Question Period Note: Canada’s Museum Policy

On September 18, 2018, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage tabled its report on the state of Canada’s museums, making 15 recommendations to the Government and to Canadian Heritage. The Government’s response to the report was tabled on January 16, 2019, and includes a commitment to pursue modernization of Canada’s museum policy.

• Our Government recognizes the importance of Canada’s museums to the preservation, awareness, understanding and celebration of our cultural, artistic and scientific heritage.
• Our Government is committed to review and modernize the Museum Policy. To that end, we will review the input provided to date by the museum community and undertake additional consultations as warranted.

• On February 16, 2016, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Canadian heritage adopted a motion to “undertake a study to review the state of Canadian museums, with a focus on local and community museums (as opposed to the major national or provincial museums)”. It held eight meetings and heard from 41 witnesses.
• On September 18, 2018, the Committee tabled its Report, making 15 recommendations to Canadian Heritage and the Government of Canada. The recommendations were grouped by theme: Finance and Revenue; Human Resources; Collections and Infrastructure; and Other Challenges.
• The most significant of the Committee’s recommendations is that the Government develop, on the basis of consultations, a modernized Canadian museum policy. The existing policy was introduced in 1990.
• The Committee requested a response to the report from the Government. That response was tabled in the House of Commons on January 16, 2019.
• The Response indicates that for 11 of the Committee’s 15 recommendations, the Government or the museum community is already engaged in activities that address the recommendations, such as in available training for museums staff and volunteers, or is prepared to do so, as is the case with modernization of federal museum policy.
• The other four recommendations would represent a significant shift or increase in federal funding for non-federal museums. The response indicates that it would be premature for the Government to take a position on those proposals in advance of modernization of the museum policy.
• No commitment has been made on a timeline for a new policy. The Government and Canadian Heritage have received input from the museum community in a variety of forms over the past two years. The first step toward a modernized policy will be a review of that input to determine what additional research or consultations may be warranted.
• The Government response does not commit the Government to provide incremental funding as part of a revised policy, although significant new funding remains an ongoing expectation of the museum community. The response signals that the policy may take the form of a statement that will be used to guide subsequent funding decisions.
• In fiscal year 2018-2019, the Government invested more than $396.6 million to benefit museums and heritage institutions in Canada. This funds the six national museums, Library and Archives Canada, and through grants and contributions, supports the wider museum and heritage community in Canada.
• In their 2019 election platform, the Liberal Party of Canada made a commitment to “…review our national museums policy to make sure that people can access Canadian history across the country, with better access to digital collections.”

None