Consensus at meeting is "more thought needed" on Murray River artifactory

as published in the Eastern Graphic - March 14, 2007
by JANET MACLEOD

Most people present at a public heritage meeting held in Charlottetown on Wednesday, March 7, thought there should be a moratorium on the move of the provincial artifactory from West Royalty to Murray River until the decision can be reviewed.

The 70 people who came to the meeting divided into small groups to discuss questions posed by the Institute of Island Studies, which organized the meeting, before making short presentations.

One group was worried it might be too late to stop the move to Murray River, and said for something as integral to the province as the artifactory, it reflects badly on Premier Binns that the decision to move the facility to Murray River was so obviously political.

Another group said there should be a moratorium, not because it's going to Murray River, but because of the complexity and importance of issues involved. Further comments were that there should be a moratorium because the public hasn't been consulted on the issue.

Near the end of the meeting during open floor discussion, tensions were high when Conervative MLA for Glen Stewart/Bellevue Cove, David McKenna, said the move to Murray River is essentially a go. He said, right now, the government's vision is to build a new artifactory to take care of the artifacts, so the province has a museum for the future.

"Let's preserve what we have, take care of what we have, and then move forward," Mr McKenna said.

Catherine Hennessey, of Charlottetown, said the government has failed to understand the use of an artifactory. She said it's about having the artifacts close at hand, to study and research. She said having it 45 minutes away from Charlottetown is not sustainable for the museum.

Jamie Richards, chair of the Northumberland Community Development Corporation, said in the end the corporation decided not to send their engineering firm to the IIS meetings.

"They've got their own agenda," he said. "We're still going ahead with out plans."

The need for a provincial museum for PEl was also a major topic discussed at the meeting. It was the general consensus at the meeting that PEl needs a provincial museum to document, preserve, and interpret the province's natural and cultural heritage.

One group said what's missing is a distinct lack of vision when it comes to a provincial museum. Many people said there needs to, be long-term planning for a provincial museum, and the government must support the museum financially.