I would really like to thank all those who have come to meet with us this morning. This is a meeting full of information. We rarely have such long and informative presentations.
First of all, I would like to inform Mr. Gill and Ms. Bélanger that the lack of enthusiasm or the reservations—the word "reservations" is poorly chosen, but you understand what I mean—that they feel toward the celebrations for the 150th anniversary have previously been expressed here by other spokespersons. I hope we will be able to produce a report that, beyond the celebrations of Canada's 150th anniversary and its future, will take into account the need to evoke history and to do some housekeeping. Ideally, we shouldn't boast too much about our roots at a time when problems are still unsolved, particularly in northern Ontario. It's all well and good to organize a party, but if the roof is leaking, it's better to repair it first. I hope that is indeed taken into account.
You also provided a good description of the financial situation of museums, which is always very difficult. That's particularly true of small museums such as yours, which are established in communities. You talked at length about the possibility of rallying all the museums, of establishing networks and themes. I have previously discussed the idea of establishing a pass for the museums which would cost $150. I don't know whether that could be tax deductable, since a donation would be made to a local museum. You would keep half of that amount and the other half would be used to fund the program. The idea would be to network and to invite people to go to their local museum to buy a pass so that they could enter other museums across Canada free of charge. There is a direct connection with trains, which no doubt helped build Canada.
As I am not an actuary, I can't calculate the costs involved, but the fact nevertheless remains that this project could be a relatively profitable investment in the context of the celebrations. How do you react to that kind of idea?