Thank you very much for your reply and to let us know that Jean Crowder, NDP supports our worthy cause of perserving our heritage. Her support will be added to the "Saving the Canadian Census" site so that no more emails will be sent to her on this subject. You will beable to monitor this at http://www.globalgenealogy.com/Census/Index6.htm You can also go to this same site and download petitions (House of Commons & Senate) if you wish to support this with a signature. Thanks again for your support. Adele Turner North Vancouver, BC -----Original Message----- From: Crowder, Jean - Assistant 1 [mailto:CrowdJ0@parl.gc.ca] Sent: Tuesday, October 12, 2004 12:38 PM To: ajturner@shaw.ca Cc: Crowder, Jean - M.P. Subject: RE: Patiently waiting for your response on the release of the Post 1901 Historical Census Dear Miss Turner, Thank-you for your letter regarding the release of the 1911 Census. We are sorry we did not respond to any previous letter you sent. As you are no doubt aware, the time just before and after an election is chaotic and we did not receive any of your previous letters at Ms. Crowder's legislative office. We apologize for the mix up. As you know, the NDP supports the release of the 1911 Census to the National Archives, as does Ms. Crowder. Thank-you, Calinda Brown Legislative Assistant to Jean Crowder, MP Nanaimo-Cowichan 613-943-2181 fax 613-993-5577 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- From: Adele Turner [mailto:ajturner@shaw.ca] Sent: Monday, October 11, 2004 6:02 AM To: Crowder, Jean - M.P. Subject: Patiently waiting for your response on the release of the Post 1901 Historical Census Re: Release of 1911 National Historic Census to the National Archives Ms. Jean Crowder: First of all, please accept my congratulations and best wishes for your success by winning a seat here in BC. Please do us proud while serving all Canadians across the country and finally take a stand on the issue of our Historic Census. Secondly, I sent an email before the election and you are still have not responded. I have asked how you stood on the fight that many of us have been waging for the release of the Post 1901 Canadian Census. You have not as yet replied to that email nor any other correspondence for that matter. I need to know HOW TO YOU stand on the Post 1901 Historic Census? Do you support its preservation or its destruction? I sure hope in the future that will not be typical of your office to your constituents and fellow Canadians by ignoring correspondence sent to you. My goal, as a member of the Canada (Save Our) Census Committee, is to draw your attention to the Chief Statistician's refusal to release control for the 1911 Census records to the National Archivist. According to law, the 1911 Census should have been released June 1, 2003 and to date this has not happened. Legally, the Chief Statistician should immediately transfer all national treasures such as the 92 year old Canadian Census to the control of the National Archivist for safekeeping and not destroyed as Dr. Ivan Fellegi wishes. You may or not be aware that for the past seven or so years, there has been a public campaign by genealogists and family historians seeking to regain the public access to Historic Census records after 1901 that has been improperly, (and believed illegally), withheld from public access by Canada's Chief Statistician, Dr. Ivan P. Fellegi. The campaign has sought to regain the same unrestricted access to records after 1906 that has been available for 240 years of Census records up to that time. We have made submissions and provided more than 65,000 petition signatures in an effort to voice our concerns for all who are searching for their historic family information. A history of our struggles with the Chief Statistician is well documented on our website, www.globalgenealogy.com/Census. Included here are findings of an Expert Panel, and the results of cross-Canada Town Hall meetings, which all show agreement that there was misinterpretation on the part of the Chief Statistician with relation to the instructions given to Enumerators. Our law presently states that release of Census data must occur 92 years after collection. During the last session of Parliament there was an attempt to push through Bill S-13, supposedly to 'correct' a deficiency, (a deficiency only perceived by the Chief Statistician). Thankfully Parliament closed down in time to prevent passage, which ultimately would have done nothing to correct anything, except add an additional 20 more unnecessary years to the release time, and provide the Chief Statistician with more control. Most other countries in the world vary in release date from 70 years upwards. Canadian taxpayers fund a Heritage Ministry, and what is more meaningful to our heritage and history than knowing and understanding our origins and ancestry, to say nothing of valuable medical information to be found. Mr. Wayne Easter has stated thus "In this age when criticism is levelled at our educational institutions for not making Canadian history courses readily available to our students, this attempt by Stats Can to further remove Canadians from their recorded historical roots must not be allowed to happen". The only resolution acceptable must be the same unrestricted public access for records after 1906, as is presently available for the existing 240 years of records up to that date. Access to these records is currently permitted under The Access to Information and Privacy Acts, and no legislative changes should be necessary for us to view these or any future records. What is required is a government which will live up to the pre-election promises the Prime Minister made of less interference by bureaucrats, and as well would require the Chief Statistician to obey the laws of the land. To date we have not had such a government. After all, the Chief Statistician does not have the legal right to enact or propose laws. His is an appointed position and perhaps has served its usefulness and passed his legal retirement age when it is compulsory for all Canadians to retire. We would request that you introduce a Government Bill which would add to the Statistics Act, a single clause similar to the following: "Original schedules of Census or authentic copies thereof shall, not later than thirty (30) years following collection, be transferred to the care and control of the National Archivist for subsequent public access in accordance with provisions of the Access to Information and Privacy Acts, and Regulations attached thereto." In closing, I hope to hear in the near future that an "original" promise that has finally been kept by our government MP's that have been voted into Parliament many years ago. So many promises have been made to the Canadian people over the years and have been broken by the ruling government. Discontinuation of the GST and the discontinuation of Income Tax after WWI to name just two of them. Please help us correct this potentially tragic destruction to Canada's past and its history. Please confirm by email whether you support our cause or not so that we can post your reply on our website. Thanking you in advance for your PROMPT reply to this email Yours respectfully, (Miss) Adele J. Turner Canada Census Committee Member - Save our Census #67 - 1947 Purcell Way North vancouver, BC V7J 3H4 604-987-5137 ajturner@shaw.ca