CREST House of Commons Chambre des Communes Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6 October 22, 2004 Dear Mrs. Davidson: Thank you for your letter expressing your support for the release of post-1901 records. I appreciate knowing your views on this issue and am pleased to be given the opportunity of providing you with our position. The Conservative Party supports the preservation of census records and the transfer of these records to the national Archives for public release. We believe that keeping the records confidential for the historical 92-year period is an adequate length of time, and that is generally consistent with the practice in Britain and the United States, where records are kept confidential for 100 and 72 years respectively. Thank you again for taking the time to communicate with me. Yours sincerely, {signature] Russ Hiebert, M.P. South Surrey-White Rock - Cloverdale