A bit long -- but very important - Muriel M. Davidson --------------------- Greetings All I have just finished collating the petitions for the House of Commons that I have received since 23 February 2002. The break down is as follows: Province Previous Current Total ============================== BC 2724 162 2886 AB 5422 348 5770 SK 840 236 1076 MB 447 26 473 ON 2950 922 3872 PQ 807 178 985 NB 541 30 571 NS 745 269 1014 PE 99 0 99 NF 260 0 260 YT 7 0 7 NT 0 0 0 NUN 0 0 0 =============================== Totals 14842 2171 17013 I will be presenting these 2171 signatures to MP Murray Calder while I am in the Ottawa area to attend the first symposium for the Canadian Genealogy Center at the end of the month. Senator Lorna Milne has, as of 8 October 2002, presented 20,109+ Canadian and Non-Resident signatures on petitions to the Senate since the election of November 2000. Prior to the election she had presented more than 6000 signatures. This brings the total number of signatures on our petitions alone, since the November 2000 federal election, to 37,122+ Add to this figure the estimated 16,000 signatures on petitions, letters and email to MPs, and submissions to the Expert Panel on Access of Historical Census Records sent prior to the election of November 2000, we achieve a total of 59,122+ signatures sent to Ottawa. This figure does not include additional unknown numbers of signatures on letters and email sent prior to, or following the November 2000 election, or on petitions not directed through either myself or Muriel before or since that election. Neither does it include signatures on petitions that may have been sent by groups other than the Canada Census Committee. We have no means of tracking numbers of letters or email sent. The announcement on 3 October 2002 that the government intends to bring down legislation relating to public access of Historic Census records does not mean that our efforts are finished. It remains to be seen if such legislation will meet the needs and concerns of those seeking such access. We must keep on top of things to ensure that it does.. We continue to have a need for signatures on petitions. Without knowing the numbers of letters and email sent to individual MPs and Senators, signatures on petitions are the only thing we can point to to show support for our objective. PLEASE send your petitions through Muriel and myself. We are aware of petitions that have been sent directly to some MPs and Senators that have not been presented to their respective Houses. Signatures on these petitions are lost to us. Petitions sent through us are assured of being presented. We need also, to continue seeking support from those MPs and Senators that have given non-committal responses or who have not responded to our questions. Check the Scoreboards on the Post 1901 Census Project website, at the URL following my signature for the tally of MPs and Senators, and their stated positions. With the award today, of a gold tick of support to MP Joe Jordan, 165 MPs have to date stated their support for access to these records so vital to the interests of genealogists and historians. 37 Senators have similarly shown their support. If your own MP or Senator is one of those who do not currently have a gold tick of support, send them a brief, polite request for that support. Remind them that what we seek is public access to Census Records after 1901 on exactly the same basis as we currently have for 235 years of Census records up to 1901. Happy Hunting Gordon A. Watts gordon_watts@telus.net Co-Chair, Canada Census Committee Port Coquitlam, BC http://globalgenealogy.com/Census en français http://globalgenealogy.com/Census/Index_f.htm --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.404 / Virus Database: 228 - Release Date: 10/15/02