As many of you know, I’ve been working very hard with our Atlantic Caucus to save the Woodside Dartmouth Archaeology Lab from closure.
I’m so proud to say that the lab will remain open. Our artifacts will remain in Atlantic Canada. I’m proud of the work our Atlantic Caucus does every day. When we work together we always achieve more for Atlantic Canada!
Parks Canada is responsible for protecting Canada’s natural and cultural heritage and showcasing significant examples of heritage nationally. You can find these examples and artifacts across Canada at national parks and historic sites!
Parks Canada manages and operates six collection storage facilities (including the Dartmouth lab) and found that many weren’t meeting standards. Several years ago the previous government decided to consolidate these collections into one facility and slated the others for closure. Originally, our Dartmouth facility was included in that group. But our facility was modern and was meeting environmental and security standards.
Once I heard about the pending closure of our Woodside, Dartmouth lab I took action. I am proud to be part of a strong Atlantic Caucus, and together we all advocated for Parks Canada and the Minister of Environment to overturn this decision.
We’ve been told that Parks Canada remains committed to working with Indigenous and cultural groups, interested parties and will remain open to discussion and proposals regarding access, care and handling of collections. Parks Canada will continue to work with cultural and educational institutions to ensure that the historical and archaeological objects in the collection remain accessible for research, educational, ceremonial and exhibit purposes. Coupled with Parks Canada’s active loans program, the same level of access to the collection will be maintained, if not enhanced.
