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Moore isn’t shy, either, about urging Canada’s provinces — which are responsible for education — to make the teaching of Canadian history a greater priority.

“In only three of Canada’s 10 provinces does a student have to take a history class in order to graduate from high school,” said Moore.

“Even in some of those provinces you can put ‘history class’ in quotations because it’s not as robust a history agenda or curriculum as one might hope. So to the degree the government can have a role in supporting the teaching of and celebration of and remembrance of Canadian history, we want to seize those opportunities when and where we see them.”

Moore quickly noted that “we’re not a government that will ever browbeat or bully provinces in one direction or another,” and that education “is provincial jurisdiction, and there’s nothing we can do about that.”

But he added that the Conservative government has enjoyed “strong positive feedback . . . whenever we’ve engaged in a history initiative.”

There is, he said, “a real silent, vast majority of Canadians out there who want to see this country talk about our history, so that young people especially can better understand our history and that we can feel more united as a country.”

But while the government plans to invest in some aspects of its heritage mandate, Moore made clear that other cultural organizations will feel the pinch — and worse — as funding dries up in certain areas.

Moore underlined the fact organizations matching government support with significant private funding will insulate themselves best from cuts and prosper most during the Conservative era.

“We’ve said yes to making Pier 21 Canada’s museum of immigration in Halifax — the first national museum up and running outside of the national capital — because they had a great history prior to the Government of Canada’s involvement,” said Moore, highlighting the institution’s “fantastic donor base” and how it “reached out and branched out” beyond taxpayers to support its facilities and programs.

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