Provinces are falling down on their responsibility to teach Canadian children the history of their country, Heritage Minister James Moore said, explaining his government’s significant investments promoting major events in Canada’s past.“I don’t think we’re doing enough, and there are limited things that the federal government can do,” he said during an appearance on the Global News program The West Block with Tom Clark.
“When you consider that in only four of Canada’s 13 provinces and territories is it mandatory for a student to take a history class to graduate from high school, I think it’s little wonder when the Histoica-Dominion Institute comes out with surveys that show how impoverished our kids are in their basic understanding of Canada’s basic history.”
The Conservatives have come under fire for spending more than $28 million to fund historical re-enactments, upgrade museum exhibits, create a commemorative silver coin and produce a mobile app, among other things, in celebration of the War of 1812 bicentennial.
Moore has said the price tag is reasonable, considering the event helped pave the way for Confederation.
As we march on toward the nation’s 150th birthday in 2017, Canadians can expect to hear and learn a lot about other significant events and people including the Arctic Expedition, Sir John A. Macdonald and George Etienne Cartier, Moore said.
These lessons in history are being produced, at least in part, to nudge the provinces and demonstrate they’re not doing enough with their history curricula, the minister said from Vancouver.
In British Columbia, where Moore is an MP, there is no mandatory Canadian history class for high school students.
Students can take a social studies class, of which approximately one-quarter “might be construed as history,” Moore said.
Even at that, the lessons focus heavily on 20th century events such as the World Wars and the Cold War, he said.
Another step the federal Conservatives are taking to mitigate the perceived shortfall from the provinces is re-branding the Museum of Civilization, Moore said.
In 2017, the 26-year-old museum will become the Canadian Museum of History, featuring new exhibits, a fresh mandate and a new focus on Canada’s historical achievements.
The building, located on the shore of the Ottawa River just across from Parliament Hill, attracts more that 1.2 million visitors each year.
The plan is to spend $25 million to install new permanent exhibits that help tell the story of Canada.
The gallery will feature familiar faces like that of Liberal prime minister Pierre Trudeau, Terry Fox and Louis-Joseph de Montcalm, the French commander in the Battle of the Plains of Abraham.
Artefacts on display will include a blue blanc et rouge jersey Maurice “Rocket” Richard wore and the last spike used in the Canadian Pacific Railway.
“We have such a rich history as a country, such a brilliant history,” Moore said. “The United States has the Smithsonian, Germany has the German History Museum, and I think the biggest museum in Canada ... the Museum of Civilization, by reforming its mandate, increasing their budget and allowing them to broaden their scope more aggressively and assertively ... is something that the government can do to contribute to enriching young Canadians.”
The plan to revamp the museum already has its critics, with opposition MPs in the House of Commons claiming the museum will highlight achievements that benefit the Conservative party’s image and propagate its philosophy.
It’s a criticism Moore brushes off.
“I think it says more about the partisanship of people who suggest we’re being partisan, when they haven’t even seen the museum about which they say we’re being partisan,” he said. “I mean, they’re jumping the gun that hasn’t been developed yet.”
Read it on Global News: Global News | Provinces failing on teaching children Canadian history: Moore
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