Money, History and Moore
Thursday, January 24, 2013 @ 4:28 PM
Prince George, B.C.- M.P. and Minister of Heritage and Languages, James Moore, brought two messages to Prince George today, the economy is in good hands, and he is doing all he can to save Canada’s history.On the matter of the economy, Moore told a luncheon crowd the International Monetary Fund has predicted Canada’s economic growth to be among the most robust in the G7 nations. Last week , KPMG rated Canada as having the most tax competitive economy among mature markets. He noted that since July 2009, over 890 thousand net new jobs have been created in Canada, and 90% of those jobs are full time.”These are by the way, the strongest job numbers in all of the G7” said Moore.
He said that since January 2006 and January 2012, the Canadian economy has grown by 8.1% “That’s a full point higher than Germany’s growth during the same time period.” He told the gathering Canada’s deficit has been cut in half in the last two years, and Canada’s debt to GDP ratio is the lowest among G7 nations. “We are on track to balance the budget in 2016 and in fact if all of our projections do hold, including the drop in commodity prices, the deficit of the Government of Canada at this time next year, will be lower than that of the Province of Ontario.”
He says there is something all levels of government must consider “We cannot, as elected officials, spend all of our time talking about ways in which to spend tax payers wealth. We need to spend more time in coming up with ways to create wealth for taxpayers.”
All the number crunching aside, Moore talked about the shocking state of knowledge of Canadian History.
According to Moore, Canadian history is only a high school graduation requirement in 4 provinces, and B.C. is not one of them, and in those provinces where history is taught, it is mostly post second world war material. “We have today, an entire generation which is illiterate about our history.” He says only 24% of young people in grades 7 and 8 in Canada can name Sir John A. Macdonald as the first Prime Minister of Canada. Only 48% of all Canadians know Wilfred Laurier as the first ever francophone Prime Minister. “We have a lot of work to do” says Moore.
Last fall, he announced the creation of the Canadian Museum of History. He says the museum will be the Canadian version of the Smithsonian Institute in the U.S., “Canada needs an institution that tells Canadian stories to the most Canadians.” The new national museum will be housed in what is currently the Museum of Civilization in Ottawa, and will be the hub that sends exhibits across the country to it’s “spoke” museums across the country. The current museum of Canadian history has more than 3 million items in its collection, but 90% are in storage. Local museums will have access to that vault of material to set up their own displays that promote Canadian History.
Comments
Want to create wealth for Canadians, don’t waste money funding a Minister of Heritage. If Canadians want to know about Canadian history, it’s as close as the nearest library, book store, old person or internet. And if you’re going to create a Canadian museum, make sure you don’t sweep the bad stuff under the rug, put it all out there.
All the other nonsense about Canada out performing the G7 nations economically, is just a bunch of smoke. The only reason Canada can boast that is because of it’s abundance of natural resources. In terms of efficiency, we’re at the bottom of the heap. Not to mention that leading the G7 is kind of like getting a booby prize, since the G7 nations are floundering and being overtaken by all those nations we’ve shipped our manufacturing to.
Yes, you’ve cut the deficit that you created. Bottom line though is we’re still spending more than we take in, so you’ll excuse me if I take the self-congratulatory pat on the back for what it is – tripe!
Your governments policies have us on the fast-track to the bottom, so go blow smoke somewhere else.
Mr. Moore should spend more time reading the BC curriculum for Social Studies. Social Studies 9, 10 and 11 all deal with Canadian history and society. Socials 10 and 11 deal exclusively with Canada in the 19th century and 20th century. Socials 11 is a graduation requirement; however, it can be substituted with First Nations 11/12, or Civics 11.
The problem, as I see it, is that the type of history that Mr. Moore espouses is contradictory to that which is taught in schools and makes up the curriculum. Social Studies in British Columbia is more than dates, facts, geography, and history; the end goal is to produce critically thinking individuals who can function and contribute in society with a knowledge of what makes Canada, well, Canada.
As the Minister of Heritage and Languages, he really should be more aware.
Sine: “Want to create wealth for Canadians, don’t waste money funding a Minister of Heritage.”
Bingo!
This guy is whistling past the graveyard. Alberta is selling its oil for 1/2 the world price, Alberta is heading for a massive deficit, and there is a great deal of worry that Bakken oil will displace Tarsand oil. Meanwhile his government keeps pushing Northern Gateway, while Eastern Canada still pays world price for Middle Eastern and African oil.
But all is well in the Conservative universe, according to Mr. Moore.
I wonder if Mr. Moore is actually familiar with the Smithsonian Institution (not Institute)? It is by no means devoted primarily to US history or even more generally to the US. http://www.si.edu/
“He says only 24% of young people in grades 7 and 8 in Canada can name Sir John A. Macdonald as the first Prime Minister of Canada.”
Sadly, 98% could explain to me who Snooki is.
You beat me to the punch billposer ….
The Canadian Museum of Civilization is an existing building which is not all that old. So this is a renaming project as best.
The Smithsonian is world renowned … the largest museum in the world, basically it is a series of museum that is not only located in Washington, but also throughout the USA, with a whole network of affiliates ….. I view it in one way as a full program.
so, 3 million artifacts, eh? ….. versus close to 140 million artifacts …..
This fellow is on something that is not beneficial to real science or history …
Did he ever watch streetwalking on Leno? … shows what having a Smithsonian in one’s country does to the knowledge base of the general population.
Wonder how many in the USA could name the third president of the USA.
http://www.civilization.ca/about-us/canada-history-museum
The official version …..
Unfolding in stages over the next five years, the Canadian Museum of History will renovate half the permanent space in the museum to create the largest and most comprehensive museum exhibition on Canadian history ever developed. A new permanent hall, with a continuous span of 50,000 square feet, will house Canadaâs national treasures and contain exhibitions that comprehensively and chronologically preserve the memories and experiences of the Canadian people. It will include a new, permanent exhibition space to present exhibitions originating from other museums across the country that help complete the national story.
The way I view it is that this is an attempt at making something new out of something not quite that old yet.
Interesting to note that they use square feet .. LOL
50,000sf is about 10% larger than the SAave on Food store at Parkwood. Or about a third the size of Superstore on Ferry.
“present exhibitions originating from other museums across the country”
It is the Harper Government trying to outdo Trudeau Federalism ….. provinces can keep their natural resources … but let us centralize important regional historic artifacts ……
So they are doing what the archaeologists did with Egyptian treasures and the Canadians did with First Nations treasures, some of which they have sent back to where they belong.
“Want to create wealth for Canadians, don’t waste money funding a Minister of Heritage”
Or waste money renaming the perfectly good “Ottawa River Parkway” to the “Sir John A. MacDonald Parkway”.
As for switching the focus of the Museum of Civilization, I don’t support that. Why not keep the existing museum content, cut some fat from other program areas and boost funding to various historical sites across Canada? Every region of the country has made contributions to our nation, so why not celebrate those contributions in their actual setting?
This area of the country oozes history and to be perfectly honest, the last place you need to go to take it in is a museum. Heck, it might even be the worst place to go. If I want to take in history I can head to Kingston, Upper Canada Village, Quebec City, old Montreal, the Thousand Islands Region on the St. Lawrence or upstate New York. I can drive 15 minutes and gaze at Parliament Hill, buildings older than anything in BC or take in the Rideau Canal. You don’t need a museum in Ottawa for Canadian history, it forms the very basis of the entire region. Spread the wealth and knowledge to areas of the country that aren’t so lucky would be my suggestion!
The message here to me is that they did squat for heritage and culture and now they are finding they really cannot do that much more and are reinventing a display.
So much for history ….. we can’t even keep the brand we had in place ……
The term Smithsonian has been around about 150 years I think …… maybe they need to name it differently as well ……
Money, History and Moore
Money = none
History = unimportant
Moore = has been
NMG: “Or waste money renaming the perfectly good “Ottawa River Parkway” to the “Sir John A. MacDonald Parkway”.
Now you’re getting the idea!
James Moore came to Prince George to attend UNBC to get some necessary paperwork to go back to the lower mainland where he won election to the trough. He runs a blow smoke ministry (the Ministry of Useless Information) and is one of the Harper government’s flapping mouthpieces whenever they need a distraction, especially on the west coast.
Keep growing those jowels, James.
Who is/was Sir John A. MacDonald?
I hear that they are considering removing the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and putting it into the foyer a new ⬠375 million Italian Renaisance museum in Caprese, Tuscany. Caprese is Michelangeloâs home town.
It is a joint project between the Vatican and the Italian Government. In return for the ceiling, the Italians would replace it in the Chapel with a special polymer wrap to replicate the surface and the painting when viewed from below. The final result would place the priceless original in a safe, protected area with controlled humidity and temperature to reduce the amount of degradation that the ceiling has been experiencing in modern times.
The Italians would thus take over the cost of protecting the ceiling while the Vatican will have more money left each year for relief efforts in Africa.
I’d like to see free tuition for post secondary history classes. A subsidy if you will for a few electives towards a degree or just increasing the capacity for society to learn about itself and its civic responsibilities. A proud and confident country would ensure its citizens know their own story.
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it”
Jorge AgustÃn Nicolás Ruiz de Santayana y Borrás, known as George Santayana (December 16, 1863 â September 26, 1952)
What a bunch of sore losers….face it folks…you lost..again you lost!!!
get over it and get ready for the next election, where you lose again!!!!
Moore won… Harper won…the Conservatives won….and..wait for it YOU LOST!!!
Get over it and do something productive with your life like maybe getting ready for the next election if you feel inspired enough to get off you butts, away from your computers and quit your complaining and actually go out there and try to change politics if you feel so strongly about it…get real!
Oh by the way the election was two years ago….and YOU LOST!!
I do not remember him. …. :->
But on reading the background, it appears that he liked paraphrasing quotes from others. Thus his words which seemed to be “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it” were actually stated as âThose who donât know history are destined to repeat itâ attributed to Edmund Burke more than 150 years before Santayana.
Also attributed to Burke is the saying: âOnly the dead have seen the end of warâ.
Also: âA spirit of innovation is generally the result of a selfish temper and confined views. People will not look forward to posterity, who never look backward to their ancestors.â
Seemed to be into truisms. :-)
gimmeabreak …you are most certainly right on that …. we all lost!!!!
Burke had a lot to say about politics, inlcuding this:
“In a democracy, the majority of the citizens is capable of exercising the most cruel oppressions upon the minority.”
Think about it, gimmeabreak. I hope you can understand it and apply it to your attitude.
I’ll add one more thought of my own to respond to you. You show little respect to those with different opinions than you.
We lost our surplus, our balanced budgets, our smaller government, our research. But, we did gain the largest government ever, the muzzling of scientist, and one big pile-o-steaming-debt.
Ya, I admit it, we lost. But at least we have Invisible Dick.
Gus….I show little respect????
Try reading the previous blogs to mine….
Where is the respect from those with their badmouthing of Moore and the Conservatives???
My point was to those who continually whine and badmouth the Conservatives and the previous elections that they have won…why don’t you get off your computer butts and actually get involved with the party of your choice to try and change things if that’s what you want to do.
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