Greetings All Over the past few weeks I have been made aware of a group who have been actively campaigning to have people hinder, or cripple the upcoming Canadian Census. I have been reluctant to make mention of them at all, hoping they would just 'go away', and I will not mention who they are because I do not wish to give any indication I believe them to be credible. Let it suffice to say that it would appear they are well funded, and well organized. In my opinion however, they are misguided and misinformed regarding the realities of how the Census is being conducted. They do not advocate outright refusal to respond to the Census, but offer a number of suggestions regarding ways to hinder the process, and to skew the resultant data. To follow these suggestions would, in my opinion, be dangerous and detrimental to the entire process and the reasons for it. These people put forth the fact that Statistics Canada has contracted out to the Canadian subsidiary of Lockheed-Martin for software, and fear that having done so makes our Census data subject to export to the United States under legislation enacted there after 9-11, as reasons to not fully cooperate in our upcoming Census. This is not a new issue. In fact, to my knowledge it has been around since early 2004, when Statistics Canada conducted a test Census in preparation for Census 2006. It is an issue that has been dealt with in Parliament at least twice that I am aware of. It is an issue that should have been put to rest long ago. Statistics Canada has taken a number of steps to ensure that confidentiality of Census is maintained, and that NO information provided to Census can be exported to the United States or any other country. Those steps include the following: ** Only Statistics Canada staff handle completed questionnaires and process confidential data. All questionnaires and data are processed in Canada. ** The systems and networks used to collect and process confidential data are not connected to any external networks, and are physically isolated from the outside. ** No contract staff is ever in possession of confidential data, and it is physically impossible for any outside contractor to obtain possession of census data or to transmit them outside the Agency. ** Everyone working on the census is sworn in under the Statistics Act, and subject to the provisions and penalties of the Statistics Act (including imprisonment of up to six months) if they breach confidentiality. I urge everyone to cooperate fully, and to honestly complete the Census 2006 questionnaires. It is to your advantage to do so. Ensure your place in the history of Canada. On Census Day 16 May 2006, answer YES to allow your information to be made available to your descendants in 2098. As everyone you know to do so as well. Gordon A. Watts gordon_watts@telus.net Co-chair, Canada Census Committee Port Coquitlam, British Columbia Read my column, 'Gordon Watts Reports' at http://globalgenealogy.com/globalgazette/authors/authgw.htm