One of the two surviving Dionne sisters says she is very appreciative of the comments made on BayToday supporting the letter to council asking that, "If it is indeed a fact that the Museum cannot be maintained in North Bay without being a burden to its citizens, then we simply wish and request that the Museum be kept whole and transferred to the Canadian Museum of History."
Dionne spokesman Carlo Tarini, in an email to BayToday said, " I spoke to Annette Dionne this morning and read her the numerous comments from your readers and she said that it warmed her heart to see that so many citizens voiced their concern to save the Dionne museum.
"When I read them the comments from the story on your website I don't recall reading one negative comment so I was pleasantly surprised."
See: Dionne sisters send a letter to City Council: You have a 'moral obligation'
Also: Time is now the most crucial factor in Dionne decision
Tarini is repeating the plea by the sisters to keep the exhibit intact.
"Lets just be clear that plan A is to keep the museum in North Bay and that the federal and provincial government can and should fund its preservation.
"Plan B: to move it to the Canadian Museum of History is just that, a plan B. It serves as an alternative to the worst case scenario of dismantling and dispersion in three places of the artefacts and sending the Dionne museum building 80 Km away from its current location in a Frontier Town context, a site where there are few visitors who will view and learn from it, as opposed to the Canadian museum of history which could preserve the museum and exhibits for the benefit of the hundreds of thousands of yearly visitors, a museum which is a source of pride for all Canadians."
Tarini says he has written the Prime Minister on the issue.
"I think funding to save the museum and keep it in North Bay could perhaps come from the federal government and the Ontario Government which is why I recently appealed to the PMO's office. Both Ontario and Canada benefited hugely.
The responsibility would fall to Mélanie Joly, Minister of Canadian Heritage.
"The sisters don't want the museum to be a burden for North Bay, they just don't want it to be dismembered and thrown to the wind in three directions. It should be available to be viewed."
