Public Helps Write Story of Canadian Museum for Human Rights

By Mary Pidkowich

The Canadian Museum for Human Rights is Canada’s first and only national museum to be located outside the National Capital Region and was created with significant support from other levels of government and the private sector. The Museum was established by Parliament through amendments to the Museums Act on March 13, 2008, which came into effect on August 10, 2008. The Canadian Museum of Human Rights is envisioned as a national and international destination – a centre for learning where Canadians and people from around the world can engage in discussion and commit to taking action against hate and oppression.

Since the Museum is a federally funded institution dedicated to human rights, it must be inclusive  and equitable in all aspects of its treatment of the subject. If not, it will be suggesting that the suffering of some people is more important than the suffering of others. An institution that fails to dedicate itself to the twin pillars of inclusivity and equity would not be teaching Canadians about human rights but rather it would be teaching Canadians about racism.

The Museum has been strategically located at the forks of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers in Winnipeg, Manitoba, a meeting place for 6,000 years, where some of Canada’s greatest human rights triumphs in the areas of First Nation and Aboriginal rights, women’s right, French language rights and labour rights have been fought and won.

Internationally renowned and award-winning architect Antoine Predock has created this unique and timeless museum encompassing over 47,000 square feet.

In 2012, the doors will open to one of Canada’s finest national museums. Its purpose is to help combat prejudice, intolerance and discrimination of all peoples. The content of the Museum will be ever-changing and dynamic, woven together by master exhibit designs. Through the use of technology, the Museum will offer something unique and different with each visit. Most museums celebrate the past but the Canadian Museum for Human Rights will represent change for the future.

Contributors to the development of the Museum’s content will be Canadians and people from around the world. The collection and exhibits will serve as a beacon for all visitors the world over to explore human rights and to promote dialogue, understanding and respect of people of all ages, genders, abilities, cultures, orientation and beliefs in order to combat prejudice, intolerance and discrimination.

Most Canadians will never visit the actual museum. However, it should be universally accessible through the Internet with new material and case studies added over time. Also, the web site should be developed into a multi-lingual format – five languages of the United Nations and adding other languages as the resources allow.

On December 1, 2009, at Metro Toronto Convention Centre, over 300 people representing individual and group concerns participated in round table discussions, expressing what they would like the Museum to represent. All agreed that the Museum should be a place for Canadians and people around the world to promote dialogue, understanding and respect of people of all ages and genders. This position is in keeping with the purpose of the Museum which is to explore the subject of human rights, with special but not exclusive reference to Canada, in order to enhance the public’s understanding of human rights, to promote respect for others and to encourage reflection and dialogue (Museums Act).

In the roundtable discussions, I took part on behalf of the Ukrainian National Federation of Canada, which is also a member organization of Canadians for Genocide Education. CGE is a coalition of almost 50 associations representing 27 Canadian communities. They are dedicated to inclusivity and equity in education about violations of human rights in general and genocide in particular. The CGE has brought to attention a shortfall in education today, where educational and classroom materials in our schools show that we have a proliferation of courses that focus on one or two cases of genocide. Thus, there exists a critical need for a competent institution to produce teaching material suitable for use in Canadian classrooms. No course covering human rights violations or genocide should be taught limited to the exclusion or marginalization of many other such cases.

Five recommendations/suggestions made by Canadians for Genocide Education are:

1. The Museum’s name, mandate and Mission Statement will be generic, inclusive and equitable;

2. The Museum will not suggest that any case of human suffering is more important than others by providing it with permanent strategic positioning, disproportionate display space or other devices to focus special attention on it by visitors;

3. The Museum’s displays, funding and support for research will be weighed toward lesser-known cases of human rights abuses and genocides that have been historically marginalised or neglected so that those episodes may be fully recognised, documented and presented to Canadians;

4. The Museum’s governance and staffing will be inclusive and equitable. Its Board of Directors, officers and employees will reflect the full demographic diversity of Canada’s peoples; and

5. The Museum will be fully independent of the Asper Foundation, other corporations and institutions except the Government of Canada.

Public Engagement Sessions for the Canadian Museum for Human Rights have been held in major Canadian cities beginning in Iqaluit, Nunavut on June 8, 2009 and will end in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island on February 4, 2010. Of the remaining sessions, public roundtables will be conducted in Winnipeg on January 26 and 27. The public is also invited to share their story related to human rights through an internet online submission. Visit www.humanrightsmuseum.ca/share-your-story or call toll free 1-877-887-6037.

Mary Pidkowich is a retired Toronto school teacher and supervisory consultant. She is an Honorary Board Member and former President of the Ukrainian National Federation of Canada, and former National President of the Ukrainian Women’s Organization.