Canadian Heritage committee  There is a recognition program through the Office of the Governor General of Canada. There is a whole section that acknowledges exemplary museum volunteerism support.

Canadian Heritage committee  It's a national museum.

Canadian Heritage committee  At this point in time the evaluation program is really intended to create a benchmark baseline of a standard approach to operating a museum. It's not a Cadillac version. All the governance and management pieces of evaluation, for example, ask simply whether you have a governance

Canadian Heritage committee  What we do is that we work with them through 12 months of the year. When they are scheduled for an evaluation in a year, they will know that well in advance. Obviously we have just started the evaluation program, but it's not a sneak attack. They have lot of time to prepare. We h

Canadian Heritage committee  It was a way for the ambitions of different communities to receive provincial government funding support on an ongoing operational basis and to tell the Nova Scotian story. It is a very complex organization, and it is actually going to be under review over the next couple of yea

Canadian Heritage committee  The Canadian Museums Association has been urging, for the last five or six years, the federal government to establish an endowment fund for Canadians supporting their museums, the idea being that it will match public donations from Canadians dollar for dollar with federal dollars

Canadian Heritage committee  Yes, we find that those institutions in the province that are actively involved in their communities, that are engaged in their communities, that have a broader relationship with their arts communities and with other cultural organizations are by far the strongest institutions fo

Canadian Heritage committee  I always describe the evolution of the Nova Scotia Museum as very organic. No one sat down at one point and created a plan, and built the Nova Scotia museum. It largely evolved over opportunistic things that happened over the decades, and eventually was built to 28 sites of varyi

Canadian Heritage committee  Well we are an organization that supports museums, so we don't actually operate a museum. We see the greatest strengths for museums as those who are very actively engaged with their community and have strong community partnerships. Those partnerships that build on their programmi

Canadian Heritage committee  Thanks. I'll just head to the social relevance of museums, which is the conclusion. Is that okay?

Canadian Heritage committee  Right. In conclusion, the federal government provides critically important support for Canada's museums. This must evolve to better support these vital national resources in the manner in which Canadians of the 21st century expect they will serve our society. We commend the work

Canadian Heritage committee  For Nova Scotia we've seen, actually, a significant increase in museum attendance in the province in the last couple of years. That may or may not be coincidentally tied to an increase in tourism figures. I would say 90% of the museums that have reported to me on their attendance

Canadian Heritage committee  Thank you, Madam Chair and committee members, for this opportunity on this most important subject that you have undertaken to study. I'm going to provide a little context for the Association of Nova Scotia Museums and then bring forward what I feel are very specific examples of