Greetings All. My apologies once again for the length of this posting. In the 12 years that I have been coming to Calgary to visit my son and his family, I have managed only once to be here when it did not snow, regardless of the time of year that I was visiting. This trip has not been an exception as on waking up this morning the ground was white. I have had a good reaction to my posting of 18 May 2002 that suggested everyone interested in regaining public access to Post 1901 Census records send Access to Information Requests to Statistics Canada and the National Archives seeking access to the 1906 Census of the Western Provinces (Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba). All responses I have had to that posting have been positive. It appears, however, because of some questions asked that some clarification is needed. The reason for making these requests is that Justice Canada lawyers, in their cross-examination of plaintiffs in our Application for Judicial Review, have concentrated their questions on whether or not ATI Requests have been submitted to Statistics Canada and the National Archives for the 1906 Census, and if so, have complaints been submitted to the Information Commissioner when those requests were refused. The impression given by this is that anyone seeking information from these records should be doing so through Access to Information Requests. We wish to accomodate the Justice Canada lawyers by making the requests they seem to think we should be making. The legislation specifies that to be eligible to make a request under Access to Information you must be a resident of Canada. ATI requests may be directed to either Statistics Canada or the National Archives. Preferably both. Each department handles their own ATI requests. As such, each must receive an original request -- not a copy of one sent to the other department. They may, however, be worded similarly. Addresses to send them to are shown below. Each request must be accompanied by a check for $5.00 made out to 'The Receiver General of Canada'. Requests may be made simply by letter, or by using an Access to Information Request form downloadable from http://infosource.gc.ca/Info_4/atip/Request-Frms_e.html Your message need not be lengthy. Say something like the following: "As a family historian and genealogist I have a requirement to view and obtain information regarding my ancestors from Historic Census Records. The Privacy Act of Canada, and Regulations attached thereto, provide that information from Census may be made available to any person or body, for purposes of research, 92 years after collection. This message is to be considered my Request, under the Access to Information Act, for access to schedules of the 1906 Special Census of the Western Provinces (Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba). Thank you." Adjust the wording to suit your personal circumstance, but be specific about needing to view the records for the 1906 Census. There is no requirement in the legislation to specify a reason for making an ATI request. At this time we are seeking general, not specific, access to the 1906 Census, so your request should not seek access to any specific individual or family. If you specify an individual name you are likely to be advised how to make a 'Census Pensions Search' at a cost of about $48.00. Because we are seeking general access to the records you need not actually have an individual or family from Alberta, Saskatchewan or Manitoba to make this request. The legislation specifies that you are required by law to receive a response within thirty days of receipt for any ATI Request submitted. Some readers may be deterred by the requirement for submitting a $5.00 check with each request. We expect each and every request for access to the 1906 Census to be denied. My own experience with a denied request was that my check was returned with that denial. My expectation is that with the refusal of our requests, all checks will be returned. I cannot, however, guarantee that this will happen. On receiving a refusal of your request for access to the 1906 Census, a complaint regarding that refusal should be sent to the Information Commission (address below). That complaint should make reference to the Report of the Expert Panel on Access to Historical Census Records, and to a legal opinion of Ann Chaplin of Justice Canada in August 2000. I will post further information regarding this later. It is our hope that those seeking access to Historical Census records will flood Statistics Canada and the National Archives with ATI requests for the 1906 Census. The addresses to send these requests to are: Statistics Canada ATIP Co-ordinator, Pamela White R.H. Coats Building, 25th Floor Tunney's Pasture Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0T6 National Archives of Canada ATIP Co-ordinator, Bill Wood 395 Wellington Street, Room 349 Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0N3 So that we might be able to have some idea of how many ATI requests are made for the 1906 records I ask that you send me a copy of your Request. These may be sent to me by attachment to an email, by fax at (604) 942-6843, or by snail mail to Gordon A. Watts 1455 Delia Drive Port Coquitlam, BC V3C 2V9 Thank you again for your continued support. Gordon A. Watts gordon_watts@telus.net Co-chair, Canada Census Committee Port Coquitlam, BC http://www.globalgenealogy.com/Census/ en francais http://www.globalgenealogy.com/Census/Index_f.htm Permission to forward without notice is granted. --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.362 / Virus Database: 199 - Release Date: 5/7/02