Islanders wish to see the mandate of the PEI Museum & Heritage Foundation fulfilled.

Blog editorial - by Ian Scott

With the release of the Institute of Island Studies' report of their province-wide consultations on the state of the provincial museum on PEI, it is clear that Islanders wish to see the mandate of the PEI Museum & Heritage Foundation fulfilled.

A museum planning study is needed and continues to be called for by concerned Islanders. In reality the provincial government, continues to vote down the subject of a planning study every time it is raised in the Legislature.

The members of the PEI Museum & Heritage Foundation at their AGM recently voted for such a study and for a moratorium until this process has been concluded.

The government-appointed board which operates the Museum has since concluded that policies of the Museum as determined at the AGM are merely suggestions they might consider adopting - or not.

Clearly there are jurisdictional issues to be resolved when the votes of members are meaningless at a legally constituted meeting of the organization, and a board charged with governing the Museum, can reject outright the policies thus adopted by the organization.

These actions beg the question - what is the meaning of membership?

Meanwhile, all this controversy does little to restore support for the Museum, which has just completed a major campaign to try and turn the tide of declining membership renewals.