Greetings All. I have sent the following News Release to most of the major daily newspapers and television stations across Canada. I have not sent it to any of the weekly or community papers. Feel free to forward it to your local papers and other media. Please remove this message before doing so. When forwarding please include the portion below the dotted line. Thank you for your interest and support. Gordon A. Watts gordon_watts@telus.net Co-Chair, Canada Census Committee Port Coquitlam, BC http://globalgenealogy.com/Census en francais http://globalgenealogy.com/Census/Index_f.htm Permission to forward without notice is granted. ======================================== News Release of Canada Census Committee Contact: Gordon A. Watts 604-942-6889 Monday 29 October 2001 Heritage Minister supports access to Historic Census Vancouver - Sheila Copps, speaking Friday on Bill Good's TalkBack radio show (CKNW - Vancouver) stated that she was "very much in favour" of allowing public access to Historic Census Records. She was responding to a question by caller Gordon A. Watts, Co-Chair of the Canada Census Committee. In making this statement she joins National Archivist Ian Wilson, Information Commissioner John Reid, and 133 Members of Parliament that have to date expressed support for this access. Ms. Copps also stated she has requested to appear before the Senate Standing Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology who are currently reviewing Private Member Bill S-12, submitted by Senator Lorna Milne. Bill S-12 would permit the public access to Historic Census Records, 92 years following collection, sought by genealogists and historians. It includes a provision for individuals, in the year before the scheduled release, to object to the inclusion of their information in the records made available to researchers. Currently, 235 years of Census records -- all that survive -- from the first Census of New France conducted by Intendent Jean Talon in 1666 up to and including the National Census of Canada for 1901, are held in the National Archives. These records are available to any body or person for purposes of research. Census records are considered to be the single most important source of information for those seeking information regarding their ancestry. They are the only source that provides information regarding families, rather than individuals. In excess of 40,000 signatures have been sent on petitions, emails and letters to MPs, Senators, and other government officials, seeking to regain access to Post 1901 records. This access is currently prevented by the refusal of Statistics Canada to turn control of those records over to the National Archivist. Without a change in the position of Statistics Canada there will never again be another Census of Canada made available to the public. -30- --------------------------------------- The Canada Census Committee is an adhoc committee made up of concerned genealogists and historians from across Canada. Co-Chair Gordon A. Watts retired from B C Telephone in 1996 and has been an amateur genealogist since 1990. He has spent the past four years extensively researching the issue of public access to Post 1901 Census records and is a leader of a campaign to regain that access. He participated in roundtable discussions relating to the Access to Information Act Review in Ottawa on 26 March 2001, and appeared before the Senate Standing Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology in support of Bill S-12 on 19 September 2001. He can be reached by: e-mail gordon_watts@telus.net Tel. 604-942-6889 Fax. 604-942-6843 or by Canada Post at: 1455 Delia Drive, Port Coquitlam, BC, V3C 2V9 Further information can be seen at the Post 1901 Census Project Website at http://www.globalgenealogy.com/Census