Below is a copy of the reply I received today from Senator Gerald Comeau/ Now I wonder why there was a no beside his name on the tally Shirley Dear Ms. Lane I., have no objection whatsoever to release the 1911 census if in fact the current laws on the book dictate that the release is authorized Regarding Acadian church records kept by the priests, there was no legislative promise to keep these records private and confidential. Gerald Comeau,

Hi Shirley. The Red X of opposition shown for Senator Comeau is there based on his responses in 2001 and 2002 to questions of his support for access to Historic Census records. In reading those responses on the Senator's Scoreboard he maintained that there had been a promise of never-ending confidentiality given to the people of Canada and that such 'promise' should not be broken. In addition, during Senate debate regarding Bill S-13 Senator Comeau was probably the most vocal of the Senators in his opposition to the Bill. He made constant references to breaking a 'promise' of never ending confidentiality. In reading his comments during these debates there is no doubt whatsoever that he opposed information from Census being made available at any time. Extracts of the Hansard records of those debates are on the Post 1901 Census Project website and I invite all to read them. His response to you indicates that in the time since then he may have mellowed somewhat but I am somewhat reluctant to change his symbol on the Scoreboard without a stronger statement of support from him. He states he has no objection to the release of 1911 records 'if in fact the current laws on the book dictate that the release is authorized'. Mr. Comeau, as well as all MPs and Senators have been advised a number of times regarding the legislative clauses that authorize access to 92-year-old Census records. I would question any statement that any of them are not aware of that legislation. I will attempt to obtain a stronger statement of support for access to the 1911 records and pending that will consider changing his symbol on the Scoreboard. Happy Hunting. Gordon ----- Original Message ----- From: Shirley To: CANADA-CENSUS-CAMPAIGN-L@rootsweb.com Cc: Muriel M. Davidson ; Gordon A. Watts Sent: Wednesday, October 27, 2004 1:06 PM Subject: Reply from Comeau Below is a copy of the reply I received today from Senator Gerald Comeau/ Now I wonder why there was a no beside his name on the tally Shirley Dear Ms. Lane I., have no objection whatsoever to release the 1911 census if in fact the current laws on the book dictate that the release is authorized Regarding Acadian church records kept by the priests, there was no legislative promise to keep these records private and confidential. Gerald Comeau,