Heritage and the arts do seem to belong together, under the general rubric of “culture” (whatever that may be). We have generally been lodged, like family, in the same ministry. Heritage, however, has always found itself at the wrong end of the dining table – by the time the pot gets to us, it’s empty. Better luck next time. So the new line up of ministries and departments established by the October 25 cabinet shuffle may turn out to be a good thing for heritage. The arts and culture are in one ministry – Community, Sport and Cultural Development – while heritage stays with tourism in the new Ministry of Tourism, Trade and Investment. It feels a little strange not to be together after all this time, but then maybe it will good for us to get out on our own.
Heritage Canada Governor’s Message
RICK GOODACRE EXECuTIVE DIRECTOR Heritage BC
It is a real pleasure for me to be once again a part of the Heritage BC Board.* My first exposure to the Heritage Canada Foundation Board of Directors was the annual conference held at St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador from September 30 – October 2. I also attended the pre-conference Built Heritage Leadership Forum on behalf of Heritage BC and presented an update on the state of heritage in our province. Delegates were given copies of the latest newsletter and ‘A Call to Renew British Columbia’s Heritage Program’. Generally, people were dismayed at the lack of provincial support for heritage and could hardly believe that a program that was once the best in Canada was now on its last legs. On September 30, I attended two special sessions. The first was the National Main Street Summit where delegates from across Canada learned about the drive to reinstitute the Main Street program in some form. There was general agreement that something needed to be done to bring preservation back to the grassroots. There should be some more news from Heritage Canada on this concept within the next year. In the afternoon, I was part of the Heritage Educators’ Roundtable. In my former position as Education Chair of the Canadian Association of Heritage Professionals, I have been part of this group since the Edmonton conference. This year, we had a guest speaker, Thomas Visser (Associate Professor, Historic Preservation University of Vermont) and executive member of the National Council on Preservation Education (NCPE). His presentation/discussion explored how NCPE has developed as a network and how it has helped transform preservation education in the United States. This was most enlightening and provided the basis for a discussion of how some of these ideas could be used in a Canadian setting.
HELEN EDWARDS Governor Heritage Canada
The conference program presented a series of interesting discussions, some with a bit of controversy. It was often difficult to make a decision of what session to attend; they all had their good points. Lest people think that all we did was work, nothing could be farther from the truth. We had an opening reception at City Hall, an Awards Night reception at an historic theatre, a Rum and Rascals tour (you had to be there to understand this one), and a closing party at a night spot affiliated with a brewery. * Heritage Canada’s B.C. Governor is an ex officio member of the Heritage BC board.
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