Finally, museums across Canada are engaging in new and innovative activities to bolster a much more meaningful social role. From working with health agencies in developing therapeutic programs to dealing with the topics of climate change, mental health, sexual identity, death and grieving, and the prevention of crime, museums engage the public in important social issues.
For the most part, these museums today are not your grandparents' museums. They have changed dramatically. They had to, in order to survive. In fact, with dwindling public funds, they had to stand on their own two feet much more strongly. They strive to be community centres today, places of dialogue and learning.
Museums across Canada would also greatly benefit from a public appreciation campaign to raise awareness about not only their programming but also their impact and image. Museums are often, stereotypically, thought of as these dusty old cabinets, and that is an image we are very much trying to dispel. It is not what the community looks like today.
In short, we believe a campaign on public appreciation would be very valuable for a number of reasons, not the least of which is to highlight the important contributions of Canadian culture and heritage.
We thank you for your time today. We urge you to make this a very meaningful and significant study on the state of Canadian museums, and we look forward to your coming out with some very strong recommendations.
Thank you.