CCA Bulletin 15/07

Ottawa, Tuesday, April 3, 2007

Disappointments Continue for Canada’s Museums

Just the facts

For over a year now the Canadian museums sector has been hoping that the Minister of Canadian Heritage, the Hon. Bev Oda, would finally deliver a new national museums policy, which she supported so heartedly when she was the Conservative Party’s Heritage critic while in opposition.

After the initial disappointment of seeing nothing reflected in the first May 2, 2006 federal budget of the “new” Government of Canada, the Canadian Museums Association (CMA) heard the new Heritage Minister soften her previous support for the policy by telling the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage in June 2006 that the whole matter had to be reconsidered from scratch.  Faced with this, the CMA organized a busy summer full of members’ meeting with MPs in their own constituencies to educate elected officials on the importance of finally addressing long-standing and serious problems in the sector.

The museums had an additional cause for discontent when the budget of the Museum Assistance Program (MAP) was slashed as “inefficient” as part of the September 26 2006 $1 billion reallocation exercise. This blow created a major backlash all across the country at the constituency level, a fact that apparently caused much surprise within our new government.

The CMA has continued to work with the Minister and thought that chances were quite good that it would finally see signs of the long-awaited policy in the 2007 federal budget: wrong again, the budget simply promising $ 5 million each year for two years to provide the museums to hire students during the summer period, an initiative which many have described as stemming more from electoral preoccupations than from an analysis of the museums’ priority needs.

The latest unpleasant surprise comes in the form of the Government’s Response to the Ninth report of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage, Study related to Canadian museums, made public last week and in which Minister Oda definitively turns her back on the policy that had been long-in-the-making and had garnered widespread support, including from all political sides of the House.  Here are the most interesting passages of Minister Oda’s response:

“The Government’s most significant responsibility with respect to the museums sector is the national collections it holds in public trust for Canadians as set out in the Museums Act.  The national museums are the only museums with explicit mandates to preserve and present the heritage of the entire country.  They also are the only museums that receive annual operating support from the federal government through Parliamentary appropriations. (…)

In 2006-2007, the Government invested almost $225 million through Parliamentary appropriations for the national museums. This is a major commitment to the preservation of our heritage.

The Government also recognizes the important roles played by other museums across the country. The Museums Assistance Program will continue to fund Canadian museum projects and employment opportunities for young people working in museums. Museums are also eligible for several other programs and services within the Department of Canadian Heritage including Cultural Spaces Canada, Canadian Culture On Line, the Movable Cultural Property Grants Program, the Canadian Conservation Institute, the Canadian Heritage Information Network, and the heritage component of the Canadian Arts and Heritage Sustainability Program.

In addition to the direct investment provided through these programs, Budget 2006 also made it more attractive for taxpayers to make donations to charities by eliminating the capital gains tax on donations of publicly listed securities to registered charities such as museums.

The Government is working with the Canadian Museums Association and its members to develop a renewed vision for the museum sector that will better address today’s challenges and realities. It must take account of the appropriate role for the Government of Canada in relation to the roles played by other levels of government and the private sector. Canadians want to know that their hard-earned tax dollars are being invested responsibly.”

The CCA notes this cultural policy development with dismay. Advocating for a new federal museums policy remains one of our top priorities and we continue to support the work of our colleagues at the CMA on this important front.

Tell me more

As if this was not already enough to drive the museum community to despair, on March 22 2007 the Canadian Conservation Institute (CCI) announced that it will shut down its Exhibit Transportation Services (ETS), effective April 1 2008.

A special unit of CCI, ETS has been serving Canadian museums since 1976. It provides secure, reliable, and environmentally controlled transportation for fine art and artifacts across Canada. ETS is housed in a 1400-m2 climate-controlled building with an inside loading dock capable of accommodating five tractor-trailer units.

CCI states the shut down is due to operational and administrative reasons. In 2005, an internal audit of CCI’s financial and procurement management concluded that an employer/employee relationship existed with the drivers/fine art handlers, such that they could no longer be hired on contract.

Once again, it is the smaller institutions which will suffer most from this decision which, according to many, it would be very easy and not overly costly for Minister Oda to resolve.