Maurice
Joanisse took over the position of Public Works and Government Services
Canada Federal Sculptor in 1993 when Eleanor Milne retired. He began as
an assistant to Eleanor Milne in 1971, and during this time he executed
some of his own designs. Now that most of the uncarved blocks have been
completed, Joanisse is focusing on the documentation and restoration of
the Parliament carvings. The Stones of History website (external link)
gives an insight into some of the work he is doing currently, "researching,
documenting and photographing every carving on the exterior facades of the
buildings on Parliament Hill in order to produce a historic chronicle."
He is compiling this extensive record in the form of a complete, fully indexed
inventory of sculpture and carving including condition reports for the East
and West Blocks, the Parliament Building and the Parliamentary Library.
This is an important record as some of the exterior carvings are becoming
damaged and will need replacing.
Maurice Joanisse's brother, Marcel Joanisse, is in charge of the heritage stone masons, a responsibility he took up in 1983. Marcel Joanisse began working as an assistant to Eleanor Milne in 1972. During Milne's time as Dominion Sculptor, she was responsible for the masons and the carvers, made into two separate divisions after the appointment of the Joanisse brothers. Both Maurice and Marcel Joanisse originally gained their experience as stone carvers by working in their father's Ottawa monument business, where they were responsible for inscriptions and background carvings.