October 31, 2003

To who it may concern:

Library and Archives Canada had the pleasure of hiring the professional-mime artist, Michael Carl O'Neil, to perform on July 1st, 2002. The organizers were so impressed that they suggested that I do the same as the organizer for the celebrations of Canada Day 2003. Unfortunately, Mr. O'Neil was performing out West at the time.

On October 24, 2003, Library and Archives Canada were to launch a new on-line product, the Dictionary of Canadian Biography, in conjunction with the Conference for Canadian Studies, the Presence of the Past. We saw it as a perfect opportunity to ask Mr. O'Neil to perform at the launch as Sir John A. Macdonald.

Mr. O'Neil was able to come up with a fantastic proposal for the event. Unfortunately due to circumstances beyond our control, we were unable to surround Mr. Macdonald with all the honors that he so richly deserved. Nevertheless, Macdonald's "Living Statue" left his mark on our guests. Macdonald was also able to rally the delegates and of leading them graciously from the Welcome Pavilion to the Kenneth C. Rowe Heritage Hall of Pier 21 and back.

Mr. O'Neil is to be commended for his facility of adaptation that ensured the success of our event. His artistic ability shined through. We would definitely ask him again to animate our events and we are planning to allow him more scope to fully express his characters. The Living Statue is an innovative idea and one to be fully explore. Mr. O'Neil is a top performer who is tuned in to the needs of his clients.

Yours sincerely,

Denise McCulloch
Senior Communications Officer
Library and Archives Canada
395 Wellington, Ottawa, ON K1A 0N3
(613) 995-2668 - fax (613) 995-0919
denise.mcculloch@archives.ca