Mr. Speaker, Peterborough is fortunate to have acquired the Balsillie Collection of Roy Studio Images. This collection contains 400,000 glass and film images taken by three generations of local photographers, the Roy family. The collection, dating back to 1896, survived in a downtown cellar, partly by luck and partly by good management.
The collection documents the life of a century in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada. Family life, commerce, industry, culture, including fashion and architecture, and dramatic local events are all on record there. The Balsillie collection is a unique national treasure.
I commend all those involved with the accumulation and acquisition of this collection, including the Roy family, Jim Balsillie, the city of Peterborough and the fundraising committees. George Mitchell, Lynne Cooper, Rob Rusland and John Lyon deserve special mention as do the staff and board of the Centennial Museum and Archives.
I recommend to the House Jim Leonard's Peterborough Historical Society's publication on this topic.