Study of Significant Aspects in Canadian History

The Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage agreed at it's meeting last Monday, April 29 "to undertake a thorough and comprehensive review of significant aspects in Canadian history including the following subjects and themes:

A breakdown and comparison of relevant standards and courses of study offered in primary and post-secondary institutions in each of the provinces and territories;
A review of federal, provincial and municipal programs designed to preserve our history and heritage; and
A focus on Canadian history including but not limited to pre-confederation, early confederation, suffrage, World War I, with an emphasis on battles such as Vimy Ridge, World War II including the Liberation of Holland, the Battle of Ortona, Battle of the Atlantic, the Korean conflict, peacekeeping missions, constitutional development, the Afghanistan conflict, early 20th century Canada, post-war Canada, and the late 20th century.
And that emphasis be placed on Canadians’ access to historical information and education, by studying the following topics:
How Hansard can be used as a means of preserving important witness testimony and part of the permanent public record;
The tools and methods available for Canadians to access and preserve historical content; and
The tools and methods available to Canadians to increase their knowledge of Canadian history.
And that the Committee utilize the following information sources in order to undertake this study:
Witnesses testimony including firsthand accounts of significant periods;
The Committee visit relevant national museums to better understand their efforts at preserving our history and how decisions are made to display our history; and
The Committee invite the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the National Film Board and other public ad private broadcasters to discuss their role in preserving important accounts of Canadian history that may be within their collection.
And that the report highlight best practices, new methods and potential opportunities to preserve, protect and enhance Canadians’ knowledge of our history while recommending ways of improving access to our historical collections.

At a follow-up meeting on May 1 it was agreed, — That the following witnesses be invited to appear in relation to its study on significant aspects of Canadian history:


Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
Canadian Museum of Civilization
Chief Archivist for the Hudson Bay Company
Kevin McLeod, Canadian Secretary to the Queen
Library and Archives Canada
Library of Parliament
Lieutenant General (ret) Michel Maisonneuve
McCain Family Foundation
National Film Board of Canada
Telefilm Canada.

At a meeting on Monday, May 6, in Room 7-52, 131 Queen Street, starting at 3:30pm the scheduled witnesses are: Operation HUSKY 2013 (LGen Michel Maisonneuve, Representative, and Steve Gregory, Founder and; at 4:30pm Canadian Museum of Civilization (Chantal Amyot, Director, Canadian History Hall Project Research and Exhibitions, and Xavier Gélinas, Curator Canadian Political History).

A further hearing is scheduled for Wednesday. May 8. No witnesses are announced.

Committee Members are invited, by the end of business day on Wednesday, May 8, 2013, to submit their list of suggested witnesses for the study.  They might welcome suggestions. The list of committee members is at http://goo.gl/K7syq. Suggestions might best be directed through the vice-chairs, Pierre Nantel (NDP) and Scott Simms (Lib).