To keep everyone in suspense, watch for the next posting!!! Muriel M. Davidson, Co-chair, Canada Census Committee ----- Original Message ----- From: "Gordon A. Watts" <gordon_watts@telus.net> To: "Canada Census Campaign" <CANADA-CENSUS-CAMPAIGN-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, June 28, 2005 2:21 AM Subject: Post 1901 Census - Your cooperation is requested. Greetings All. FYI. Gordon ----- Original Message ----- From: Gordon A. Watts To: MP Gauthier, Michel ; MP Duceppe, Gilles ; Layton.J@parl.gc.ca ; MP Davies, Libby ; MP Hill, Jay ; OLO@parl.gc.ca ; Prime Minister Paul Martin Sent: Monday, June 27, 2005 11:14 PM Subject: Your cooperation is requested. 1455 Delia Drive Port Coquitlam, BC V3C 2V9 27 June 2005 Rt. Hon. Paul Martin, Prime Minister Hon. Tony Valeri - Government House Leader Hon. Stephen Harper, Leader - Leader of the Opposition Hon. Jay Hill - Opposition House Leader Hon. Gilles Duceppe, Leader - Bloc Québécois Hon. Michel Gauthier - Bloc Québécois House Leader Hon. Jack Layton, Leader - New Democratic Party Hon. Libby Davies - NDP House Leader Gentlemen, and Ms. Davies Most Canadians have the utmost respect for our Parliamentary system and believe, for the most part, that it works well, and in the interest of the people who it represents. In the past several weeks however, regular watchers of the proceedings of Parliament may have cause to wonder. The political game playing and manoeuvrings of recent weeks are not what Canadians wish to see. For seven long years, a great many Canadians, and others, have campaigned to regain the public access to Historic Census records, 92 years after collection, that existing legislation states we are already entitled to, but for which we have been denied. That access has been denied us, not because of restrictive legislation or government directive, but simply because of a policy initiated by, and under the control of, Statistics Canada. Over this period a number of Motions and Bills, both Private Member and Government Bills, have been proposed to resolve the impasse we find ourselves in. These Motions and Bills have received varying degrees of support from the genealogical and historical communities. Each time we have been close to seeing a resolution, a Session of Parliament was prorogued, or an election was called, causing the proposed solutions to die on the Order Paper. Should that happen again, it will mean that we restart our campaign for a fifth time. Bill S-18 - An Act to amend the Statistics Act is a Bill that all leaders of the Census campaign have committed to support without seeking amendment. This includes leaders of the Canada Census Committee, the Canadian Historical Association, and the Association of Canadian Archivists. It is a Bill that has the stated support of the Chief Statistician, the Librarian and Archivist, and the Privacy Commissioner. It is a Bill that will finally put to rest a controversy that has lasted for more than twenty-five years. Bill S-18 has been passed in the Senate and at this time has only to pass Report and Third Reading stages in the House of Commons before it can be presented for Royal Assent and become Law. It is a non-partisan Bill, having widespread support from all Parties in the House. Currently, 216 Members of Parliament have expressed support for the access we seek. We were pleased that for several days Bill S-18 appeared to have a degree of priority in that it was shown in third place on the Projected Order of Business for the House of Commons. Unfortunately, because of the lengthy debates on Bill C-48, Bill S-18 did not reach the floor of the House for Third Reading before the normal date of adjournment for the Summer recess. Bill S-18 no longer appears on the Projected Order of Business. Sitting days of the House of Commons have been extended to allow further debate and voting on Bills C-48 and C-38. Bill C-48 was passed on Thursday 23 June 2005, leaving only C-38 to be debated in the coming days. We expect it likely the extended sitting days will be adjourned immediately Bill C-38 has been voted on. We ask you, gentlemen, and Ms. Davies, to show that the Parliamentary process can, and does, work. We ask that you cooperate to include Bill S-18 in the business of the House needing to be completed before Parliament is recessed for the Summer. The issues involved in public access to Historic Census records have been debated endlessly over the past several years. It is unlikely that anything new can be added to the debate. As such it is expected that the Report and Third Reading stages of Bill S-18 could be completed at the same time, with minimal debate. With unanimous consent of the House it could be deemed to have passed Third Reading without further debate. We ask that you allow genealogists and historians to spend their Summer researching the long overdue records of the 1911 Census of Canada, instead of having to continue the battle to see them released. With respect, I remain Gordon A. Watts gordon_watts@telus.net Co-chair Canada Census Committee