Hi Allan. Thank you for you message, and your interest in our efforts to obtain public access to Post 1901 Census Records. As your grandfather found out, it is possible to obtain information from census about ones self, and this applies to any Census up to and including the most recent. However, this does not mean you are able to obtain any other information regarding even members of your immediate family. If you have a spouse and want the information from Census about her, you cannot get that information without her requesting it personally. The same applies to any siblings or children that might have been living in the same household at the time of Census. I do not believe you are required to be even a member of the family to obtain military information, at least for WW I. The major criteria is that you have proof of death of the individual. You may have to proof kinship if the individual has been dead for less than twenty years but after that I believe it is available to anyone. For those involved with the Canadian Expeditionary Forces (C.E.F.) in WW I the government has a website where information regarding them can be viewed on line. It is by no means complete at this time but they are adding information to it on an ongoing basis. Our goal is to obtain public access to all Census, past, present and future, 92 years after collection as per Regulations attached to the Privacy Act. The Report of the Expert Panel on Access to Historic Census Records was finally released to the public on 15 December 2000. It is viewable on line at http://www.statcan.ca/english/census96/finalrep.htm The Report recommends allowing public access to all Census 92 years after collection. However Brian Tobin, the new Minister of Industry, has followed the direction of Statistics Canada and states that "further study" is required. We find this position totally unacceptable and are calling for him to immediately follow through on the recommendations of the Expert Panel. Hope this answers your questions. Thank you for your interest and support. Gordon A. WATTS gordon_watts@telus.net Port Coquitlam, BC Keep up to date on Post 1901 Census information at http://www.globalgenealogy.com/census and http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Farm/7843/poll.html Download and circulate Post 1901 Census Petitions now from http://www.globalgenealogy.com/census/petition.htm ----- Original Message ----- From: "Allan Pearson" <allanpe@trios.com> To: <gordon_watts@telus.net> Sent: Tuesday, 16 January, 2001 2:53 PM Subject: Accessing post 1901 census information Good afternoon I read with interest the information about the Canada Census Campaign. Personally, I am from Guelph Ontario. In doing my own genealogy research I have found that my maternal grandfather was able to obtain information relating to a census about 30 or 40 years ago. I do not have the documentation with me, so I cannot be more definite about the census date. Although it was definitely post 1901 census. The information that my grandfather was able to obtain was about himself. So the question is, if a person has the right to obtain census information about themselves, then can their next of kin inherit this right, thus allowing the next of kin to obtain information about deceased ancestors? As you are aware, World War 2 military records can be released to next of kin when (i) the death of the subject person can be proven and (ii) when a relationship such as next of kin can also be proven between the subject person and the researcher. Do you think that this same principle would apply to post 1901 census information? Finally, although the struggle goes on to make post 1901 census information available today, what about census' of the future? Is any effort being made to change the legislation regarding census' of the future. Is it possible to have the legislation changed to allow the 2001 or 2011 census information to be available to future generations? Sincerely, Allan M. Pearson, B.A.S.