Harper Government to Create the Canadian Museum of History

Depart­ment of Cana­dian Her­itage Newsroom

GATINEAU, Octo­ber 16, 2012

The Hon­ourable James Moore, Min­is­ter of Cana­dian Her­itage and Offi­cial Lan­guages, today announced the Harper Government’s inten­tion to intro­duce leg­is­la­tion cre­at­ing the Cana­dian Museum of His­tory, the first in a series of mea­sures on the road to Canada’s 150th birth­day in 2017.

In order to achieve this, the Harper Gov­ern­ment plans to intro­duce amend­ments to the Muse­ums Act to change the name and man­date of the Cana­dian Museum of Civ­i­liza­tion. Min­is­ter Moore made the announce­ment at the Cana­dian Museum of Civ­i­liza­tion in the pres­ence of the Museum’s Board of Trustees, Museum staff, emi­nent Cana­dian his­to­ri­ans, and mem­bers of his­tor­i­cal asso­ci­a­tions from across Canada.

“This year marks the start of the five-year count­down to Canada’s 150th birth­day in 2017. It offers us an unprece­dented oppor­tu­nity to cel­e­brate our his­tory and those achieve­ments that define who we are as Cana­di­ans,” said Min­is­ter Moore. “Cana­di­ans deserve a national museum of his­tory that tells our sto­ries and presents our country’s trea­sures to the world.”

The Cana­dian Museum of His­tory will high­light the national achieve­ments and accom­plish­ments that have shaped our coun­try, includ­ing the “Last Spike” from the con­struc­tion of the Canada Pacific Rail­way, Mau­rice “Rocket” Richard’s hockey jer­sey and items from Terry Fox’s Marathon of Hope. Through exist­ing resources and new part­ner­ships with muse­ums across Canada, the Cana­dian Museum of His­tory will ren­o­vate over 50,000 square feet of pub­lic space.  This ren­o­va­tion, to be com­pleted before Canada’s 150th birth­day in 2017, will pro­vide the pub­lic with the oppor­tu­nity to appre­ci­ate how Canada’s iden­tity has been shaped over the course of our history.

“As Canada’s largest orga­ni­za­tion ded­i­cated to his­tory and cit­i­zen­ship, the Historica-Dominion Insti­tute enthu­si­as­ti­cally sup­ports the cre­ation of the Cana­dian Museum of His­tory,” said Yves Fortier, mem­ber of the Institute’s board of direc­tors. “It is essen­tial that Cana­di­ans of all ages have access to pub­lic resources through which they may learn more about our shared his­tory and heritage.”

Mark O’Neill, Pres­i­dent and CEO of the Cana­dian Museum of Civ­i­liza­tion Cor­po­ra­tion, said the insti­tu­tion is tak­ing a bold step into the future by refo­cus­ing its atten­tion on our shared national his­tory. “The Cana­dian Museum of His­tory will inspire curios­ity and a greater under­stand­ing of the forces that have shaped the Cana­dian iden­tity. Cana­di­ans, as well as vis­i­tors from around the world, will leave the Museum with a deeper appre­ci­a­tion of Canada’s unique and fas­ci­nat­ing national journey.”

The trans­for­ma­tion will require a one-time invest­ment of $25 mil­lion that will be funded within the exist­ing bud­get for Cana­dian Her­itage. In other words, it will come at no addi­tional cost to tax­pay­ers. Other mea­sures announced today include:

• Seek­ing input from Cana­di­ans across Canada on the major themes, events, and accom­plish­ments that have shaped our country;
• A new process link­ing Canada’s net­work of muse­ums to the Cana­dian Museum of His­tory, so Cana­di­ans in all regions of the coun­try have bet­ter access to our shared history;
• Fundrais­ing activ­i­ties to solicit sup­port from the pri­vate sec­tor to com­ple­ment the Government’s one-time investment;