Veterans Affairs Committee on Oct. 6th, 2011

[Peter Stoffer, NDP, Sackville—Eastern Shore, NS]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

Some of you would have received, either by e-mail or regular mail, an invitation to attend the veterans ombudsman's awards ceremony, which is taking place on October 18, at the same time as our meeting.

I've consulted with Mr. Storseth and Mr. Casey, Mr. Chair, and you may find unanimous consent or discussion to cancel the meeting for October 18 so that you and others can attend that ceremony. It's quite significant. It's really quite an honour to be there and to congratulate and celebrate those individuals across the country who do a tremendous amount of work on behalf of veterans.

[The Chair, Conservative, Greg Kerr]

Thank you.

Mr. Storseth.

[Brian Storseth, Conservative, Westlock—St. Paul, AB]

Mr. Chair, I know the chair is a new chair, and he's very good with the rules and knows that there can't be a motion made on a point of order.

I think what Mr. Stoffer is suggesting is a very good idea. I think our side unanimously agrees with it.

[The Chair, Conservative, Greg Kerr]

I appreciate the ongoing educational process, Mr. Storseth. You are correct.

Go ahead, Mr. Casey.

[Sean Casey, Liberal, Charlottetown, PE]

I agree.

[The Chair, Conservative, Greg Kerr]

Okay. As pointed out, it was brought up as a point of order. It's by consensus, and I understand that we have it. Is it agreed that we will put that aside?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Chair, Conservative, Greg Kerr]

We'll have the clerk go back through the witness list and make sure that we have our witnesses in place. We'll just move the order down a bit on the commemorative study. So it's agreed that there will be no meeting on October 18. We'll be gathering for that special occasion.

Thank you, Mr. Stoffer, for bringing that up.

[Peter Stoffer, NDP, Sackville—Eastern Shore, NS]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Greg Kerr]

Okay. We're awaiting our next witnesses. I hope we didn't scare them off out there.

I'd also point out that our parliamentary secretary, as you're probably aware, is engaged in a rather important announcement today, along with the minister. That's the reason she couldn't be here, and certainly we understand and know that it's a good event.

Good morning. We're very pleased to have as representatives from the War Museum, Mr. Whitham and Ms. Mingay. We're very pleased to have you here. I know you've been here before the committee in the past, and we've appreciated that.

We're doing this within the one-hour timeframe. We will be stopping on time. The norm is to allow you about 10 minutes to do your opening comments and statements. We then go to questions. Certainly, feel free to give a full answer, but if it is running a little late, I'll just indicate that we have a timeframe.

Thank you very much, and we look forward to your opening comments.

[James Whitham, Acting Director General and Vice-President, Canadian Museum of Civilization Corporation, Canadian War Museum]

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.

Thank you very much for the invitation to appear before you this morning. My name is James Whitham. I'm the acting director general of the Canadian War Museum and vice-president of the corporation of CMC.

Joining me in the presentation is Yasmine Mingay, the manager of communications for the War Museum, who also deals with programs and events at the museum and with social media.

It is a pleasure to be here today to give you a brief overview of the war museum's plans for the coming years, with a specific focus on the anniversaries of two key conflicts in Canadian military history: the War of 1812 and the First World War.

The Canadian War Museum is Canada's national museum of military history. It acquires and maintains relevant artifacts for its unparalleled national collection and disseminates knowledge through research, exhibitions, and public programs. The museum is a venue and facilitator for informed discussions on military history. That is our mandate.

Our mission is to promote public understanding of Canada's military history in terms of its personal, national, and international dimensions. In other words, we look at how war affects Canadians as individuals, how it shapes our country, and how in times of war Canadians have affected the course of world events. We do this through exhibitions, events, programs, and partnerships. Although our mandate is not one of commemoration, many of our projects and initiatives are intertwined with the commemoration of important dates and events in Canadian military history. The bicentennial commemoration of the War of 1812 and the centenary of the First World War are two such examples.

[Yasmine Mingay, Manager, Communications, Canadian War Museum]

The Canadian War Museum will mark the bicentennial of the War of 1812, a momentous event in Canadian history, with one of its largest and most innovative exhibitions to date.

The exhibitions will weave together multiple perspectives on the conflict to produce a new account of the war. This groundbreaking exhibition will premiere at the war museum in June 2012 and will examine the causes and conduct of the war through the eyes of each of its four central actors: Canada, the United States, Great Britain and first peoples.

The exhibition will offer visitors a richer and deeper understanding of a conflict that determined Canada's destiny. The exhibition will feature approximately 150 artifacts, including some of the War Museum's most important objects, such as the tunic worn by Sir Isaac Brock, the hero of Upper Canada who led the successful defence of that province during the first few months of the war. This is the actual tunic that Sir Isaac Brock wore when he was fatally shot at the Battle of Queenston Heights.

In addition to the exhibition opening at the war museum in June 2012, two exhibitions will be produced to travel to venues across Canada, bringing the war museum's exhibition to Canadians from coast to coast. We will also be publishing a book to both support the exhibition and commemorate this major event in Canadian history.

The years 2014 to 2018 constitute the 100th anniversary of the First World War, again a formative event in Canadian and world history. The Canadian War Museum plans to mark the centenary by presenting a multi-year program of exhibitions, events, and activities in collaboration with national and international partners.

Within this multi-year program, the museum will undertake projects of lasting national and institutional value, focusing on the museum's strengths in the areas of research, exhibits, collections, publications and public programs. These projects will include not only major special exhibitions, but also targeted acquisitions, legacy-type publications and web-based curriculum-specific teaching resources.

[James Whitham]

The centenary project will seek to maximize the museum's national footprint, emphasize accessibility, and appeal to a broad range of audiences both inside and outside the national capital region. At least two travelling exhibitions on John McCrae and Sam Steele, accompanied by off-site and online activities, will be developed and presented across the country. Projects are also in development relating to courage, the Victoria Cross awarded to Canadians, as well as a First World War lecture series.

The centenary project will both create and encourage new knowledge about the First World War. The museum will conduct research and assist educators across Canada. Printed materials, collections research, object conservation and other initiatives will generate professional knowledge and public understanding across a variety of media.

The museum is also interested in strengthening its virtual offers and continues to explore national and multinational partnership opportunities. These include the possibility of hosting an international academic conference in 2018.

Our history is rich and our collections are extensive—two important aspects that our offerings will reflect.

In closing, I would like to emphasize that the War Museum participates in and stages hundreds of events and programs annually, all of which promote public understanding of Canadian military history. Earlier this week we hosted the launch of Women's History Month, the theme this year being women's contribution to military history. And in just a few short weeks, the War Museum's Remembrance Day program and activities will be under way.

Our focus today has been on two particular all-encompassing projects, which will span an eight-year timeframe; however, we will be pleased to answer questions you may have regarding the War Museum's programs in general.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Greg Kerr]

Thank you very much for your presentation.

Now we will turn to questions.

We'll begin with the NDP, with Mr. Stoffer.

[Peter Stoffer, NDP, Sackville—Eastern Shore, NS]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you both very much for coming.

For those of my colleagues who have never had a chance to tour the museum, I highly recommend you do. It's a four-hour outstanding opportunity to witness our history.

I thank you both very much, and the War Museum staff for what they do.

I have a couple of questions for you. In your brochure—and I don't mean this as a slight—there is no mention of the 110th anniversary next year of the ending of the Boer War, which was the first war to which Canada actually sent a regiment. More than 250 people lost their lives there, and yet we don't seem, in my own view, to commemorate that event as much as we do other events.

Also, the Asian conflicts—the Battle of Hong Kong, whose 70th anniversary is next Christmas, and our intervention in Burma—seem to be overlooked in comparison with the other events that are happening. Could you advise the committee what commemorative events are being planned for those specific ones, if any?

Then, in terms of promoting the museum to our schools and our children in our regions across the country, how can we promote what I think is one of the finest museums I've ever witnessed anywhere in the world?

Thank you so much for your work.

[James Whitham]

Thank you, sir.

With regard to other upcoming anniversaries, we have focused today mainly on the War of 1812 and on the First World War centenary. Other programs are being looked at now, to work with some of those dates. At this point we don't have anything concrete, but some of those are being worked out and discussed right now.

For example, we're trying to put together, in partnership with another group, a lecture series dealing with Korea and the different battles and the end of the Korean War, to get experts in to speak of that. Although we didn't mention it in these materials, we are continuously upgrading and expanding programs to meet some of these dates and requirements.

[Peter Stoffer, NDP, Sackville—Eastern Shore, NS]

Thank you.

Irene.

[Irene Mathyssen, NDP, London—Fanshawe, ON]

Thank you for being here. I must say, I have also enjoyed a remarkable tour of the War Museum. Mine was eight hours. I don't know how Mr. Stoffer got through in four.

[Peter Stoffer, NDP, Sackville—Eastern Shore, NS]

I walk very fast.

[Irene Mathyssen, NDP, London—Fanshawe, ON]

One of the things that absolutely fascinated me was the little coat made out of blankets for the little Dutch girl. My husband is a Dutch immigrant, and my daughter presented him with the book that describes the making of the coat and how it came about. I know that a great deal of research went into the work, in terms of the display and finding out the background, and it's incredible, absolutely a jewel.

I wonder what other research you are doing. Are there other marvellous surprises coming up in the near future?

[James Whitham]

With regard to the little Dutch girl's coat, that's a daily occurrence for the museum. The museum has a staff who work with donors and family members to make sure that when an artifact is donated to the museum we get as much history as possible. Although that is a wonderful story, those kinds of artifacts come in with as much history as possible.

In terms of cultural research material, we try to document every donation that comes into the museum, because all those stories are very important. We have a number of historians who work on research projects as well. But in terms of material culture, the ability to document these personal stories happens every day with every artifact we bring in.

I'll open the invitation. I guess you've been downstairs, into the vaults. If anyone would like to participate in a tour downstairs, you will see 150,000 artifacts, each with a beautiful personal story with it.

So we do this on a daily basis, to make sure that we capture the memories of the families and preserve them with the artifacts.

[Irene Mathyssen, NDP, London—Fanshawe, ON]

That must be a tremendous challenge, if things are coming in daily.

[The Chair, Conservative, Greg Kerr]

Peter took quite a bit of your time. I'm just trying to caution you. We're just about there.

So thank you very much. We'll go to Mr. Storseth for five.

[Brian Storseth, Conservative, Westlock—St. Paul, AB]

Peter's not very good at sharing.

I have to admit I'm an absolute addict. I've gone to your museum at least a dozen times. I think it's something that every Canadian should have the opportunity to see. You do a tremendous job. I've been to the Smithsonian; I've been to memorials and museums around the world. I do believe we have the best one right here in Ottawa. I very much like what you did with the Boer War. I think it's very educational.

One of my questions is how do we do a better job as Canadians, as government, to promote the fact that the War Museum, the jewel that it is, is there?

I'll ask you that first.

[Yasmine Mingay]

I think I'll speak to this point.

It's wonderful to hear all of your comments. It truly is, and we'll certainly share those with our colleagues. The War Museum in its current space has been there for approximately six years now, and annually we have seen interest and attendance grow. Coverage from a media perspective has grown exponentially on an annual basis, through social media channels and with experts and historians in the field. As more people come to visit, the more they learn and the more they walk away and share that. A great deal is taking place from the point of view of word of mouth.

Media relations coverage has been phenomenal and has been national. So again, that's growing.

As you may have noted, we're creating our exhibitions to also travel, and the hope and plan is to have these travel to various venues across the country in order to show Canadians who live in any of the 10 provinces, or territories, once we get our material up there, what the War Museum does on behalf of all Canadians. We are very conscious of the fact that we are a national museum physically located in one place. More and more of our content is being put up online. Much more of the material is available through our archives and our military history research centre that people from all walks of life and across the board in Canada can study from and learn from.

So it's a constant evolution. It's something that we are very much aware of, and we will be working through these projects and others that weren't mentioned here to get the work and the artifacts both physically in the regions across the country and online.