Thank you, Madam Chair. Good morning, everyone.
Thank you for giving us an opportunity to appear, as representatives of a museum, before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage.
My name is Joanne Watkins, and I have been working in the museum environment for more than 30 years. I have been director of an interpretive centre and of an ecomuseum, and I am now the general director of the Fashion Museum. I was also coordinator of a regional network made up of 17 museums. I am currently a member of the Montréal Museums Society's board of directors.
I would like to introduce Jean-Claude Poitras, fashion designer, multidisciplinary designer and the recipient of many awards and honours in Quebec and in Canada. Mr. Poitras received the Order of Canada in 1995, the Ordre national du Québec in 1996, and was elevated to the rank of Officier de l'Ordre national du Québec in 2012.
Together, we will talk about the realities of our museum, as one example among other small institutions, in an environment where financial resources from all sources are limited.