To protect the guided tours at the National Gallery of Canada

The National Gallery of Canada is dismantling one of its most popular programs: the guided tours. All professional guides employed by the gallery received lay-off notices. The tours are the most important factor in visitors' decision to keep coming back to the gallery. In other words, guided tours have transformed many occasional visitors into permanent friends of and donors to the NGC.

Please, write to James Moore, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages, asking him to use his influence to convince the gallery's management to reverse its decision to lay off those employees. The reputation and the financial stability of the gallery depend on it.

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The Message:

Ottawa
The Honourable James Moore
Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages

Mr. Moore,

Recently 8 professional guides employed by the National Gallery of Canada received lay-off notices. Some of them have been with the gallery for almost 30 years. The Public Service Alliance of Canada represents these 8 guides, along with 166,000 workers across Canada.

Beyond the human tragedies those lays-offs represent, we must look at the deep negative impact that this decision will have on the gallery as one of the most important art institutions in this country.

A recent study commissioned by the NGC clearly demonstrates that professional guides contribute immensely to the success and popularity of the gallery. The study states emphatically that guided tours are the most important factor in visitors' decision to keep coming back to the gallery. In other words, guided tours have transformed many occasional visitors into permanent friends of and donors to the NGC.

If this is true, why is management abandoning the guided tours that the public appreciates so much? If anything, these services should be supported and enhanced. Attendance at the NGC is already in decline. Eliminating one of the gallery's most valued features will only worsen the situation.

In 2000, the NGC attempted to eliminate the guide program but was forced to reverse its decision due to public outcry. An editorialist with the Ottawa Citizen wrote about that misguided attempt on March 20, 2000:
“Guided tours of galleries and museums are as integral to the appreciation of the artifacts on display as the works themselves. No reputable art gallery in the world would do without them. The gallery's goal of making art treasures "more accessible" can be achieved without losing knowledgeable guides. But a national treasure might soon become a national embarrassment if shallow thinking and disgraceful treatment of 13 guides goes ahead. They should be preserved.”

Why is the gallery bringing back the same bad idea in 2009?

We are asking for your support. Use your influence to convince the gallery's management to reverse its decision to lay off those employees. The reputation and the financial stability of the gallery depend on it.

Sincerely,


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