Hi Gordon , Does anyone know if Terry Punch , the eminent genealogist from Halifax and frequent personage on CBC Radio Noon show is booked in Halifax as yet ? I don1t see his name on the N.S, List so I wonder if he and the Nova Scotia Genealogical Society is involved in this issue ? As a member of the N.B. GS but living in N.S. I will be attending the N.S. Session but do not feel qualified to speak in so limited a forum . My gut feeling is tha t those who present must represent a " weight " of opinion . Letters again must follow . If the powers that be suppose that by "allowing "a few ; 5-8 individuals to express their opinions on this subject publicly in a city the size of Vancouver or Toronto or Halifax fills the bill , then they are sadly mistaken. Any reputable public opinion poll would of necessity choose a much larger sample of public opinion . Take the number ot so called "Town Hall Meeting " and multiply it by the number of possible speakers in the allotted time period . And guess what folks , " SNOW JOB " Can you honestly say 5 -8 maximun speakers will determine the viewpoint of 350,000 Halifax and area residents ? Or ALL of Canadsa a mere 150 or so ? This is touted as consulting the public? I beg to differ strongly . !! We go thru the motions but as age advances and experience teaches governments do what they will and the people they injure be dammed !! Our media fail us miserably when they in ignorance or disinterest judge our cause to be " unworthy of news coverage . I have yet to read an article in either the Halifax Herald or The Daily News , both of whom purport to express the opinions of the residents of the Greater Halifax area regarding this issue in any shape or form. This in spite of numerous e-mails of all pertinent data and info to their respective news rooms . You media , you journalists , you so -called protectors of the public good and of the heritage of all Nova Scotians and all Canadians , you do the public a grave disservice in this respect . All future generations will suffer the loss of precious and irreplaceable data if the Federal government ia allowed to deny access to Census data ,given freely by its citizens . those who wish to search for their family roots. They, Statistics Canada , propse that a promise was given to the public in 1906 (in western Canada ) and 1911 in the rest of Canada that the info that they gave the Census taker would forever remain "confidential" . This assertion has been challanged under the "Freedom of Information Act " and to date they have been unable to produce any repeat ANY documentation to support this view. To you in the local and extended ( Canada wide media ) I say wake up to another travesty which is about to befall a portion of your citizenry. We who are involved in genealogy are very conscious of our mutual Canadian Heritage . Do not allow some small minority of bureaucrats with a very narrow politically correct view point to deny us and ALL future generations access to a vital portion of our Canadian Heritage There is here "a story" , the facts need to be related to the Canadian public . Judging from what I have seen in the media to date this is not happening . Sorry but "Uncle George " who came to Canada in 1912 and established a family and helped to build this nation , and whose son (s) and grandson(s) who died in Flanders or Dieppe or Hong Kong Kong or Korea didn`t really exist because we can no longer "prove" with Census data that they were really ever here!! This folks is the absurd reality we are currently faced with .. And guess what ? the first census in Manitoba and Saskatchewan was 1906 . Without this Census info these 2 provinces will have no data available whatso ever!! " Cultural Genocide " has never been the practice of any government in our history . But tonight I suggest to you that this will be the enevitable result if vital Canadian records so willingly provided freely by our citizens in ages past are not made available to us and the citizens of the future. We have no alternative but to relate to our respective Federal representitives our displeasure . We request that the media inform itself about this vital Canadian Heritage issue and relate to the public fairly and unequivocally the issues involved. Please forward a copy of this to your local media - and your federal rep if you wish with your comments please ; this is a battle we as genealogists , pro or amateur we cannot afford to lose ! For the good of us All , yesterday , today and tomorrow, all generations we must act NOW!!, If you think that those of us who express the opinions that I have just given voice in the above article are too "radical" for your comfort ; sit for a moment and imagine yourself as a budding family researcher in the "year of Our Lord" 2099 . Your GGfather landed in Canada in 1913. his brother and family in 1914 , we think The Census of 1921 no longer exists (it was destroyed?) or legally you no longer as a Canadian citizen have access to thids information . It exists , for government to use for various purposes , certainly very necessary, but because of " privacy concens" legally we can`t tell you your family ever existed !! Have fun folks , this could be the future. Enough said, Bob Brooks , living in N.S. but "roots" in N.B. also. My apologies if you see this on more than one List , I`m sending it to all those that I subscribe to in the fervent hope of arousing some additional support at this very crutial point , Thanks to all who help out , it is appreciated . - Original Message ----- From: "Gordon A. Watts" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, December 10, 2001 11:51 PM Subject: Re: [CCC] Interview for Ottawa Citizen > Hi Mary Anne. > > Rest assured that I will broadcast the details of the article as soon as > I know them. I am looking forward to seeing the article myself. I > received an email this afternoon from Chad Gaffield, one of the Expert > Panel, indicating that he had been interviewed as well. I deem it an > honour to be included in an article along with someone like Chad. > > Glad to hear that you have been booked to speak at the Halifax meeting. > I am sure that you will do well. I do not consider myself to be a > particularly good public speaker, and if I can do it, anyone can. I am > usually a bundle of nerves leading up to it, but once I get going I > settle down. Knowing your subject is the important part. > > I am booked as the first speaker in the evening session at Vancouver. I > intend to have my presentation written in advance and will be attending > the afternoon session so I can see how things go and make any last > minute changes to my presentation. > > With each speaker being allowed 15 minutes and a 5 minute question > period it appears that there will be a maximum of five speakers per > session rather than the eight originally estimated. > > I look forward to the reports from those speaking as to how they feel > things went. Thank you all for your support. > > Gordon > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Mary Anne Bohaker" <[email protected]> > To: <[email protected]> > Sent: Monday, December 10, 2001 6:36 PM > Subject: Re: [CCC] Interview for Ottawa Citizen > > > Gordon, > > I look forward to reading a copy of this interview. Please let me know > the > date and page number so I can look it up when we get our copy at the > Library. > I'm not sure how far behind realtime our subscription is but it will > arrive eventually. > > I am booked to speak at the Halifax Town Hall meeting from 6:55 - > 7:10 PM AST Monday, January 7th. Now I am starting to get > nervous as I abhor public speaking and am not very good at it. I will > have to write up what needs to be said so that I don't waste time. > > I am glad to hear that the meetings will be recorded, I plan to ask > them if the recordings will be made available to the public. I look > forward to hearing what the general public think about this and why. > > Mary Anne > > > On 10 Dec 2001, at 10:09, Gordon A. Watts wrote: > > > Greetings All. > > > > This morning I had a telephone interview regarding the Census issue > > with Will Stoss, a reporter for the Ottawa Citizen newspaper. > > > > I think the interview went well and I look forward to seeing his > > article. Will thinks that it will be in tomorrows edition, or if not > > then, in the next day or two. > > > > I would appreciate someone sending me a scan of the article, or > > sending a fax of it to me at 604-942-6843. Happy Hunting. > > > > Gordon > > > > > > > > > ----------------- > FindersKeepers > Specializing in Nova Scotia Books, > History & Genealogy in or out of print. > Email: [email protected] > URL: www.clik.to/finderskeepers > > > ==== CANADA-CENSUS-CAMPAIGN Mailing List ==== > Keep up to date on Post 1901 Census Issues at > http://globalgenealogy.com/Census/ > en français http://globalgenealogy.com/Census/Index_f.htm > > > > > ==== CANADA-CENSUS-CAMPAIGN Mailing List ==== > Download Post 1901 Census petitions at > http://globalgenealogy.com/Census/ > en français http://globalgenealogy.com/Census/Index_f.htm >