Earlier this month Distinguished University of Alberta History Professor Ian MacLaren added his voice to the chorus calling on the government to reconsider its tragic and incomprehensible plans for LIbrary and Archives Canada in a letter to the Prime Minister.
"My distress issues out of your government’s gradual, imperilling withdrawal of funding needed for the efficient operation of Library and Archives Canada. The resultant restructuring has been so drastic as to render this flagship institution of Canadian culture almost unrecognizable.
Staff have been cut. Service hours have been reduced. The purchase of materials has been brutally curtailed. Loan policies have been cancelled outright. Scholars from other countries coming to Ottawa to conduct research have had their inquiries go unanswered and their trips to Ottawa end in complete failure to access any records because of the dearth of staff available either to reply to correspondence or to fill standard requests to see records. The organization is in utter disarray. The dismal consensus is that, in a space of a half-dozen years, the library has so deteriorated as to be failing to fulfill its legislated mandate."will will will will
Read the letter in full at http://bibliocracy-now.tumblr.com/
A couple of recent headlines will explain why Harper will never change his policy on Library and Archives Canada. They document a history that is different than his, and so must be punished:
ReplyDeleteHistory according to Stephen Harper.
Why we can't trust Stephen Harper's history of the War of 1812.
Stephen Harper’s Revisionist History.
good for you, John.
ReplyDeleteKeep it up - it WILL succeed; takes time.
Rod