Stephen Harper’s Conservatives to lead review of Canadian history

OTTAWA — Federal politicians have launched a “thorough and comprehensive review of significant aspects in Canadian history” in Parliament that will be led by Conservative MPs, investigating courses taught in schools, with a focus on several armed conflicts of the past century.

The study was launched by the House of Commons Canadian heritage committee that went behind closed doors last Monday to approve its review, despite apparent objections from the opposition MPs.

The parliamentary investigation would examine “relevant standards and courses of study offered in primary and post-secondary institutions in each of the provinces and territories.” Provinces are responsible for education in Canada, under the constitution.

The committee would also review programs designed to preserve Canada’s history and heritage at all levels of government.

“To be clear, our government has no intention of telling the provinces how to teach history,” said Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s spokesman Carl Vallée on Twitter Thursday. “We respect and will continue to respect the jurisdiction of the provinces.”

The committee’s plan would “focus on Canadian history, including but not limited to pre-confederation, early confederation, suffrage, World War I, with an emphasis on battles such as Vimy Ridge, World War II . . . the Korean conflict, peacekeeping missions, constitutional development, the Afghanistan conflict,” as well as general Canadian history in the last century.

NDP deputy heritage critic Andrew Cash said Canadians should be concerned that Conservatives on the committee are trying to revise Canadian history.

“They’re obsessed with reframing history and rebranding it in the image of the Conservative party,” said Cash.

A spokeswoman for Canadian Heritage Minister James Moore said the NDP claims were “ridiculous.”

“It’s further proof of the NDP’s desire to open old constitutional battles,” said Moore’s director of communications Jessica Fletcher.

The committee also plans to examine the access of Canadians to historical information by studying what tools are available and how records of parliamentary debate can contribute to preserving history.

The MPs also said they wanted to call witnesses with firsthand accounts of significant periods of history.

They would also visit “relevant national museums” and invite broadcasting organizations, including the CBC and National Film Board, to discuss their own roles.

The committee said its final report would “highlight best practices, new methods and potential opportunities to preserve, protect and enhance Canadians’ knowledge of our history while recommending ways of improving access to our historical collections.”

Original Article
Source: canada.com
Author: Mike De Souza