Canadian Museum of History Act

An Act to amend the Museums Act in order to establish the Canadian Museum of History and to make consequential amendments to other Acts

This bill was last introduced in the 41st Parliament, 1st Session, which ended in September 2013.

Sponsor

James Moore  Conservative

Status

Third reading (House), as of June 18, 2013
(This bill did not become law.)

Summary

This is from the published bill. The Library of Parliament often publishes better independent summaries.

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.

Elsewhere

All sorts of information on this bill is available at LEGISinfo, an excellent resource from the Library of Parliament. You can also read the full text of the bill.

Votes

June 18, 2013 Passed That Bill C-49, An Act to amend the Museums Act in order to establish the Canadian Museum of History and to make consequential amendments to other Acts, be concurred in at report stage.
June 18, 2013 Failed That Bill C-49 be amended by deleting Clause 1.
June 17, 2013 Passed That, in relation to Bill C-49, An Act to amend the Museums Act in order to establish the Canadian Museum of History and to make consequential amendments to other Acts, not more than five further hours shall be allotted to the consideration at report stage of the Bill and five hours shall be allotted to the consideration at third reading stage of the said Bill; and that, at the expiry of the five hours provided for the consideration of the report stage and at the expiry of the five hours provided for the third reading stage of the said Bill, any proceedings before the House shall be interrupted, if required for the purpose of this Order, and, in turn, every question necessary for the disposal of the said stages of the Bill shall be put forthwith and successively, without further debate or amendment.
May 29, 2013 Passed That the Bill be now read a second time and referred to the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage.
May 29, 2013 Failed That the motion be amended by deleting all the words after the word “That” and substituting the following: “the House decline to give second reading to Bill C-49, An Act to amend the Museums Act in order to establish the Canadian Museum of History and to make consequential amendments to other Acts, because it: ( a) represents the government’s interference in Canadian history and its attacks on research and the federal institutions that preserve and promote history such as Library and Archives Canada and Parks Canada; ( b) transforms the mission of the Canadian Museum of Civilization, the most popular museum in Canada, to give a secondary role to temporary exhibitions on world cultures when it is precisely these exhibitions that make it a major tourist attraction, an economic force and a job creator for the national capital region; ( c) removes research and collection development from the mission of the Canadian Museum of Civilization, when the Museum is an internationally renowned centre of research; ( d) puts forward a monolithic approach to history that could potentially exclude the experiences of women, francophones, First Nations, Inuit and Métis, and marginalized groups; ( e) was developed in absolute secrecy and without substantial consultations with experts, First Nations, Inuit and Métis, Canadians and key regional actors; ( f) attacks a winning formula at the expense of Canadian taxpayers; and ( g) does not propose any measure to enhance the Museum’s independence and thereby opens the door to potential interference by the minister and the government in determining the content of Museum exhibitions when this should be left to experts.”.
May 28, 2013 Passed That, in relation to Bill C-49, An Act to amend the Museums Act in order to establish the Canadian Museum of History and to make consequential amendments to other Acts, not more than five further hours shall be allotted to the consideration of the second reading stage of the Bill; and that, at the expiry of the five hours provided for the consideration of the second reading stage of the said Bill, any proceedings before the House shall be interrupted, if required for the purpose of this Order, and, in turn, every question necessary for the disposal of the said stage of the Bill shall be put forthwith and successively, without further debate or amendment.

Canadian Heritage Committee, on June 5, 2013

  • Mark O'Neill, President and Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Museum of Civilization Corporation
  • David Morrison, Director, Research and Content, Special Project 2017, Exhibitions and Programs, Canadian Museum of Civilization Corporation
  • John McAvity, Executive Director, Canadian Museums Association
  • Kirstin Evenden, Vice-President, Canadian Museums Association
  • James L. Turk, Executive Director, Canadian Association of University Teachers
  • Victor Rabinovitch, Fellow and Adjunct Professor, School of Policy Studies, Queens University, As an Individual
  • Lorne Holyoak, President, Canadian Anthropology Society
  • Anthony Wilson-Smith, President, Historica-Dominion Institute

Canadian Heritage Committee, on June 10, 2013