Canadian Heritage committee  Thank you very much. My name is Meg Beckel, and I have the honour and privilege of being the president and CEO of the Canadian Museum of Nature. Today, I was invited here to tell you about the Canadian Museum of Nature's plans for 2017, Canada's 150th anniversary. It is both a

Canadian Heritage committee  Thank you for the question. As my colleagues have said, we currently are part of the Alliance of Natural History Museums of Canada. This is an organization...[Technical difficulty--Editor]...natural history collections, and that is our vector for connecting with the small museum

Canadian Heritage committee  Good morning, Madam Chair and honourable members. I have the honour and privilege of serving as the president and CEO of the Canadian Museum of Nature. I am very pleased to be here with you this morning to update you on the activities of the Canadian Museum of Nature. We're o

Canadian Heritage committee  Certainly. When we refer to the world around us having changed, we are also saying that the way we connect with our visitors has changed dramatically. That's how we as an institution have had to change the way we operate, the way we create, design, and deliver visitor experienc

Canadian Heritage committee  That's a great question, and thank you, because I didn't get to this in my remarks. The Canadian Museum of Nature was basically founded for and was an early participant in the original Canadian Arctic Expedition, so we've been exploring the Arctic for over 100 years. We've been

Canadian Heritage committee  It's in two ways. It's in the gallery, which is still in preliminary design—we're still sorting out exactly the most compelling and clear way of doing that. We're talking about changes in the amount of biodiversity in the north. Regarding the ecosystems, we will talk about the

Canadian Heritage committee  Well, I've had the advantage of time to do my math at the back here. When I look at the amount that the federal government is investing per visitor, I include on-site visitors and our visitors across Canada, so if I look at the on-site visitors—

Canadian Heritage committee  Okay. It's $52 per visitor. It goes down to $20 per visitor if you include the off-site visitors through travelling exhibits.

Canadian Heritage committee  One thing about financial statements is that they tell a very clear story. I've actually looked at the investment we make in inspiration and engagement, which is the visitor experience, our marketing, and our fundraising, relative to research and discovery, because although much

Canadian Heritage committee  One thing about a scientific collection that includes insects is that the percentage of your collection that's on display is actually very small. We have just over 10 million specimens in our collection. We actually manage them in lots, so a jar of worms would be one, not 2,000,

Canadian Heritage committee  We have one in our mammal gallery. We're really going to focus on the story of the Arctic, and that's how we'll do it.

Canadian Heritage committee  We have a wonderful display of a beaver in our mammal gallery. It has pride of place and we love our beaver.

Canadian Heritage committee  Just a moment, please.

Canadian Heritage committee  I apologize. I am learning French, but for today...

Canadian Heritage committee  Absolutely. That is true.