Environmental Analysis -- Internal Environment
Corporate Strengths and Constraints
The Corporation, like all government organizations, was affected by multiple budget reductions and continued to face the challenges of responding to funding pressures and priorities with a declining resource base. In 1995-1996, the Corporation successfully continued to build on its strengths in order to offset the constraints under which it operated.
The Corporation's strengths include:
- a reputation for museological excellence;
- the CMC's spectacular architecture and site;
- exceptional collections in the archaeological, aboriginal cultures, war art, military medals, and military vehicles areas;
- the CMCC's great variety of innovative exhibitions and programmes;
- the recently expanded and extremely popular Children's Museum;
- the IMAX®/OMNIMAX® theatre -- CINÉPLUS -- which contributes to a continued high level of attendance;
- the recent addition of the Canadian War Museum's new and renovated post-Second World War galleries dedicated to Canadian military heroes and the Korean War;
- a steadily emerging corporate culture, which should allow for the development of innovative ways to manage programmes, while finding new ways to contribute to their funding; and
- a facility infrastructure for outreach through the most sophisticated digital technologies.
The Corporation's constraints include:
- Legislative restrictions -- the CMCC is restricted in its ability to fulfil the full intent of the Museums Act, and to achieve its objectives, by the Public Sector Compensation Act, which hinders the CMCC's conduct of business as a Crown Corporation. This legislation effectively removed the powers of the Corporation to negotiate with its unions as a separate employer. This has resulted in court challenges that have cost the Corporation in excess of $100,000 to date, as well as delays in crucial labour management issues. These labour issues are critical for the implementation of corporate strategies tied to the financial viability of the Corporation as it enters year two of Programme Review.
- Collections Development -- the Corporation has lacked, in the past, a well-defined collections development plan. This is becoming more crucial with the elimination of artifact acquisition budgets. The Corporation must have in place, by the end of 1996-1997, a collections development plan which will guide its artifact acquisition and de-accession efforts in the coming years.
- The exploitation of corporate strengths in order to maximize revenue -- a more entrepreneurial and self-reliant spirit is being successfully developed within the Corporation.
- Accommodation for the CWM -- the potential of the CWM is seriously hampered by the lack of adequate facilities and public programming space for the proper safeguarding of our national military heritage collections. The Corporation continues to explore options.
- Unfinished exhibition spaces at the CMC -- this is a
significant weakness of the Corporation. Much progress was
made over the past five years by rigorous reallocation of
resources, but the Canada Hall is still incomplete and, as
of March 31, 1996, only base building fit-up was complete in
the First Peoples Hall. Twenty thousand square feet of
permanent exhibitions in the First Peoples Hall are not yet
funded.
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