Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise before the House to debate Bill C-64 at second reading, the Canada Travelling Exhibitions Indemnification Act.
Ever since the Liberal government discontinued its cost sharing insurance arrangements with our Canadian museums, curators across the country have been struggling with the high cost of insurance premiums on travelling exhibitions.
Depending on the quality of the exhibition in question, insurance premiums can cost thousands of dollars. These high costs are a serious deterrent to our museums which are striving to provide Canadians with the broadest possible collections of art and artefacts. Without these exhibits Canadians throughout the country will be losing out on a very important aspect of our cultural heritage.
One of the main shortcomings of our education system is that it does not make full use of our museums as a teaching tool for our children. Reading history or art books cannot replace the immediate joy that comes from being in direct contact with objects or works of art from the past.
It is especially important for young Canadians to be able to see what life was like for those who worked hard to build this great country of ours so we can reap the benefits today. Children must understand what life was like before this era of high technology to better understand the supreme efforts everyone must make to be successful in this complex world in which we live.
What is indemnification for travelling exhibitions? In essence it means that the Canadian government will assume financial risk for damages to contents contained within travelling exhibitions. This means that the government will pay for loss or damage to objects in these exhibitions.
Not only will this indemnification program relieve some of the financial burden that is affecting most of Canada's museums. It will also help them negotiate the loan of other prestigious foreign exhibitions. Having Canada's financial resources to back up foreign exhibitions should make it a lot easier to access some of the major cultural exhibits from other nations.
As I mentioned previously, the federal government withdrew its support for cost sharing of insurance in 1995. In the 10 years prior to 1995 the federal government invested approximately $6 million in premiums for commercial insurance.
By creating a government sponsored indemnification program Canada will join 14 other industrialized countries that presently offer such a program to their respective museums. Countries like the U.S., Great Britain, New Zealand, Australia and France have recognized the advantages that such a program has for the enhancement of one of their major cultural industries. The eligibility requirements to receive the indemnification program will be determined by the value of the individual exhibitions.
At present the bill requires that the total value of objects must exceed $500,000 to qualify for coverage. I am concerned that by establishing a benchmark of $500,000 for qualification, many of the smaller museums in the country will not be able to access this funding and will miss out on the intended benefits of the program. I would suggest that we revisit this figure to see if we could not arrive at a more reasonable figure that will benefit both our small and large museums alike.
The total coverage allotted within the bill would be limited to $450 million for exhibitions. Perhaps this figure could also be re-examined when the bill comes before committee.
For years our Canadian museum representatives have been lobbying government to implement an effective government based indemnification program. During meetings in Ottawa of the Canadian heritage committee we have had the occasion to meet with a number of very distinguished individuals from across the country representing our museums, libraries and public archives. It was during these hearings that I heard firsthand of the significance that such an indemnification program would have on our museums. Subsequently this message was repeated on many other occasions as our committee crossed the country to meet directly with interested groups and organizations.
Mr. François Lachapelle, directeur general corporation du Musée régional de Rimouski, was the first to focus my attention on this issue as he discussed possible government initiatives that would be very beneficial for our museums. Allow me to quote Mr. Lachapelle:
You will understand that moving a national treasure from one province to another or to another country is going to be extremely costly in terms of insurance because of its great value or of the high risk involved in transportation, etc. Therefore, the premiums charged by insurance companies will be extremely high. That is why this program is very important so exhibitions can travel outside Canada.
This sentiment was further supported by Ms. Candace Stevenson, executive director of Nova Scotia Museum. She represents the 25 provincial museums in my home province. Ms. Stevenson believes this indemnification program will be a tremendous boost for many of our institutions, although it is questionable whether any of Nova Scotia's museums will actually be able to benefit from it.
It does not take away from the benefits the program, however, will have on Canadian museums in general.
Although the government seems to be responding to the concerns expressed by our museums, let us not forget that it is the government itself that put Canadian museums in a critical situation by making significant cuts to their budgets over the last few years.
In 1972 the initial budget for museum assistance programs hovered around $8 million per year. By the early 1990s their budget was increased to a maximum of $15 million despite a Canadian Museum Association recommendation for a budget of $25 million per year. Last year the Liberal government reduced this amount to a paltry $6.5 million, leaving the museum industry reeling to try to find alternative financial resources.
The Minister of Canadian Heritage has since announced subsequent increases to the MAP of $2 million and $1 million respectively, putting the 1999 budget at $9.4 million. This amount does not come close to responding to the grave concerns expressed by our museum representatives.
As it stands now our museum directors barely have the resources necessary to maintain their present exhibits, no less try to expand their collections. Not only must a museum be concerned with preserving valuable artefacts, in many instances they must invest enormous resources in maintaining their buildings themselves, which are often historical landmarks.
Each time we neglect archaeological finds for lack of funding, we lose an important part of our country's history. Artefacts are impossible to replace once they are lost. It is high time we started focusing our energy on the preservation of our cultural heritage for future generations.