Quebec

Whose History are museums really telling? With plaque’s of text including about 80 words give or take twenty, how can they be telling the full story? In situations where there are 100s or 1000s of words it is still difficult to tell the full story, and even then there is still the issue of great biases. So, can a plaque in front of a display at a museum truly be telling the full story? Or are museums doomed to be misleading the uninformed populace even further?
But, in Quebec sometimes the main issues are not just what the signage is saying, but what language the signage is in. In 2003 at the Quebec Museum of Folk Culture in Trois- Riviers, there was a signage controversy on an exhibit about the progression of the family dinner. While the advertisement featured a nipple dripping with milk, this was not the controversial issue, but instead the fact that the poster said "all dressed". The term “all dressed” refers to a pizza with everything on it, and it is a term that is heavily used by both Francophones and Anglophones. It seems as though the Quebecois suffer from a Victorian-like prudishness, but instead of the issue being nudity, it is the English language.
Ian McKay discusses the issues of Tartanism in his article, “ Tartanism Triumphant: The Construction of Scottishness in Nova Scotia, 1933-1954” and part of the issue is the fact that the Premier of Nova Scotia, Angus MacDonald attempted to create a Nova Scotian Folk Culture through their “inherent Scottishness,” To this day the provinces most important emblems are their flag, their coat of arms, and their tartan. This folk museum, which opened its doors in 2001, is attempting to create a “folk culture” for Quebec. By displaying various pieces of household items, textiles, and folk art the museum is attempting to determine what Quebec folk culture is, but in reality these items are likely no more native to Quebec as Tartanism is to Nova Scotia.

2007 was Ottawa’s 150th anniversary of being chosen as Canada’s capital. To honour this occasion a panel was posted on Sparks Street in Ottawa to commemorate Lord Durham and his recommendation to grant responsible government to the British North American colonies. However, French Language lobby group Imperatif Français were angry that the panel forgot to mention that Lord Durham was in favour of assimilating French Canadians. The new panel mentions this as well as his recommendations for responsible government and the unity of Upper and Lower Canada. The controversy around Lord Durham as a figure has also led panel now portraying a historic painting of Canada instead of a painting of Lord Durham himself.

Canadian Museum of Civilization
To have a Canadian Museum of civilization is a tricky thing. Naming it as such leads the museum to be vulnerable from criticisms of innacurate representation of Canadian civilization. Despite New France being exhibet and French Canadians having some representation, Quebec does not get a proportionate share of recognition for its' part in Canadian civilization. The reason for this is that the museum has evolved from a place where cultures can be preserved to a tourist attraction where the IMAX and exhibits on foreign civilizations are bigger attractions.

Other Quebec Centric Museums of Interest:
Centre d'histoire de Montreal.: reveals the many faces of its history and heritage.
Cinematheque Quebecoise: Montreal's museum of the moving image.
Montreal Holocaust Memorial Museum: first world class Holocaust museum in the country.
Naval Museum of Quebec: where they tell Naval History in a new light, different from everywhere else.