WINNIPEG, Manitoba, October 05 , 2006 - On behalf of the Honourable Beverley J. Oda, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Status of Women, the Honourable Vic Toews, Q.C., Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, today announced the support of Canada's new Government for the Saint-Boniface Museum. This funding will allow the Museum to catalogue and digitize approximately 3400 objects from its collections.
"Museums are the guardians of our country's heritage," said Minister Oda. "This Government is proud to support this project, which increases accessibility to our national historical treasures and ensures their preservation."
"The artefacts collected by the Saint-Boniface Museum must be properly maintained," said Minister Toews. "They form a rich part of our history and help us understand and learn about the contribution that French-Canadian and Métis communities made to Western Canada."
Led in part by a photography technician, this project will consist of ensuring the accuracy of information in the existing collections, photographing the items, and uploading the images to the Museum's collections database. This project will make the Saint-Boniface Museum's collections more accessible to staff, visitors, and researchers at home and abroad. This will lead to the Museum submitting selected items of its catalogue to Artefacts Canada, an online national database of museum collections from across Canada.
Financial assistance of $42,650 is provided by the Department of Canadian Heritage under its Museums Assistance Program. This program provides financial support to Canadian museums and related institutions for projects that foster excellence in museum activities and that facilitate access to the treasures of our collective heritage.
Information:
Véronique Bruneau
Press Secretary
Office of the Minister of Canadian Heritage
and Status of Women
819 997-7788
Mark Quinlan
Press Secretary
Office of the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
613 992-4621
Brigitte Gibson
Director of Communications
Prairies and Northern Region
204 983-7875
