It must be mentioned that museums in Canada operate based on diversified funding. We support this diversified system and have no intention of asking you to make any major changes.
Museums have, however, significantly reduced their reliance on government support over the past decade. They have extensively diversified their funding sources by seeking out independent sources, sponsorships and various types of partnerships.
Today, we're reaching the saturation point in terms of our capacity to increase outside funding sources. It's critical that we restore some kind of balance between private and public revenue sources.
Museums in Europe and most other parts of the world are more dependent upon governments than in Canada. A common perception is that museums in the United States are all funded by the private sector. That is not the case and US governments from all levels are actually beginning to increase their level of contributions to museums.
In our extensive consultations with museums across Canada, the overwhelming need identified by museums of all sizes is sustainable financial resources. We have repeatedly heard this very telling message. Unfortunately, governments too often fail to provide the operational support to the museums they wanted built in the first place.
Admittedly, this is not the sole responsibility of the federal government. All governments need to be part of the solution. Today, we are talking about the federal role that, in our view, is quite clear.
The federal government indeed finds itself in a strong, strategic position to provide leadership in developing new policies.