Canadian Heritage Committee on Feb. 7th, 2022

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Yes, your time is up, Kevin. Thank you very much.

We'll go to the final person in this round with the Liberal Party.

Ms. Hepfner you have five minutes.

[Lisa Hepfner, Liberal, Hamilton Mountain, ON]

Thank you very much, Madam Chair.

I want to first go back to Kelly-Ann Paul with the Canada Games Council for a quick second.

I just want to clarify this with you. None of the cancellations were due to any federal government policies. Is that correct?

[Kelly-Ann Paul]

That's correct.

[Lisa Hepfner, Liberal, Hamilton Mountain, ON]

Thank you.

I would also like to go back to Heather George from the Canadian Museums Association.

You've been very eloquent today, and I want to thank you for being here. I know the Woodland Cultural Centre quite well. You guys do excellent work there, and I want to thank you for all you do.

I wanted to ask you about this. We've heard today from live music people and from sporting people that there's a lot of hesitation amongst the Canadian public to go back to those activities. I'm wondering if you've noticed the same thing with museums. What did you notice when there would be a reopening after a period of closure? Did you see the same hesitancy, or did people really want to get back into museums?

[Heather George]

Thanks so much for that question. It's actually one of the things I really wanted to highlight for everyone.

Museums are a wonderful place to weather a pandemic because of the way that we design exhibition spaces and also because museums have shifted to do a lot of outdoor programming on their sites. We've been able to provide opportunities for people to engage in culture and heritage even during some of the worst times of the pandemic, including, as we have discussed, some digital offerings as well as pre-existing programs, including the Virtual Museum of Canada. Even our use of Zoom has improved dramatically and there is everything from lectures offered, for example, by the Canadian Automotive Museum on topics like electric cars and driving while Black, to beading circles offered by cultural centres and art galleries.

I did want to point out as well that museums work with almost all of the other organizations in the room to provide space and venues for these programs to happen, and I think primarily have been under the radar of this sector in terms of policy development.

Certainly, as soon as we can have our doors open, all of us do, following the guidelines that have been put in place. I think we're actually one of many answers to this experience.

[Lisa Hepfner, Liberal, Hamilton Mountain, ON]

Thank you. I also took note that you mentioned only two museums closed throughout the pandemic. I'm wondering what would have happened if there hadn't been federal government supports. Can you imagine what the museum landscape would look like today if those supports hadn't been there over the past two years?

[Heather George]

Sure. The average museum—this is not speaking about the national museums—receives about 40% of its funding from government sources. There are some pre-existing sources, but certainly, we needed the additional support through all of these various mechanisms that were put in place by the government.

Again, to get back to the museum policy, this is not necessarily a current issue. The original policy was established in 1970 and last updated in 1990, so you've had multiple opportunities prior to this pandemic to really look at how museums help communities to weather all sorts of storms. We provide a venue for, really, mental health. Other countries around the world prescribe museum visits as a solution to mental health concerns. I think that is something we could look at as well. It isn't just about the dollars. We certainly are grateful for those dollars, but I think as we look towards, hopefully, a slightly rosier future, we need to look at new granting models and new ways of administering the grants that are more responsive to community needs. We need to look at ways of building philanthropy for our entire sector, providing better matching funds and better tax incentives.

[Lisa Hepfner, Liberal, Hamilton Mountain, ON]

Thank you for that.

You were talking about the museum policy, earlier and just now again, being 30 years out of date. What other things would you like to see if we were to update the museum policy? What would you like to see in there to secure the sector?

[Heather George]

My goodness. First of all, I think one of the things that the government committed to was holding a discussion nationally about this topic and I think that's incredibly important. Museums are quite diverse, and I should say it's not just museums. This includes zoos, cultural centres, indigenous knowledge centres and the little tiny exhibition space you have at your library. All of these spaces tell these really important stories and help us build civic pride and engagement in society. I think that really the first step in doing this work is to bring the diversity of organizations together.

Of course, we're happy to assist in that, but the CMA is not the only organization that helps to bring these voices forward, and I think we would really like to see the opportunity to have that discussion go forward.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Thank you, Ms. George. Thank you, Lisa.

I want to thank the witnesses for taking their time in answering and helping to find solutions to all the questions that you face. Thank you very much.

I would like to entertain a motion to adjourn.

Is it so moved by someone?

[Leslyn Lewis, Conservative, Haldimand—Norfolk, ON]

I have a point of order.

Is there not another round of two minutes for the Conservatives?

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

I think we are within three minutes of ending the committee meeting, Ms. Lewis, so I think we have about three minutes. I don't know that we have another round within that three minutes. It would be nice, but we had a lot of witnesses in this session.

I'm sorry.

[Leslyn Lewis, Conservative, Haldimand—Norfolk, ON]

My understanding is that there were two minutes at the end. Can the clerk confirm that?

[The Clerk of the Committee, Ms. Aimée Belmore]

Ms. Lewis, the second round of questions was completed with Ms. Hepfner going last.

[Leslyn Lewis, Conservative, Haldimand—Norfolk, ON]

Okay.

[The Clerk]

It would be a third round if we kept going.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Thank you.

I declare this meeting adjourned. Thank you again, everyone.