should be proud, not ashamed, that we will have this Canadian museum of history.
Djaouida Sellah NDP Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert, QC
Mr. Speaker, Bill C-49 provides for changing the mandate and name of the Canadian Museum of Civilization in order to create the Canadian Museum of History. The Canadian Museum of Civilization is the most popular museum in Canada. Its temporary exhibits on the cultures of the world have made it a tourist attraction that has economic benefits and creates jobs for the Ottawa-Gatineau region. I will also take this opportunity to note that it is the only museum in the federal capital region that is on the Quebec side.
The museum has a long history. It dates back to 1856, the year when the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada passed a law authorizing the Geological Survey of Canada to establish a geological museum. In 1907, anthropology studies were added to the museum’s mission, and in 1927 it became the National Museum of Canada. The Canadian War Museum, which is affiliated with the Canadian Museum of Civilization, has been part of the National Museum of Canada since 1958. In 1968, a corporation known as National Museums of Canada was established and it was made up of four museums: the National Museum of Man, the National Museum of Natural Sciences, the National Gallery of Canada and the National Museum of Science and Technology.
It is the mission of the National Museums of Canada to demonstrate the products of nature and the works of man, with special but not exclusive reference to Canada, so as to promote interest therein throughout Canada and to disseminate knowledge thereof. In 1986, the National Museum of Man was renamed the Canadian Museum of Civilization, and in 1990 it became a separate crown corporation. Now, the museum is to become the Canadian Museum of History.
Bill C-49 introduces major amendments to the museum’s mission. The current mission talks about establishing, maintaining and developing for research and posterity a collection of objects of historical or cultural interest; that sentence is completely omitted in the new mission. At present, the museum’s mission talks about working throughout Canada and internationally, while the proposed new mission refers only to Canadian history and identity.
However, it is important to understand that Canada has been influenced in the past by the rest of the world. I do not think that this new, narrow vision does justice to that fact.
With the amendments in Bill C-49, the museum’s approach would be limited to understanding and appreciating just dates, events, historical figures and objects. This approach, which is completely outdated in the social sciences, leaves out a number of important aspects of a society's development. A study of historical heroes often leaves out women, children, aboriginal peoples and minority groups, not because they did not have an impact on our history or make cultural contributions, but because unfortunately this impact is too often left out in the Conservatives' approach.
All kinds of moments and processes in our country's history could be lost because of this approach.
For example, there is the poor treatment of Polish settlers in the west who, left to their own devices, had to build dugouts to survive the winter; the fact that slavery existed in New France; the evolution of women's rights; and the evolution of the rights of the workers who built our economy. I am not going to be reassured just because the latest news headlines announce the cancellation of an exhibit about underwear.
Bill C-49 proposes eliminating research and collections from the museum’s mission, which is the first paragraph of its mandate. The Canadian Museum of Civilization is a museum and a research location with an international reputation, and it deals with more than 20,000 years of Canadian history.
The Conservatives have to stop interfering in our history. No government must exploit federal institutions or history for political gain. Defining the mandate and the content of the museum must be left up to museologists and their interlocutors, with stakeholders such as the first nations.
The decision has been criticized by a number of groups and individuals. My colleague from Hull—Aylmer has already told the House about opposition from the constituents in her riding, where the museum is located. The founding director of the Museum of Civilization, George F. MacDonald, believes that changing the museum’s name and mandate is part of a plan to impose the Conservative brand. The former president and CEO of the museum, Victor Rabinovitch, condemned the fact that the name “Canadian Museum of Civilization” was being abandoned. He said in his evidence that, in his view, it is the most successful brand name in Canada’s museum sector, a brand that is known and respected throughout the world.
Even though they say they are interested in history, the Conservatives have already decimated knowledge and research throughout the government and the country. They have muzzled and fired archaeologists, archivists and librarians and destroyed national historic sites, national parks and Library and Archives Canada.
The Conservatives have already laid off 80% of Parks Canada's archaeologists. The deputy head of Library and Archives Canada, who was appointed by the Conservatives, resigned because of spending scandals and mismanagement. I repeat: mismanagement. If the Conservatives are really interested in history, these cuts and this interference must stop. Researchers’ independence and funding must be restored, and the federal institutions that preserve our history must be protected.
The Conservatives do not care about museums. Just last week, there was an article in the Ottawa Citizen that described the financial problems of the Canada Science and Technology Museum, which is located in Eastern Ottawa and requires critical structural repairs of $3.4 million. The article described, in detail, the space problem at the museum, which is already at 130% capacity, with no room for any new acquisitions.
The museum requires $2.5 million dollars in roof repairs and $845,000 in upgrades to the ventilation system. However, the crown corporation responsible for managing the Canada Science and Technology Museum, as well as the Canada Aviation and Space Museum and the Canada Agricultural Museum, has only $800,000 available to it to repair and update the facilities at the three museums. The National Gallery of Canada had to wait a long time before it received funding to repair its leaking roof.
I hope that the Conservatives will not let our museums deteriorate to that point.
I am opposed to the bill because I believe that maintaining the museum’s current mandate is important. I also fear that the Canadian Museum of Civilization, which is internationally acclaimed, will be manipulated by the Conservatives as they attempt to impose upon us their politicized version of our nation’s history.
Museum professionals, including historians, anthropologists, archivists and librarians, must be responsible for determining the contents of the Canadian Museum of Civilization, not politicians.
Canadian Museum of History ActGovernment Orders
Oak Ridges—Markham Ontario
Conservative
Paul Calandra ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Canadian Heritage
Mr. Speaker, I will keep asking the same question. Perhaps by the end of the night one of the NDP members might actually answer it.
The member talked about a number of things. She talked about the reduced mandate of the museum. We see, of course, in clause 8 of the bill that it not only talks about Canadian identity and history, but it also talks about the awareness of world history and cultures. Paragraph 9(1)(e) talks about international exhibits. Paragraph 9(1)(f) talks about sponsor research related to its purpose or to museology and communicating results. Paragraph 9(1)(h) talks about promoting knowledge and dissemination of information related to its purpose throughout Canada and internationally.
The member talked about leaving it to the experts. This quote is from the museum president himself. He said:
The content for this new exhibition is being developed by a multidisciplinary team of experts at the museum, led by Dr. David Morrison. This team is made up of researchers, curators, and museologists working in close collaboration with advisory committees composed of historians and experts from across Canada.
I am wondering if any of that gives the member any hope that she might get a museum of which she could one day be proud.
Djaouida Sellah NDP Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert, QC
Mr. Speaker, to begin with, I would like to thank my colleague for his relevant question. In response to his question, I will say that I am proud of the existing museum and its mission.
For a long time, the New Democrats have fought for the recognition of the many facets of our country’ history, and for the inclusion of the history of the first nations and the sometimes acrimonious relationship between anglophones and francophones and their descendants. We want to include the story of Chinese labourers who helped us build our national railway, and the stories of other immigrants who continue to bring their own histories and cultures with them.
Lysane Blanchette-Lamothe NDP Pierrefonds—Dollard, QC
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her speech, which was very passionate, as usual.
I tried to get an answer from the government but unfortunately did not get one. I will ask my colleague. Perhaps she could give me her opinion. Who does she think should make decisions about a museum's mission and mandate?
As she pointed out today, a minister is the one who came up with this idea. That is fine, in theory. However, he is using his own idea as the basis for a bill that redefines the name and mandate of a museum. Even now, we still do not know who was consulted before Bill C-49 was drafted.
Could my colleague tell us who she thinks should be consulted when a museum's mandate is written?
