Richard Brown -- from the Legislature

HANSARD - P.E.I. LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY - 12 DECEMBER 2006 pg 947-948
Member from Charlottetown-Kings Square - Richard Brown


. . . I think it’s time that the province engage in providing Islanders with a provincial museum. It is well known that you cannot get all your information from books. It would be a great idea to have our students actually see the history of Prince Edward Island through the artifacts and through a museum. I think this would be a great benefit to all Island students to actually see our history in a museum. It is sad that much of our history now is stored in a dilapidated building out in the Industrial Park. I think this kind of development should have gone on a long time ago and we shouldn’t have allowed our artifacts to be damaged. I, too, also know Catherine Hennessey quite a bit. I served on council with Catherine Hennessey. She is an excellent promoter of the heritage, and especially the heritage of Prince Edward Island, not only Charlottetown. She does think that we should have a provincial museum because it brings most of our artifacts into one area.

I’m not against the Premier of Prince Edward Island trying to make development for his district. I don’t think an artifactory is going to do it, but if he thinks so, so be it. I would much prefer maybe the construction of the new provincial lab could have went down there. I would have supported that. Anyway, it’s the 35th anniversary next year of the museums, and I think it would be a great start in order to tell the museum people we are working on a project, that we’re going to work on a provincial museum for Prince Edward Island. By no means am I lobbying for my area. I think any area would be good for this, and I think that the area that is chosen should be chosen for its
location and for its access to all Islanders and not by political needs. Because at the end of the day, politicians change and they change more often than this new provincial museum would.

So I hope that we could put together a plan, a plan that would include Islanders, a plan that would locate a facility, albeit wherever it is, chosen by the committee and made accessible to all Islanders. I think that this would be an excellent opportunity for this Legislature, for this province, to show its
support for its history. After all, we do have a rich history in Prince Edward Island. There is a lot of history to be shown on Prince Edward Island and it should be shown to everyone that can get to it.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.