Thank you, Madam Chair and committee members, for giving us the opportunity to add our voice to these important proceedings.
Originally, I had expected that my colleague Michael Wallace would be delivering these messages, but I will do it on his behalf.
Just to introduce myself, and him when he arrives, my name is Heather George. In addition to being a member of the CMA board I'm a guest curator at Woodland Cultural Centre in Brantford, Ontario, which was established on the site of the former Mohawk Institute Residential School. The Woodland Cultural Centre exists to preserve and promote indigenous history and culture.
My colleague Michael Wallace is the president of the Canadian Museums Association and executive director of Theatre Museum Canada, which is a small museum preserving and celebrating our country's performing arts heritage.
Together with provincial and territorial counterparts, the CMA represents more than 2,700 organizations across Canada from community and small volunteer-driven museums to national institutions, as well as hundreds of museum professionals.
It is from this pan-Canadian vantage point that we witnessed how the pandemic-related seesaw of openings and closing affected staffing, programming, planning and morale. The federal government's pandemic assistance programs were instrumental in allowing our institutions to adapt to an unprecedented situation. They also served to highlight the economic fragility of the sector and the need to shift from ad hoc funding programs to long-term strategic support.
While we know of only two museums closing because of the pandemic, we know of many more that are now in danger of closure if circumstances do not change soon, but it is at the human level where the pandemic's impact has been felt most acutely. Every day we hear from our colleagues that their staff are on the brink of burnout. Others tell us that they've lost valuable employees because of the chronic uncertainty. In a sign of the times, more recently we've heard stories of museum employees being harassed and bullied for wearing masks and enforcing public health guidelines.
Of course, described in this manner, the impact of the pandemic on the museum sector is no different from many other sectors, from health care to hospitality, that have been similarly upended by COVID. We have to look more closely at our sector's place and role in society today and in the future in order to chart a way forward that is informed by the lessons of the last two years.
Museums provide a value of $1.2 billion a year in educational benefits and $277 million in value of online visits. They provide good jobs and opportunities for Canadians to give back to their communities through volunteering. The economic value to the country is clear, but beyond their economic value, museums are an integral part of social fabric. They've never been more important than they are now.
The stress and trauma of the last two years has laid bare deep fissures in Canadian society. It has brought into sharp relief historical inequities and grievances and exacerbated divisions within our civil society. Museums are safe places for reflection about civility and civil society, about personal and social responsibility, and about diversity and inclusion. They are safe spaces for dialogues and healing at a time when a cacophony of seemingly irreconcilable points of view dominate our daily lives.
As some of the most trusted and respected public institutions in the country, museums can provide Canadians with solid ground on which to pause, reflect and find a way forward out of the uncertainty of today. However, if museums are to play their unique role in healing our society and in helping Canadians imagine a better future together, this must be acknowledged by governments, starting with the Government of Canada.
The Canadian national museum policy was written in the early nineties. That's more than 30 years ago. It's out of date and simply doesn't reflect modern Canada—what it looks like today, the challenges it faces and the potential for tomorrow. A new national museum policy is crucial not only for our sector but for the country.
Developing a new national museum policy was highlighted as a high priority in the mandate letter of the former Minister of Canadian Heritage in 2019. The lessons of the last two years tell us it is even more important today. Without a policy, we cannot determine how to spend our money long term and in a fiscally responsible manner. Let's write a new chapter for museums and for our country together.
Thank you.