Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
I would like to thank all the members of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage for having invited me to reflect with them on the celebrations of the 150th anniversary of Canada in 2017.
The Stewart Museum is a private museum, a non-profit corporation, which has been in existence for over 56 years. It is located on Saint Helen's Island, in what used to be the military garrison built by the British in the 19th century.
Today I have made it my mission to tell you about the general situation of private museums, which make up between 95% and 98% of all of the museums in Canada. That will be the context of my first comments.
2017 will be marked by multiple commemorations—some of them were mentioned earlier—that are all important in their own way, both nationally and locally. In Montreal, three important events will be celebrated in 2017: the 375th anniversary of the city of Montreal, the 50th anniversary of Expo 67, and the 150th anniversary of Canada. It goes without saying that these two last anniversaries are historically very closely linked by the participation of the federal government at the time. In that sense, they also have lessons to teach us for the 150th anniversary.
Some public consultations organized by the City of Montreal were recently held; the city created the Office of the 375th anniversary of Montreal for that purpose.
I would like to share with the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage some of the conclusions of those consultations, as they contain elements that could in my opinion be useful in the context of your work. This consultation involved organizations that are representative of various sectors of Montreal society, citizens from various boroughs, and public servants from all city services, so that everyone had a chance to express their thoughts. A broad consensus was established around the need to affirm and consolidate Montreal's identity. I think that something similar could be done for Canada on the occasion of its 150th anniversary, that is to say that it would be a good opportunity to update Canada's image and consolidate its identity. I think that this could be an important element.
In this consultation, the concept of diversity prevailed. It is a key word which came up repeatedly, to the point where it became a key concept. Diversity was mentioned in connection with ethnic groups, linguistic groups and religious ones, as well as the different generations—young people, the elderly, children, everyone. It referred to inclusion and the equitable treatment of various groups, based on a principle of social justice in the programming of events for the celebrations.
The celebrations of the 150th anniversary of Canada should take Canadian diversity into account and open a dialogue between the various communities that constitute it. The population should play an important role in the planning and implementation of these celebrations. It would be advisable, among other things, to call on local artists and creators.
Finally, everyone knows that celebrations are an opportunity to party. However, the population of Montreal—and the same may be true of the Canadian population—also expressed the heartfelt wish that this be an opportunity to make related existing infrastructures permanent. One example is the creation of the Museum of Science and Technology in connection with Canada's centennial. This has become a permanent organization created at the time of a celebration.
The celebration thus becomes an opportunity to offer the population a way of continuing to express and celebrate its diversity and carry on the dialogue. There are currently several cultural institutions in Canadian society that could be consolidated in the context of these celebrations. This is the case for several museums, among others.
As for the position of museums, and of historical museums in particular, such celebration projects will generally arouse very enthusiastic reactions. As participation in a pan-Canadian holiday of such scope requires commensurate preparation time, the federal government will have to announce sufficiently in advance not only the means that will be put at their disposal, but also the parameters that will allow them to have access to them. I believe a preparation period of at least three years is necessary before launching the program.
Most museums are in a very precarious situation and this justifies the need for medium-term planning in the case of so-called extraordinary events. The vast majority of museums are private, non-profit organizations that have a public mandate to showcase our heritage, and very often they lack adequate means to do so. In order to participate in extraordinary commemorative programming, they must call on all sorts of sources of funding, public and private. This requires time, which monopolizes resources that would normally be used for daily management, among other things.
That is why I believe government aid that could be made accessible to museums for the celebrations of the 150th anniversary of Canadian Confederation should take into account the precarious situation of most Canadian museums, on the one hand, and their diversity, on the other. Any organization or entity entrusted with distributing funding should have some more flexible rules than those that are presently imposed by the Department of Canadian Heritage, for instance in the context of the Museums Assistance Program.
Based on the experience derived from a career spanning more than 40 years in the museums field, and after having held the presidency of the Canadian Museums Association—which named me a Fellow of the association—as well as the chairmanship of the Société des musées québécois on two occasions, I can assure you that if favourable conditions are put in place, the creativity and spirit of initiative shown by museums—historical museums and societies, in particular—will come through in the development of varied, exciting, instructive and educational programming.
The Stewart Museum has just reopened its doors to the public after two and a half years of closure, due to renovation work to the heritage building we occupy on Saint Helen's Island. The permanent exhibition we renovated is now called “History and Memory”. We use the plural in French. Why? Because we believe that there is no single history. History is an interpretive science. What we may call “our history” is made up of bits and pieces taken from an array of histories and is influenced by others, be it the history of the first nations, that of France, England, the United States, Europe, the history of discoveries and of sciences, the history of art, the history of attitudes and even of philosophy. This is true also of memory which is influenced by family traditions, schooling, information or disinformation from all sources. Memories are multiple and diverse, be they individual or collective.
We strongly believe that the role of historical museums is to offer a unique place where these histories are exhibited, where memories and the recollections that accompany them interact, meet and confront each other in an environment conducive to an opening up to self and others. Such important celebrations, marking the creation of a federal state like Canada, recognized for its openness and its great tolerance, should allow us to carry on our work in that spirit.
And to conclude, I would like to express a very personal wish. In the spirit of openness to others, the celebrations of the 150th anniversary of Canadian Confederation should mark the end of a less than edifying chapter in our collective history, and eliminate an inconsistency that is staining our reputation as a tolerant country. I would like to see the final abolition of the Indian Act. This would be a great step ahead in the definition of a truly inclusive Canadian identity. That is a personal opinion I am voicing. It does not reflect anyone else's opinion, neither my employer nor anyone else. It is personal.
That is what I had to say to you today. Thank you for your attention.