The Honourable Gerry Phillips

Minister

Management Board of Cabinet

Queen's Park

Toronto, Ontario

Dear Sir:

The Archives Association of Ontario (AAO) is very concerned about your recent government's decision to shelve the planned move of the Archives of Ontario to a new facility. We fear that this decision will put at greater risk the documentary heritage that is to be found within the archives. The present facility is overcrowded with mould infestation and sagging floors greatly increasing the risk of damage to the current holdings housed in that facility.

The provincial government needs to send a message to the people of this province, that your government will not use the excuse of cutting costs to not properly protect Ontario's heritage. This will just be viewed as a short sighted move to save a few dollars, while at the same time placing at risk a wealth of information for future researchers, historians, genealogists and the people of Ontario would be inexcusable. It is your government's responsibility to make sure that hundreds of years of accumulated documentary heritage of Ontario are housed in a first-rate facility that will continue to be accessible to the public.

The AAO hopes that this is only a temporary set-back, and that your government will quickly start looking for a new facility that will properly house this wealth of information in a central location so that all future users will continue to have access to a resource that rightfully belongs to the people of Ontario.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Michael Fish

President

Archives Association of Ontario

Michael Fish

Archivist-Municipal Archives

Windsor Public Library

519-255-6770x4414

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