Please forward to Newfoundland-Labrador list Muriel M. Davidson [email protected] ========= Greetings All. With all our petitions, letters and email seeking to regain public access to Historic Census records it is felt that the greatest factor in the eventual release, on 24 January 2003, of the 1906 Census of the North-Western Provinces was our Legal Action instituted on behalf of eleven plaintiffs from across Canada. Even though that Action did not actually make it before a Judge, the effect was that we won our case and the Courts awarded costs to our lawyer. It is obvious from the testimony of the Chief Statistician, the Privacy Commissioner and the comments of Senators opposing the amendments we seek to Bill S-13, that their greatest fear is the Courts would give us what we seek -- unrestricted access to all Census records -- past, present and future. On Thursday 5 June 2003 our lawyer, Lois Sparling, submitted a second Action in Federal Court relating to access to Census records. This new Action, like the previous one, deals with the failure of the Chief Statistician to turn over control of the Census to the National Archivist. Unlike the previous Action, this one has only one plaintif -- Merle Beatty of Calgary. She has submitted an ATI request but Lois has not waited for it to be refused before starting the current Action. We believe the ATI requests we suggest supporters of access make are a very powerful, meaningful way of sending a message to the government. The greater the number of requests made, the stronger the message. ATI request forms were distributed at last weeks AFHS meeting -- it is thought about 50 requests will result from this. It is my intention to distribute request forms at the BCGS meeting this coming Wednesday. Perhaps other genealogical and historical organizations will see fit to do likewise. Complaints regarding the refusal of Statistics Canada to release records of the 1911 Census must be submitted to the Information Commissioner. We believe he will be prepared, as he was prepared to do for the 1906 Census, to proceed himself to the Courts on behalf of the complainants. Perhaps he can do so in time to join with Lois in her Action. Happy Hunting. Gordon A. Watts [email protected] 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. --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.487 / Virus Database: 286 - Release Date: 6/1/03