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| Above: From left, York President & Vice-Chancellor Mamdouh Shoukri applauds at the official opening of the Archives of Ontario with Shelly Jamieson, secretary of the Ontario cabinet; Ted McMeekin, Ontario minister of government & consumer services; and Miriam McTiernan, archivist of Ontario |
Ted McMeekin, provincial minister of government & consumer services, visited York’s Keele campus Tuesday to officially open the new Archives of Ontario building.
Speaking to an audience that included Mamdouh Shoukri, York president & vice-chancellor; Shelly Jamieson, secretary of the Ontario cabinet; and Miriam McTiernan, archivist of Ontario, McMeekin said “the archives will reveal that Ontario’s rich heritage and history is the legacy of hard-working, decent and proud people.”
“This is an important day for Ontarians and for York University,” said Shoukri. “This building provides a first-class home for the archives at the very heart of an expanding GTA.”
“The resources contained in the Archives of Ontario are invaluable to the work we do at York,” Shoukri added. “Having the archives located within the Keele campus means faculty members can introduce undergraduate and graduate students to archival work and students will be able to use the collections in researching and writing papers.”
Left: Shoukri with Bud Purves, president of the York University Development Corporation, and Stan Shapson, vice-president research & innovation
"The relocation of the Archives of Ontario is part of a larger project that brings together two significant provincial infrastructure investments,” said Shoukri. “The other is the extension of the subway line through York University to York Region.”
Shoukri also noted that the York Research Tower, which sits atop the archives, will add 120,000 square feet of much-needed research and academic space. It is “a marriage of Ontario’s past and future and an example of what we can achieve by working together,” Shoukri said.
“I know students and researchers will enjoy this rich resource for the study of the history, culture and people of the province,” said McMeekin. “And everyone in this province will be pleased that their history and heritage will be well preserved and well protected in this magnificent state-of-the-art building.”
Following the remarks, McMeekin, Shoukri and Jamieson joined McTiernan at the doors to the Alexander Fraser Reading Room for the ribbon cutting and a tour of the facility.
For more on the Archives of Ontario at York, see YFile, June 3.
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| Above: Shoukri, Purves and Shapson view the graphic display that welcomes visitors to the archive’s Alexander Fraser Reading Room |