Chuck Cadman, MP Greetings All. FYI Gordon ------------------------------------------------ Dear Sir: I am writing to you in response to your email of 21 June 2000 to Muriel M. Davidson, the text of which is copied below. While the bulk of your message to Ms. Davidson contains information that is hardly new to those writing you to express their concerns regarding lack of access to Post 1901 Census records, I wish to comment on your closing statement, i.e.: "When the Minister introduces legislation in the House of Commons I will take a close look at the Bill to determine if there is a balance between the need to protect personal privacy and the demands of genealogists and historians for access to census records. " I would bring to your attention that under Regulations attached to the Privacy Act, personal information from Census may be transferred to the National Archives and subsequently made available for research 92 years following collection. The Privacy Act currently in use was brought into effect, along with the Access to Information Act, over a three year period (1980 - 1983) during which it was thought any problems with these two Acts would be brought to light and rectified. As the Regulation allowing transfer of Census records to the National Archives after 92 years still exists I must assume that no one of the time found fault with it. The legislators of the day, when dealing with the issue of allowing Census to be transferred to the National Archives, surely were aware of the various Statistics Acts and Regulations under which Census had been collected. They obviously felt that a period of 92 years before allowing access was sufficient to protect the privacy of respondents to Census. In so doing they established a reasonable "balance" between protecting personal privacy and need to allow access to Historic Census for research purposes. While Statistics Canada and Privacy Commissioner Bruce Phillips speak about a "balance" between privacy and allowing access to Historic Census, what exists today is no sort of balance. Total closure, or destruction of these records as desired by Bruce Phillips, constitutes no "balance" of any kind. Contrary to the stated position of Statistics Canada that transfer of Census records to the National Archives is "explicitly prohibited by law", what actually prevents transfer is a "policy decision" of that department. That "policy decision" has been based upon a series of legal opinions from the Department of Justice, all of which are basically flawed in that they consider only one clause dealing with contemporary Secrecy contained in Instructions to Census Officers and Enumerators for the Western Census of 1906. These "opinions" ignore other clauses in those same Instructions that state that Census has value as a record for historical use, is intended to be a permanent record, it's schedules will be stored in the "Archives of the Dominion", and will be carefully preserved for future reference. I might add that these "legal opinions" are just that -- opinions. They have not been tested in the Courts of the land and are, therefore, NOT law. I would urge you to read my submission to the Expert Panel on Access to Historic Census, entitled "The Myths of Census". The files for this submission were sent to all Members of Parliament 24 April 2000, attached to an email. Should you be unable to locate them I would be happy to resend them. Should you request it I will send you a CD-ROM containing much of the research documentation upon which my submission was based. Having read this information I would submit to you once more the question "Would you, as an elected Member of the House of Commons of the Parliament of Canada, vote FOR or AGAINST a Bill supporting release to the Public, of Post 1901 Census Records, 92 years after they were recorded, starting in 1906?" Your constituents voted for you presumably because they felt you were a rational, reasonable, thinking individual, having opinions similar to their own. They seek a definitive answer to the question above and will not be satisfied until they have one from you. Many of your fellow Canadian Alliance MPs have been supportive and given affirmative answers to this question. I invite you to visit the MPs Scoreboard at http://globalgenealogy.com/census to verify this. You are currently shown as "sitting on the fence", having given only non-committal responses to your constituents. I would be more than happy to change this to a gold tick of support should you so desire. I look forward to your early reply. Thank you. Gordon A. WATTS gordon_watts@telus.net 1455 Delia Drive Port Coquitlam, BC V3C 2V9 Tel (604) 942-6889 Fax (604) 942-6843 Keep up to date on Post 1901 Census information at http://www.globalgenealogy.com/census/index.htm Join the CANADA CENSUS CAMPAIGN List at CANADA-CENSUS-CAMPAIGN-L-request@rootsweb.com Read my Post 1901 Census column in the Global Gazette http://www.globalgenealogy.com/gazette.htm ------------Original Message------------------- Dear Ms. Davidson, Thank you for your e-mail regarding census records. The Minister responsible for Statistics Canada, the Honourable John Manley, asked Statistics Canada to develop options for changing the current legislation to allow access to census records. As it stands, there are two possibilities; the first option contemplates amending the Statistics Act to allow records, starting with the 2001 Census and carrying on from there, to be transferred to the National Archives of Canada to be subsequently made available to the public; the second option is to retroactively change the confidentiality provisions of the Statistics Act to allow the 1911 and all censuses taken thereafter to be eventually placed in the public domain. On November 12, 1999 the Minister announced the creation of an Expert Panel on Access to Historical Census Records. The panel has been studying the possibilities mentioned above and will make their recommendation to the Minister around the end of June beginning of July, 2000. When the Minister introduces legislation in the House of Commons I will take a close look at the Bill to determine if there is a balance between the need to protect personal privacy and the demands of genealogists and historians for access to census records. Again, thank you for writing. Sincerely, Chuck Cadman, M.P. Surrey North