Greetings All. Last night, and this morning, have shown some interesting changes made to our Federal Liberal Cabinet. I thank all who have sent me messages advising of some of these changes, particularly those which might have had an effect on our efforts to regain public access to Historic Census Records. The resignation of Brian Tobin, not just from the Federal Liberal Cabinet but presumably from politics altogether, does not really surprise me as I wondered how long it would be before he quit something again. He served many years as a Liberal MP and member of Cabinet before quitting Federal politics to run for and successfully be elected as Premier of Newfoundland. He quit that to return to Ottawa and was appointed as Minister of Industry without having been elected by the people of Canada. While he was subsequently elected in the general election, and retained his position as Minister of Industry, I find abhorrent the idea of someone not elected by the people being placed in a position of power within the Cabinet of the government. Until this happened with Brian Tobin I had not been aware of this happening previously, but have since learned that it has. We will not miss Mr. Tobin, or cry buckets of tears because of his absence. In our opinion, insofar as our campaign regarding Census is concerned, he abdicated his responsibilities of direction to Statistics Canada. We feel that he never had an original thought regarding access to Census records. When, on the only occasion I am aware of his making a public statement on this issue (release of the Report of the Expert Panel on 15 December 2000), his lips may have moved, but the words were those of Dr. Ivan Fellegi, Chief Statistician of Canada. His refusal to respond to our concerns, or to even acknowledge receipt of our correspondence, was insulting, and resulted in Access to Information requests made for which we are still waiting for the information requested. Being in public service as an elected representative of the people is not an easy task, and certainly takes a toll on family life. I give Mr. Tobin credit for all the years he has served the people, both of Canada, and of Newfoundland, and wish him well in whatever endeavours he takes on from this point forward. I will not, however, miss his lack of direction regarding the Census issue. We view the appointment of the Hon. Allan Rock to the position vacated by Mr. Tobin as a positive move. While Mr. Rock has not provided a definitive answer to the question of his support of access, he has had the courtesy to respond to, or acknowledge receipt of, our correspondence, as did Mr. Tobin's predecessor, John Manley. We are optimistic that Mr. Rock will at least give serious thought to our concerns regarding Census. We look forward to his giving direction to Statistics Canada regarding this matter, rather than simply being a 'front' for Dr. Fellegi. A reminder to all about the importance of attending the Town Hall meetings, either as presenters, or as spectators. We must display a prescence at these meetings to show our support for public access to the Census records. Even if all you do is fill a chair and clap to show support of positive presenters, you will be helping. Statistics Canada surely set up this expensive and unnecessary series of meetings and focus groups hoping to receive negative responses. They must be shown that the only thing negative is their refusal to turn control of the records over to the National Archives, and their so-called 'compromise solution' that is no 'compromise' at all, but a thinly veiled attempt to make access so restrictive as to be little better than no access at all. Another request for all presenters to send me copies of their presentations to place on the Post 1901 Census Project website. I also seek reports from those attending the meetings on their impressions of the proceedings. Please keep us informed. Happy Hunting. Gordon A. Watts gordon_watts@telus.net Co-Chair, Canada Census Committee Port Coquitlam, BC Fax 604-942-6843 http://globalgenealogy.com/Census en français http://globalgenealogy.com/Census/Index_f.htm