More Times-Colonist coverage of Prime Minister Harper's attack on Canada's heritage sector

Eric Sager of the University of Victoria's History Department wrote a scatching denunciation in the May 11, 2012 issue of the Victoria Times-Colonist of Primer Minister Harper's government's attack on the Canadian heritage sector from downsizing of the Library and Archives Canada to the elimination of the National Archival Development Program (NADP) to the gutting of Parks Canada which maintains federal heritage sites.

His blistering attack is titled "Harperizing Canada's history and heritage". When the government celebrates the bicentennial of the War of 1812 to the tune of $28 million, but cuts the 26-year NADP funding of $1.7 million that has helped archives across Canada, the optics, as they say, do not look good. The cuts to Library and Archives Canada are equally serious. It's like taking the teachers out of the education system, the librarians out of libraries, the curators out of museums, oh wait, they're next.

Heritage Minister James Moore's weak defense of these cuts in relation to Library and Archives Canada that more effort will be expended on digitization is simply not practical in the face of the staffing loss. Furthermore, while self-service might work fine at Home Depot or Safeway (my experience with both is staff are still needed) and airport terminals, you can't compare a retail experience to a research experience where expert staff have deep knowledge of a subject, whether it's library publications or archival records.

Other Canadian archives are already experimenting with the kind of service LAC now offers where archivists are only available on call or by appointment. Yet some of these archives have not yet told their researchers through their Web site what they can expect when they arrive, that the long-standing practice of staffing a reference desk with an archivist is no more. If you walked into the Toronto Public Library and were told you had to make an appointment to see a reference librarian, what would you think? Welcome to Self-Service Canada!