Advocacy Update from Executive Director

Dear Valued Members,

I want to update you on our advocacy efforts over the past few months. In November, we wrote to The Honourable Allan MacMaster, Minister of Communities, Culture, Tourism and Heritage, requesting a meeting to discuss shared priorities as well as to strengthen our collaboration between ANSM and CCTH on behalf of the sector. We subsequently received a response letter from the department and hope to secure a meeting date in the coming weeks.

You can read the letter sent to Minister MacMaster here: ANSM_Letter_MinisterMacMaster_CCTH_Nov14_Final.pdf

In anticipation of this meeting, we sent out a survey to museums regarding CMAP funding. The response rate was incredible! We really appreciate all of you that took the time to address the survey- this is important information that we will bring forth to the Minister.

Results from 54 museums that receive CMAP funding, asking how they used the one-time funding increase to the CMAP program.

 

Further to this, ANSM President Katie Tanner and I had an opportunity to visit Mayor Mike Savage of the Halifax Regional Municipality a few weeks ago to emphasize the importance of the Community Museums Grant Program administered by HRM, as well as to highlight challenges in the sector. We are exploring other municipal advocacy opportunities through our regional reps, and I will be reconvening a meeting of our Advocacy Working Group very soon to further discuss.

We are still awaiting direction from the Canadian Museum Association on federal advocacy. ANSM Programs Manager Karin Kierstead recently met with CMA consultants to address regional concerns, successes, and opportunities. We will keep you posted when a federal advocacy strategy is finalized. CMA has published an Advocacy Toolkit which you can downloaded on the CMA website.

A Note about Surveys:

There will be further surveys in the coming months as ANSM continues its transition with a new Executive Director and a fully staffed office. We will keep these surveys concise and appreciate your participation and voice moving forward in these challenging times. We value your input and will only be successful with a fully engaged membership. Thank you in advance for your participation and support!

Sincerely,

Devin Casario
Executive Director
Association of Nova Scotia Museums