1996-1997 A year of challenges for the Canadian Museum of Civilization CorporationHull, Quebec, October 9, 1997 — The Canadian Museum of Civilization Corporation (CMCC) tabled its annual report for 1996-1997 in the House of Commons today. The CMCC comprises the Canadian Museum of Civilization and the Canadian War Museum. In its report, the Corporation describes the philosophy, strategic orientation and the concrete means it has adopted to meet the many requirements of modern museology and to explore new possibilities, while dealing with the many challenges it has faced successfully.
Among these, the most important was the need to deal with the reduced financial resources allocated by the government and a slight drop in attendance. However, an increase in donations to the Corporation — a record $1.4 million — as well as the promise of another $1 million in donations, has helped the Corporation meet its fiscal challenge.
Some figures to note
The Canadian Museum of Civilization welcomed more than 1.26 million visitors, while the Canadian War Museum reached its normal level of over 100,000. The Canadian Children's Museum itself had more than 300,000 visitors. The series See and Hear the World, which presents international artists representative of the various cultural and musical traditions of the world, exceeded its target audience of 6,000.
Messages from Adrienne Clarkson and George F. MacDonald
In her message, Ms. Adrienne Clarkson, Chairwoman of the Corporation's Board of Trustees, speaks of the changing environment the Corporation must face. To this end, the Corporation must adapt to the challenges of the information age while remaining true to basic museological principles. "The Information Highway and other information technologies appear at the moment to be the most effective means of reaching our public. However, even as they adopt new information technologies and adapt to the challenges of an environment dominated by advertising and communications, museums must never lose sight of their purpose and fundamental mission. Research, cultural education, exhibitions, conservation, publications are each essential to the achievement of this mission," Mrs. Clarkson stated.
Dr. George F. MacDonald, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation, described 1996-1997 as most stimulating: "Despite cuts in the government's financial allocation, we met our goals and even exceeded several of them. In fact, because of the beneficial partnerships we forged with private enterprise and the cost reductions that were possible, we adopted aggressive promotional methods to increase attendance and established new sources of revenue. I'd particularly like to point out two of the important achievements of fiscal year 1996-1997: the reassembly and reconsecration of St. Onuphrius Church in the Canada Hall, 4,000 km from its original location at Smoky Lake, Alberta and the launch of the Virtual Museum of New France™ and the Pocket Museum™ at the Canadian Cultural Centre in Paris."
Other notable achievements include the permanent installations of the Canadian Postal Museum and the inauguration of Phase I of Adventure World. The Corporation also opened to the public the First Peoples Hall, an area comprising several exhibition halls for showcasing the history and culture of Canada's First Peoples and of other aboriginal peoples and presented important temporary exhibitions, such as Edward Poitras: JAW REZ; Transformation; Lost Visions, Forgotten Dreams: Life and Art of an Ancient Arctic People; and Ritual Messengers: African Treasures from the Tervuren Museum, Belgium.
"It is imperative that we ensure an important place in society for museums so that the lessons and riches of the past can be used in our race to the future," Dr. MacDonald stressed. "Thus, at the Canadian War Museum we completed the permanent exhibition Canada's Peacekeepers, the Hall of Honour and the Korean War Hall. Having updated the storage facilities at Vimy House, we several times invited an enthusiastic public to visit them. Moreover, the Passing the Torch campaign was carried out with donations and commitments of $2 million for 1996-1997. The results of this campaign will enable us to finance the construction of a new section, as well as the expansion of the Museum's electronic distribution programme," he concluded.
Information (media):
Media Relations Officer: (819) 776-7169
Senior Media Relations Officer: (819) 776-7167
Fax: (819) 776-7187
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