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Step and Process

Status

Nominations: Parks Canada plays a role in the nomination process through the development and promotion of the National Historic Sites of Canada System Plan, as well as by publicizing theprogram of national commemoration and the role of the HSMBC. Parks Canada occasionally proposes places, persons or events for possible designation, based on its system plan framework studies. Parks Canada provides the Secretariat for the HSMBC. The Secretariat receives public inquiries about the program of historical commemoration and possible designation of a subject.

In 2006-2007, 49 nominations were received (compared to 75, 71, 63, 64 and 47 respectively in each of the five preceding years) with a majority of these nominations (i.e. 48) coming from the public. 92.5% of all nominations have been received from the public over the last five years.

Screening Nominations and Preparing Submission Reports: Nominations received by the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada Secretariat are reviewed and screened by a Parks Canada historian or archaeologist. Detailed criteria and guidelines on nominations are published on Parks Canada’s Web site (www.pc.gc.ca). Some illustrative criteria include the requirement for a place to have been built prior to 1975 to be considered for designation, and that a person be deceased for at least 25 years (with the exception of Prime Ministers) prior to consideration for designation. A nomination is assumed to be acceptable unless, through screening, it can be demonstrated that it does not meet the criteria or guidelines, or that a precedent or benchmark by the HSMBC during past deliberations would make the designation unlikely.

In the last five years, Parks Canada prepared 194 submission reports for the Board (55 in 2006-2007).

Recommendations for Designations: Recommendations to the Minister of the Environment are made by the HSMBC based on submission reports, its evaluation criteria and its own expert knowledge of Canadian history. The Board meets twice a year (spring and fall) to consider submissions. It may or may not recommend designation, or may defer a recommendation by requesting supplementary information and then reconsider the submission at a later meeting.

The Board held meetings in June 2006. The December 2006 meeting was cancelled, as the Board did not have a quorum. Decisions arising from the June 2006 meeting are expected to be released in the next reporting period. In the five-year period up to and including June 2006, the Board recommended designations for 45% of the submissions it reviewed.