Thanks Mr. Zed. I had only just been informed shortly after I sent my email to you but it will still have to be passed through voting by the House of Commons and the Senate. Thanks for taking time to answer. Adele Turner -----Original Message----- From: Zed, Paul - M.P. [mailto:ZedP@parl.gc.ca] Sent: Wednesday, November 03, 2004 3:34 PM To: Adele Turner Subject: Census Dear Ms. Turner: As you know, yesterday in the Senate; the Government of Canada introduced S-18, An Act to amend the Statistics Act. This bill will enable access to both past and future census records. This bill has a provision that for censuses taken between 1911 and 2001, access will be permitted 92 years after the census has taken place, and starting with the 2006 Census, Canadians will be able to decide if they will allow their personal census information to be released publicly after 92 years. Individual census records would be released only when consent is given. Statistics Canada, in conjunction with Library and Archives Canada, will, as part of the 2006 Census public communications campaign, will encourage Canadians to allow future access to their census records to preserve Canada' s history for prospective generations. This bill provides for a parliamentary review to occur after two censuses, to assess the rate of opting in and to examine how improved public communications and procedures might improve this rate. I believe that this bill moves in the right direction, and I am pleased that it provides access to records that were previously inaccessible. I plan to support this bill when it comes up for a vote in the House of Commons, and I support the preservation of historical documents. Regards, Paul Zed