Greetings All FYI. I copy below a letter received yesterday from MP Inky Mark reaffirming his support for our efforts. I also received an acknowledgement from the assistant of Lynne Yelich indicating Ms. Yelich was "aware of its contents". Both Mr. Mark and Ms. Yelich have previously indicated their support and have gold ticks on the MPs Scoreboard. Happy Hunting. Gordon ========================== OTTAWA, 9 September, 2004 Gordon A. Watts Co-Chair Canada Census Committee 1455 Delia Dr. Port Coquitlam, BC V3C 2V9 Dear Mr. Watts: Thank you for your letter expressing support for the release of post-1901 census records. I appreciate knowing your views on this issue and am pleased to be given the opportunity of providing you with my position. I support the preservation of census records, and the subsequent transfer of these records to the National Archives for public release. I believe that keeping the records confidential for the historical 92-year period is an adequate length of time, and that this is generally consistent with the practice in Britain and the United States, where records are kept confidential for 100 and 72 years respectively. In respect to the seeking of a government Bill that would add the clause yhou propose, you may want to contact your own Member of Parliament to put forth a Private Member's Bill that would see changes to the Statistics Act. Any member can put forth this type of legislation and it would therefore not be contingent on the governing pary's inclinations. Thank you again for your correspondence. I trust that I have fully answered your questions. Sincerely, Inky Mark, M.P. Dauphin-Swan River-Marquette