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Replacing the Canadian Museum of Civilization a serious mistake

(Ottawa, October 17, 2012) The Canadian Association of University Teachers has criticized the Federal Government’s decision to replace the Canadian Museum of Civilization with a new Canadian Museum of History.

Yesterday, Heritage Minister James Moore announced that the name and mandate of the Canadian Museum of Civilization will be changed to create the Canadian Museum of History. $25 million will be moved from other areas of the Heritage budget to pay for the new museum.

“This decision is a mistake,” said James L. Turk, CAUT executive director. “It needlessly eliminates Canada’s largest and most popular museum. While some of the current museum will be incorporated in the new Canadian history museum, it will not include the mammoth Canada Hall which is the largest and finest social history display in the world.”

According to Turk, the government had numerous locations in the National Capital Region to house a new Canadian history museum without closing the Canadian Museum of Civilization whose mandate is to increase, throughout Canada and internationally, knowledge, critical understanding and appreciation for human cultural achievements.

“This is a government that has done so much to undermine Canadians’ ability to know our past. For example, it has made serious cuts to Library and Archives Canada, which is responsible for acquiring and maintaining Canada’s cultural heritage, and to Parks Canada which maintains 167 Canadian historical sites,” said Turk.

Turk also expressed concern about the federal government’s revisions of Canadian history to fit its ideological agenda, such as its rewriting of the new immigrant study guide in 2010 and its misleading depiction of the War of 1812.

“The Canadian Museum of Civilization is a national and international treasure that is respected around the world and draws more than 1.2-million visitors a year. It should be saved,” Turk said. “If the government is genuinely committed to Canadian history, it should restore funding to Library and Archives Canada, restore its support for regional and local archives, and restore funding to protect and enhance Canada’s historic sites. After doing that, it could consider a new museum of history – with a truly arm’s-length board to ensure that it is not a propaganda arm of government.”