Dear friends: It is my great pleasure to inform you that after years of negotiation I can finally announce that the government has my unqualified support, and indeed the support of the leaders of the Canada Census Campaign, the Canadian Historical Society and the Association of Canadian Archivists. I have attached a copy of the text of the bill, as well as copies of the press release that I will be putting out tomorrow. You will see that the additional 20 year rule that would limit our access to census records has been eliminated! There will be no restrictions to the use of census information 92 years after the date of the census. We were very concerned for a long time that the "opt-in" clause would destroy the census as a historical tool. That too has been softened by Statistics Canada. They have now conceded that such a clause could have detrimental effects on the historical record. As a result, they have agreed to review that section after 2 censuses have been completed. We will have an opportunity to look at how this section will work in practice and then deal with any issues that arise. You all should know that none of this would have happened without the hard work of Minister David Emerson, the minister now responsible for Statistics Canada. When I first mentioned this issue to him this summer he told me that he thought the census should be released, and he did not see why he couldn't resolve the issue quickly. He has lived up to his word. Over the last few months he has stayed in close communication with me and it has allowed me to have significant influence on the text of this bill, and has produced a bill that I am proud of. I hope that all of you will join me in supporting this bill. We have made remarkable gains in this fight. We can now guarantee that all census returns from 1911 to 2001 will be released in a timely manner. Some will be disappointed that people will have the option to withhold their censuses from the historical record, but even that issue will be reviewed in due course. I wanted also to take the time to thank each and every one of you for all of your work on this file. It has been a long journey. I can now say with confidence that the war has been won, and we have been able to gain real access to Canada's history. If anyone has any questions, please feel free to contact either me or my assistant Jeff. We're more than happy to discuss all of the details with you. Yours truly, Hon. Lorna Milne