Who Created Canadian History, Jack Granatstein?

From "The new Canadian Museum of History: Whose history will it tell?"

Kate Taylor - The Globe and Mail - Dec 16, 2012

"In an era when museums are increasingly called on to tell complex stories rather than simply display artifacts, the rebranding (of the Canadian Museum of Civilization) announced by the federal government in October is becoming a tussle of its own. Competing visions for the renovation of the history exhibits at Canada's most visited museum pit conservatives who favour political history of the kings-and-battles variety against liberals who prefer the museum's past emphasis on social and multicultural history, but want a lot more of it."

"I knew that whole museum routine like a book. . . . you'd pass by this big glass case, with Indians inside it rubbing sticks together to make a fire, and a squaw weaving a blanket. The squaw that was weaving the blanket was sort of bending over, and you could see her bosom and all. We all used to sneak a good look at it, even the girls, because they were only little kids and they didn't have any more bosom than we did. Then, just before you went inside the auditorium, right near the doors, you passed this Eskimo. He was sitting over a hole in this icy lake, and he was fishing through it. He had about two fish right next to the hole, that he'd already caught. Boy, that museum was full of glass cases . . . The
best thing, though, in that museum was that everything always stayed right where it was. Nobody'd move. You could go there a hundred thousand times, and that Eskimo would still be just finished catching those two fish . . . and that squaw with the naked bosom would still be weaving that same blanket. Nobody'd be different. The only thing that would be different would be you. Not that you'd be so much older or anything. It wouldn't be that, exactly. You'd just be different, that's all. You'd have an overcoat on this time. Or the kid that was your partner in line the last time had got scarlet fever and you'd have a new partner. Or you'd have a substitute taking the class, instead of Miss Aigletinger. Or you'd heard your mother and father having a terrific fight in the bathroom. Or you'd just passed by one of those puddles in the street with gasoline rainbows in them. I mean you'd be different in some way--I can't explain what I mean. And even if I could, I'm not sure I'd feel like it."

-Holden Caulfield (The Catcher in the Rye)

Contrary to Holden, who may represent the typical student's view of history, the Harper government's prioritization of history suggests that our stories may change as quickly as we do. All the more reason to pay close attention to who's talking and who's listening when something's being said.