>The release of the Canadian census records affects not only >ALL Canadians, but descendants of many former Canadians >living in all parts of the world. I don't disagree. But it's utterly besides the point when it comes to HOW to achieve the goal. It affects ALL Canadians, but ANY GIVEN CANADIAN can only be expected to influence ONE of the 308 MPs. And that's their own. If their own MP is already on-side, then it's case closed. If their MP is not on-side, then let the electors in that district lobby the MP, esp. if he or she is a newly-elected member. But hunting down MPs, who you don't and can't even vote for, and frankly harassing them, is going to hurt more than it helps. This is a fact of life. Sorry to have to point it out, sorry to burst any bubbles, but it is a fact of life. Don't shoot the messenger. >YES -- any vote on this issue affects all who desire release of the >Canadian census records. Yes. HOWEVER, don't imagine for one second that any MP, other than your own, has any responsibility to you. THEY DON'T. And haranguing MPs who don't represent your riding is counterproductive: It makes a cause look like a bunch of crackpots, no matter what the cause is or how legitimate. Our political system works a certain way. You are going to achieve results by working WITH the system, not AGAINST it. >Please forward the section that states a Member of Parliament >only answers to the residents of his or her constituency? Have you ever voted? That's where the MP answers. An MP can only be a candidate in one electoral distric, and an elector can only vote, once, in one electoral district. It's in the Elections Act. >Until that time, the present symbol on the Ontario scoreboard >will remain the same. You may not like to hear it, but I have just posted some simple facts of political life. Unless you live in his riding, Maurizio Bevilacqua (Charles Hubbard, Bob Mills, Ed Broadbent, Réal Ménard), doesn't owe you anything. Not even a response. This is a fact of political life. You can try to overcome it, you can try to push that water uphill, but it won't work. Don't get your nose out of joint when it doesn't work, or when someone points out that it won't. The most effective way to get a response from Mr. Bevilacqua, or to have a stand to criticize him if he DOESN'T respond, is for people in the genealogical community, who are electors in the riding of Vaughan, just outside Toronto, to write to him on the issue. Vaughan being one of the most populous ridings, surely that can't be too hard. And please: Someone posting to this list is OBVIOUSLY a member of the list. Don't email the list and the respondent; that means your recipient gets two copies, not one. That's not nice to email inboxes.