CAUT unveiled a national campaign last month exposing the threats to Canada’s cultural institutions and historic sites and proposing what must be done to reverse the damage.

The Canada’s Past Matters campaign will highlight how federal funding cuts and policy changes are putting the survival of libraries, archives, museums and historical sites across the country at risk.

“Our ability as Canadians to know, understand and appreciate our past is at stake because of the federal government’s short-sighted cuts and ill-advised changes to historical programs and services,” said CAUT executive director James Turk.

“The campaign and its website — CanadasPastMatters.ca — were launched to bring the issues to the attention of our members and the public. We cannot chart our future properly unless we know and understand our past. Until government policy is changed, that will be less and less possible for our children and future generations.”