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... and to Toronto
May. 16th, 2013 04:16 pmIt's always a challenge to plan my trips to Toronto for a part of the week when I can get to the things I want to go to. Sleuth of Baker Street is now only open from Thursday to Sunday. Many museums and other attractions are closed Mondays. And my Ex Libris Board meetings are always scheduled for Tuesdays.
This time, the Ex Libris Toronto-based people had scheduled an optional tour of the Bata Shoe Museum and library, followed by lunch, for the Monday. So I decided to go to Toronto on the Sunday morning, arriving in time to get to Sleuth before their 4 PM closing time, sign up for the tour and lunch on the Monday, get to my Board meeting on Tuesday, returning to Ottawa on Wednesday. I stayed at the Holiday Inn on Bloor, about midway between the zillionaires' shopping strip on my left and the studenty area of all-night groceries and vegetarian eateries on my right. Also right near Remenyi Music, which sells instruments and related paraphernalia, as well as a good selection of sheet music.
The Bata Shoe Museum was directly across the street from my hotel. We got to see the special exhibit on Sneaker Culture (which included one of the pairs of sneakers Terry Fox had worn on his abortive cross-Canada run), as well as a fascinating library which can only be visited by prior appointment; they also collect socks for the Toronto homeless. Just along the street a couple of blocks was the Royal Ontario Museum, which to my pleasant surprise was also open on the Monday. I spent quite a while after lunch looking through the textiles area on the top floor, working my way downwards through a fascinating display of home decor through the centuries, followed by a brief visit to the dinosaurs, mammals and bat cave before returning to my hotel. On the Tuesday, my Board meeting was over by about 1:30, so I went over to the Art Gallery to visit a spectacular special exhibition of treasures from Renaissance Italy. The highlight for me was the illuminated manuscripts, in particular one of Dante's Divine Comedy. No matter how much digitization gets accomplished, nothing can compare to seeing it in the flesh... or do I mean parchment? I also saw (and heard and walked through) a number of the contemporary exhibits, one by Etrog somebody (a film that he made as well as static art inspired by Samuel Beckett, Ionesco and other theatre-of-the-absurd folks and various sculptural constructs) and a number of multimedia-type displays or installations or whatever by various artists.
But the Board meeting was the reason I was in Toronto in the first place. We've been protesting and raising awareness of the way Library and Archives Canada (LAC)and the library, archival and related resources and professions are being essentially rent asunder by the current regime. The response to our letter-writing campaign has been an exercise in the kind of pass-the-buck-ology that typifies bureaucracy at its worst. After failing to get any kind of response from Heritage Minister James Moore's office, our Ex Libris president some months later sent a letter to the Prime Minister - and actually got an answer from someone on his staff. It said that our concerns had been noted and that this fell under the purview of the Minister of Heritage who "will no doubt wish to respond shortly" or words to that effect. Well, lo and behold, we finally got a response back from Moore's office, indicating that the LAC operated at arms' length from Heritage and as such, we had been following the proper course all along in writing to Daniel Caron, the head of LAC (who likewise had not replied).
On Wednesday, of course, Caron announced his resignation. Did we have anything to do with that? Maybe. Maybe with that $5000 worth of private Spanish lessons under his belt, he'll be able to get another job in some far-flung country under our NAFTA employment exchange agreements.
So who will be his replacement? Will she or he be an improvement? I live in hope!
This time, the Ex Libris Toronto-based people had scheduled an optional tour of the Bata Shoe Museum and library, followed by lunch, for the Monday. So I decided to go to Toronto on the Sunday morning, arriving in time to get to Sleuth before their 4 PM closing time, sign up for the tour and lunch on the Monday, get to my Board meeting on Tuesday, returning to Ottawa on Wednesday. I stayed at the Holiday Inn on Bloor, about midway between the zillionaires' shopping strip on my left and the studenty area of all-night groceries and vegetarian eateries on my right. Also right near Remenyi Music, which sells instruments and related paraphernalia, as well as a good selection of sheet music.
The Bata Shoe Museum was directly across the street from my hotel. We got to see the special exhibit on Sneaker Culture (which included one of the pairs of sneakers Terry Fox had worn on his abortive cross-Canada run), as well as a fascinating library which can only be visited by prior appointment; they also collect socks for the Toronto homeless. Just along the street a couple of blocks was the Royal Ontario Museum, which to my pleasant surprise was also open on the Monday. I spent quite a while after lunch looking through the textiles area on the top floor, working my way downwards through a fascinating display of home decor through the centuries, followed by a brief visit to the dinosaurs, mammals and bat cave before returning to my hotel. On the Tuesday, my Board meeting was over by about 1:30, so I went over to the Art Gallery to visit a spectacular special exhibition of treasures from Renaissance Italy. The highlight for me was the illuminated manuscripts, in particular one of Dante's Divine Comedy. No matter how much digitization gets accomplished, nothing can compare to seeing it in the flesh... or do I mean parchment? I also saw (and heard and walked through) a number of the contemporary exhibits, one by Etrog somebody (a film that he made as well as static art inspired by Samuel Beckett, Ionesco and other theatre-of-the-absurd folks and various sculptural constructs) and a number of multimedia-type displays or installations or whatever by various artists.
But the Board meeting was the reason I was in Toronto in the first place. We've been protesting and raising awareness of the way Library and Archives Canada (LAC)and the library, archival and related resources and professions are being essentially rent asunder by the current regime. The response to our letter-writing campaign has been an exercise in the kind of pass-the-buck-ology that typifies bureaucracy at its worst. After failing to get any kind of response from Heritage Minister James Moore's office, our Ex Libris president some months later sent a letter to the Prime Minister - and actually got an answer from someone on his staff. It said that our concerns had been noted and that this fell under the purview of the Minister of Heritage who "will no doubt wish to respond shortly" or words to that effect. Well, lo and behold, we finally got a response back from Moore's office, indicating that the LAC operated at arms' length from Heritage and as such, we had been following the proper course all along in writing to Daniel Caron, the head of LAC (who likewise had not replied).
On Wednesday, of course, Caron announced his resignation. Did we have anything to do with that? Maybe. Maybe with that $5000 worth of private Spanish lessons under his belt, he'll be able to get another job in some far-flung country under our NAFTA employment exchange agreements.
So who will be his replacement? Will she or he be an improvement? I live in hope!
