Forwarded by list admin. Please make any replies to: muriel_davidson@sympatico.ca ----- Original Message ----- From: "Muriel M. Davidson" <muriel_davidson@sympatico.ca> To: "Muriel M. Davidson" <muriel_davidson@sympatico.ca> Sent: Thursday, April 24, 2003 11:03 PM Subject: {not a subscriber} Post 1901 Census -- Bill S-13 needs a full debate in the Senate. > Forwarded by Muriel M. Davidson muriel_davidson@sympatico.ca > ==== > Greetings All. > > I copy below for your info my letter sent to all Senators by email, and > that will be sent by Canada Post this afternoon. We hope that many > others are sending letters to the Senators to express their opinion > regarding the restrictive conditions of Bill S-13. Once we learn the > final draft of what the Senate will forward to the House of Commons we > will need your help in writing to your Members of Parliament as well. > > In writing your letters please use your own words. Do not simply copy > those written by someone else and say "me too". Such letters would > likely be viewed as form letters and will likely be ignored. > > 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 > > Permission to forward without notice is granted. > ================================ > > Sent: Thursday, April 24, 2003 10:16 AM > Subject: Bill S-13 needs a full debate in the Senate. > > 1455 Delia Drive > Port Coquitlam, BC > V3C 2V9 > 23 April 2003 > > Honourable Senators > Senate of Canada > Ottawa, Ontario > K1A 0A4 > > Honourable Senators. > > For most of my adult life, I have believed that in Canada we live in a > Democracy. Living in a Democracy I believed that we elect people to > represent us in the House of Commons, and that those representatives > should put forth the views of the people they represent. In so doing I > believed that the common people had an opportunity to make a > difference - to seek redress and right wrongs perpetrated by the > bureaucracy. > > Senators are not elected but are appointed by the Government - also to > represent the people of Canada, but additionally to provide a "sober, > second look" at what those in the lower chamber are up to. > > For the past six years the people of Canada have been involved in a > campaign to regain the public access to Post 1901 Census records that > has been improperly, and believed illegally, withheld from us by the > Chief Statistician of Canada. Petitions containing more than 62,000 > signatures have been sent to Ottawa and have been presented in the > Senate and the House of Commons. Untold numbers of letters and email > have been sent to Members of Parliament and Senators. All have sought > the same thing - to regain the same, unrestricted access to records of > Census after 1901 that has been available for 235 years up to that time. > > On 24 January 2003 the government unconditionally released the 1906 > Census of the North-Western Provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and > Alberta. Within minutes of the announced release of these records, > scanned images of the Schedules of Census were made available online for > the entire world to view and research. In releasing these records the > government conceded that current legislation, i.e. the Privacy Act and > Regulations attached thereto, allowed them to do so. > > After five years of campaigning the government finally introduced a Bill > to deal with the concerns of those seeking access to Historic Census > records. In so doing, however, they ignored what those concerns were. > > The opening 'Summary' of Bill S-13 states "this enactment removes a > legal ambiguity in relation to access to census records taken between > 1910 and 2003". Bill S-13 does considerably more than remove a legal > ambiguity. It provides for transfer of Census records to the control of > the National Archives 92 years after collection. It specifies that the > purpose of that transfer is to permit examination of those records for > genealogical or historical purposes. However, in so doing it imposes > conditions on access for which there has been no demonstrated need, and > that were not envisioned in existing applicable legislation, or in the > Instructions to Enumerators of Census that have, and always have had, > the force of law. > > It was expected that some of those conditions would be removed, or > amended, during debate and consideration of Bill S-13 by the Senate > Standing Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology. Such was > not to be, however, as the proceedings of the Committee hearings were > shanghaid by Senator Lowell Murray using a political ploy that resulted > in S-13 being reported back to the Senate without amendment. Because of > that political ploy there was no clause-by-clause deliberation of Bill > S-13. Neither was there any debate relating to tabled amendments. > Those amendments were supported by four of five witnesses that testified > at the first Committee hearings. > > It is believed that Honourable Senators, being Honourable in more than > just name, likely believe in the principles of democracy - that the > purpose of government is to serve the will of the people, not the other > way around. In drafting Bill S-13 government has listened more to one > apparently very powerful bureaucrat than to representations by tens of > thousands of Canadians. The conditions imposed by Bill S-13 do NOT > reflect the will of the people. > > We call upon the Honourable Senators, being Honourable in more than just > name, to permit in the Senate what did not happen during the Senate > Committee hearings. We call upon you to conduct a full, free debate on > the merits, or otherwise, of restrictive conditions of access imposed by > Bill S-13. We call upon you to conduct a full, free debate on all of > the amendments sought by the people of Canada. We call upon you to send > to the House of Commons a Bill that is truly reflective of the will of > the people. > > The amendments to Bill S-13 sought by the people are, in order of > importance: > > * Removal of Clause 8 - the supposed "informed consent" clause. > This clause, if retained, will destroy forever any possibility of Census > from 2006 and on being used for any scientific, demographic or > historical research, and will prevent many genealogists from being able > to research their ancestry. Barring total removal of Clause 8, > clarification must be made to make it an OPT-OUT provision rather than > OPT-IN. Such a provision would ensure that only those who have given > conscious thought to the issue, and that specifically object to access > of their information 92 years in the future, would be excluded from the > records. > > * Removal of all restrictions or conditions for access for at > least the 1911 and 1916 Records of Census. The 1911 and 1916 Censuses > were conducted under the same legislation and similar Instructions to > Enumerators as was the 1906 Census. Records of the 1906 Census have > been released without restrictions of any kind, and have been placed > online for the entire world to view. > > * Removal of the "twenty-year" period during which only partial > disclosure of information found in Census records might be made by a > researcher. Removal also of the need to commit to an "undertaking" > regarding this partial disclosure. Need for these conditions have not > been demonstrated. They contribute nothing to the privacy of > respondents to Census. They do not prevent information from being > known. They create a costly, bureaucratic procedure that in the end run > will simply be an inconvenience for those that would share information > through their family history. > > We do not oppose Bill S-13 as a whole, but we most certainly oppose the > unwarranted conditions it imposes on the access to Historic Census > records that we believe is already permitted under the Privacy Act and > Regulations attached thereto. If the purpose of Bill S-13 is, as > stated, to remove an ambiguity - that being the transfer of control of > Historic Census records to the National Archives for subsequent public > access - let it do just that. Do not allow it to impose conditions on > that access for which there has not been any demonstrated need. > > I remain available for any clarification you might seek regarding this > issue. Thank you. > > Sincerely, > > Gordon A. Watts gordon_watts@telus.net > Co-chair, Canada Census Committee > > Tel (604) 942-6889 > Fax (604) 942-6843 > > > > > > --- > Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. > Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). > Version: 6.0.474 / Virus Database: 272 - Release Date: 4/18/03 > >