Mr. Speaker, I rise today to seek agreement from my colleagues to reinstate an important piece of legislation, which is Bill C-49, an act to amend the Museums Act in order to establish the Canadian museum of history.
As members of the House may recall, the former Minister of Heritage and Official Languages announced our government's plan to establish this new national museum just over a year ago on October 16, 2012. Our government believes that Canadians deserve a national museum that tells our stories and presents our country's treasures to the world. Yet, Canada does not actually have a national museum that presents a comprehensive narrative of our history.
As Canada approaches its 150th anniversary in 2017, we are approaching a once-in-a-generation opportunity to better understand and examine the defining chapters of our country's history. Canada's history is vast. It is important that all Canadians appreciate the courage of our ancestors, from Samuel de Champlain's mapping of the St. Lawrence River to the last spike at Craigellachie, British Columbia, which marked the completion of the Canadian Pacific railway tracks that took us from east to west and back again. Bill C-49 would retell stories such as those by creating the Canadian museum of history.
I would like to take this opportunity to remind my colleagues of the mandate of the new museum as it is described in the legislation. It states:
The purpose of the Canadian museum of history is to enhance Canadians’ knowledge, understanding and appreciation of events, experiences, people and objects that reflect and have shaped Canada’s history and identity, and also to enhance their awareness of world history and cultures.
I would also like to provide a brief summary of why we introduced the legislation and why we want to reinstate it. Our government believes that the vast majority of Canadians who have the privilege of visiting our national museums recognize that they are our national treasures. That is why we have opened two new national museums: the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21 in Halifax, and the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg.
Canada needs a national institution that will tell the stories of how Canada came to be the prosperous land we now live in. Our country needs an institution that will independently research and explore our history and present it to the over 35 million Canadians in this country. This country needs a national institution that celebrates our achievements and what we have accomplished together as Canadians. Our children need to know more about Canada's past.
That is why we introduced the legislation to create the new Canadian museum of history. The new museum's home would be in what is currently the Canadian Museum of Civilization. Our government would make a $25-million, one-time investment so that the museum could be built to host and hold the new exhibitions that would take place, and also transition to its new mandate with a focus on Canada's history and Canada's identity.
As soon as we hear about the expenditure of funds, all of us wonder where those funds would come from and whether or not the taxpayer would have to pay more for this investment. However, I remind the House that the funds would come from the existing budget for Canadian Heritage. The museum itself would also allocate internal resources to the project and it would launch a public fundraising campaign with an initial target of $5 million. These funds would allow the museum of Canadian history to renovate more than half of its permanent exhibition space. The result would be almost 50,000 square feet of space in which to present a comprehensive telling of our country's history. The museum would actually renovate 7,500 square feet on the street-level floor of its main building, and this space would increase its capacity to host travelling exhibitions, for example exhibits from other museums across the country.
As members will hear, and as many of us have heard when we talked about the potential of this museum, it would not just be a museum situated here in Ottawa. The transition of using museums across this country from a historical perspective would be implemented at the same time. It would be to refresh its mandate and orientation so that we could tell the story of this country. As we have mentioned in past debates, the Children's Museum would continue to be an integral part of this new museum—