Evidence of meeting #76 for Environment and Sustainable Development in the 42nd Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was place.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Deb Schulte
You have six minutes. Mr. Fast has taken up the three that were taken over by—
Liberal
Darren Fisher Liberal Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, NS
Okay, I'll go fairly quickly, because I know Mark wants to ask some stuff as well.
Ms. Prosper, I loved your phrase “shifts in thinking”. It reminded me of the Heritage Circle testimony from last week. I'm guilty of thinking of heritage as bricks and mortar. I think many people are when we think of that topic, so “shifts in thinking” struck home.
We know that indigenous artifacts are stored through Parks Canada at laboratories run by Parks Canada. There's one such one in Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, my riding. How can we better work with our indigenous peoples through the spirit of reconciliation to preserve what matters to them most and to ensure that, when those artifacts are protected, they're more readily available to indigenous peoples?
These artifacts that are stored in Parks Canada facilities across the country are not really open to the public. I think you can make an appointment and come in and see these things, but those artifacts that belong to indigenous Canadians aren't really readily available to the public. How can we, as a government, move towards making sure that those indigenous artifacts can be accessed?
As an Individual
I can't really speak to the specifics of how to execute that, but I appreciate the thinking. I would say that in fact the museum field is a little bit ahead of the heritage field inasmuch as the reconciliation, if you will, of indigenous peoples with their artifacts. There may be guidance from that discipline to understand how to reintroduce the two, how the communities can access artifactual pieces, and how that relationship may develop.
I think there are also interpretive opportunities there and cultural revival opportunities. It could spur the retelling of narratives that may not have been told or are being lost, for example. I think there's a lot of potential in that particular nexus, and I would suggest looking towards the museum field for some guidance.
Liberal
Darren Fisher Liberal Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, NS
So rather than a storage of artifacts, it would be more of a museum style.
As an Individual
For example, the museum field is thinking about what they call “open storage”. All I'm suggesting is that there may be practices in place, and they've already wrestled with the questions that my help to facilitate that.
Liberal
Mark Gerretsen Liberal Kingston and the Islands, ON
My question is for Parks Canada.
Just for confirmation, Parks Canada is no longer looking to acquire new properties. Is that correct?
Director, Cultural Heritage Policies, Parks Canada Agency
Are you talking about national historic sites, per se?
Director, Cultural Heritage Policies, Parks Canada Agency
We're not acquiring new sites right now.
Liberal
Mark Gerretsen Liberal Kingston and the Islands, ON
Is that a firm directive, or is that just because there's nothing that looks appealing right now?
Director, Cultural Heritage Policies, Parks Canada Agency
I think it's linked to a budget line that we don't have.
Liberal
Mark Gerretsen Liberal Kingston and the Islands, ON
Okay. I just wanted to get that on the record.
What are some of the challenges you encounter in the preservation of heritage sites under the current regime?
Director, Cultural Heritage Policies, Parks Canada Agency
Can you repeat that about the challenges?
Liberal
Mark Gerretsen Liberal Kingston and the Islands, ON
What are some of the challenges you face in the preservation of those? Is it budgetary?
Director, Cultural Heritage Policies, Parks Canada Agency
There's not just one, of course. There's a multiplicity of barriers and things that we see.
I mean, it's also based on the build itself. It's hard to explain what is of heritage value in a building. It speaks to the elements of a building. But when it comes to intervening and you have competing priorities—for instance, you want to have windows that are climate controlled—you have to deal with that. It comes down to details often in terms of how to intervene. You've heard others—
Liberal
Mark Gerretsen Liberal Kingston and the Islands, ON
What role do you see Parks Canada playing—I know this is an ongoing discussion—in the telling of the story of that heritage place? It's one thing to restore the windows; it's another thing to promote and to tell a story.
I'm asking you to be critical of yourself: is Parks Canada good at that part of it?
Director, Cultural Heritage Policies, Parks Canada Agency
I don't think we're too, too bad. In fact, the idea of having a register and having multiple registries, where we are listing the character-defining elements of places, statements of significance, the tools we're still using, the standards and guidelines—
Liberal
Mark Gerretsen Liberal Kingston and the Islands, ON
I was thinking a bit more specifically about tourism.
I want to ask another quick question while I still have time. In Kingston, Ontario, Parks Canada owns Fort Henry, which is a fortification site. There's an arm's-length organization called the St. Lawrence Parks Commission that runs it.
Liberal
Director, Cultural Heritage Policies, Parks Canada Agency
It's a model. It's a model that may work in some places; it may not work elsewhere. It depends if there's a third party that can run the place as well as we would, and with the same criteria that we would use to administer these places.
Liberal
Mark Gerretsen Liberal Kingston and the Islands, ON
So there are times when it's successful and there are times when it's not so successful.