Muriel You might want to use the fact that Genealogists and others are petitioning for an early release of the 1911 UK Census, rather than wait the 100 years. See copy below. People do not need to be British to write. To: The Rt Hon Alan Beith MP, Chairman, Committee on the Lord Chancellor's Department, House of Commons, LONDON SW1A 0AA Dear Chairman I wish to urge your Committee to conduct an inquiry into the 1911 decennial population census records for England & Wales. I am aware that the Clerk to your Committee, Huw Yardley, has said that your Committee has no current plans to examine this matter but it is an issue the Committee may wish to examine at an appropriate time in the future. Nevertheless, I urge you to begin an inquiry as soon as possible. It is reported that you've received similar requests from Australia, Canada, Malta, New Zealand, the United States of America and the UK. Perhaps members of your Committee are already aware that the Government proposes - at present - to continue to prevent public inspection of the 1911 decennial population census records for England & Wales for a century although the Public Record Office claims that twenty million UK residents are interested in census and other PRO records. No promises of 100-confidentiality or closure were printed on the 1911 census questionnaires. The 1911 census records are not listed in a Public Records Act Instrument of extended 100-year closure. In 2000, the Chairman of the Home Affairs Committee called for the release of the 1911 census after 90 years of closure. And, in 1998, the Advisory Council on Public Records recommended an 80-year closure period for some census records. Through my Grandmother, a British Home Child, I am one generation removed from England and rely on the released Census information to find my family roots. Yours sincerely, Patricia Corney, BHCD 232 Yankee Road, Lot 61 Quakertown, Pennsylvania 18951 USA ----- Original Message ----- From: Muriel M. Davidson To: [email protected] Sent: Wednesday, June 11, 2003 2:02 PM Subject: [CCC] Re: Bill S-13 Many thanks, Stephen for replying -- but your Canadian Alliance Party could do more good on our behalf if you made certain the restrictions are removed. Just stating on a party-wide basis that you will not support this bill is not what we want -- we want assistance and have again resorted to a federal lawsuit procedure for 1911 census, which should have been released June 1, 2003. Researchers -- and there are many -- are quite happy with the 92-years (wish it could be 72) -- but to be defeatist in the Canadian Alliance Party is not our desire. Muriel M. Davidson [email protected] Co-Chair, Canada Census Committee http://www.globalgenealogy.com/Census/index.htm http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~downhome/post1901census.htm ----- Original Message ----- From: "Office of the Leader of the Opposition" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, June 11, 2003 1:00 PM > June 11th, 2003 > > Ms. Muriel M. Davidson > Co-Chair, Canada Census Committee > 25 Crestview Avenue > Brampton, ON L6W 2R8 > > [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > > > Dear Ms. Davidson: > > Thank you for your e-mail of May 8th regarding Bill S-13. I would like to > take this opportunity to explain the Canadian Alliance's position on this > legislation. > > As you know, the Canadian Alliance supports the preservation of census > records and the subsequent transfer of these records to the National > Archives for public release. We 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. > > I appreciate your concerns about Bill S-13, An Act to Amend the Statistics > Act (Census Records), the census legislation that is currently in front of > the House of Commons. The Canadian Alliance will not be supporting this > legislation. Bill S-13 will allow limited access to "tombstone" census > information after 92 years. Full access to census records will only be > allowed after 112 years. We believe that Bill S-13 further complicates > matters by allowing access after 92 years only to designated individuals. > The designation process will result in a complicated bureaucracy, added > costs, and the question of who will police the census. > > Thank you once again for your continued correspondence. I appreciate your > dedication to this issue. > > Sincerely, > > Stephen Harper, M.P. > Leader of the Opposition > Leader of the Canadian Alliance > > /rl > --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.488 / Virus Database: 287 - Release Date: 6/5/03 ==== CANADA-CENSUS-CAMPAIGN Mailing List ==== How to unsubscribe from Digest Mode. Send a message to [email protected] that contains (in the Subject line and body of the message) the command -- unsubscribe -- and no additional text.