Greetings All. Well, the main reason for my being in Ottawa has come and gone. I have just returned to my hotel room after the conclusion of the Senate Committee hearings on Senator Milne's Bill S-12. It was an interesting experience to say the least. To begin with, the hearings started two hours later than intended. The House and Senate were sitting in emergency debates regarding the events of the last week in the US and Committees are not allowed to sit while the Senate is sitting. As a result, the Senate Hearings did not start until after 5:30 PM. Senator Milne gave a very good speech in support of her Bill. I will not try to summarize her speech her as I expect to receive a transcript of the hearings and will post that on the Post 1901 Census Project website. I will also include part of the hearings in my Global Genealogy column. I was pleased that she quoted part of the Submission to the Expert Panel by Donald Nisbet (deceased). Don was a very dedicated and thorough researcher, and contributed much to our campaign before his death. Senator Milne spoke about British Home Children being an example of one group having a particular need for access to Historic Census Records. Senator Milne was followed by a panel consisting of Ian Wilson -- National Archivist, Michael Sheridan -- Assistant Chief Statistician, and George Radwanski -- Privacy Commissioner. Mr. Wilson presented a historical aspect of the Census situation and, as expected, supported the Bill. Michael Sheridan and George Radwanski, also as expected, spoke against the Bill. Both stressed in their arguments the so called promise that they are unable to provide any documented evidence of. It is almost as if they are afraid their world would fall apart if they were forced to admit that the 'promise' does not exist. One surprise was that George Radwanski admitted to being less opposed to access to census records than was his predecessor Bruce Phillips. Michael Sheridan also presented a surprise by stating that there were to be a number of 'town-hall' meeings across the country to find out how people feel about the release of census records. In response to a question by one of the Senate Committee he stated that this decision had been made by Brian Tobin a month ago. I find this surprising in light of the fact that, as you all know, we have been trying to get a response from Tobin for some time to clarify where, when, by whom his announced broad-based discussions with all Canadians were to be held, and when the results of those discussions are to be announced. Mr. Sheridan indicated that these 'town-hall' meetings would be widely advertised so I would urge all to watch their newspapers for these announcements, and make sure they get out to support the positions of access. My concern regarding these meetings is that, like the Environics Research surveys conducted by Statistics Canada for the Expert Panel, the responses can be predicted and guided by the information provided before asking the questions. For example, in the surveys conducted for the Expert Panel, Statistics Canada did not get the negative responses they wanted in the first survey, so they conducted a second survey. In that second survey, after the second question respondents were told there was promise of never ending confidentiality. The remaining five questions stressed that promise and sought negative responses. They did not succeed. While the answers were less positive than those from the first survey, they were, nevertheless, still positive. Back to the hearings. Following a few questions directed to the first panel, it was time for Chad Gaffield, one of the members of the Expert Panel, and myself to do our bit. Professor Gaffield was in my view, the strongest speaker of all of us. He knew his subject and did not read his presentation as did most of the rest of us, but spoke from some scribbled notes. He did not write them on an envelope as did a famour orator (and President of the US) who sported a beard and stove-pipe hat, but he did very well. For myself, I did, for the most part, read my verbal presentation, although I did respond off the cuff to a few comments that had been made by Michael Sheridan and George Radwanski. I am told that my voice did not shake but I am lucky that no one else was sitting in my chair. They would have felt it shaking. <]:-) On the lighter side, the Chairman, Senator Kirby referred to me twice as Professor Watts, and another Senator referred to me as Dr. Watts (I am neither). In addition, a cousin of my mother, and his wife were among the spectators that attended the hearings. I had never met them before tonight but I am looking forward to having dinner and some more time with them tomorrow. I am expecting also to meet for the first time, and stay a couple of nights with other relatives that I have not met before. They live not far from where my grandmother was born in Flower Station, Lanark County, Ontario. Genealogy is great!! While it was thought that clause by clause consideration of Bill S-12 (and disposal by the Committee) would take place tonight (although in camera) because of the late start and the late hour following the hearings it was decided to proceed with that at another time. I am not sure if such a time was set yet, or just some time in the future. It was great to see and speak with Senator Milne, Chad Gaffield and Ian Wilson again. I have an appointment with MP Murray Calder tomorrow afternoon to present him my latest batch of petitions containing 2565 signatures. No sooner had I finished collating and preparing these petitions to bring with me, than I received three more in the mail. They will make a good start for the next batch -- keep them coming. That's it for tonight. Will get this sent and then I am going across the street to a pub and have a beer, or maybe two. I am still too wound up to consider going to bed. Happy Hunting. Gordon