Moratorium on New Developments - Clearly the Right Thing to Do

By Ian Scott
Increasingly Islanders are calling for a moratorium on any new museum developments in facilities and programs, for an number of reasons:

• Islanders are awaiting the arrival of a new executive director of the PEI Museum & Heritage Foundation, Dr. David Keenleyside, in early March.

• The Institute of Island Studies at UPEI, is currently undertaking consultations across the province to determine the views of Islanders on the current state of the provincial museum system.

• The PEI Museum & Heritage Foundation has initiated a strategic planning process.

• Serious questions have been recently raised in the PEI Legislature regarding government's policy on the development of central facilities for the provincial museum system.

• There is broad public concern for the lack of clear provincial museum development policy, as evidenced by a steady stream of letters to the editor of The Guardian.

• Editorials are calling for government to "hold off on a decision until it can conduct a review of province's heritage resources and decide on a future direction for them."
  

Until the new executive director has had an opportunity to study the current situation and a clear provincial museum development policy is in place, to meets the needs of the organization and all Islanders, the right thing to do is to establish a moratorium on any new museum developments.