(Crest) House of Commons Chambre des Communes CANADA Elsie E. Wayne, L.L.D.,D.P.A.,D.Litt.,M.P. Saint John, New Brunswick Deputee pour Saint John (Nouveau Brunswick) Ottawa September 12, 2000 Mrs. Muriel Davidson Canada Census Committee 25 Crestview Avenue Brampton, Ontario L6W 2R8 Dear Mrs. Davidson, I am writing in response to your letter regarding the use of Census data for genealogical purposes. Rest assured the PC Party has pursued this issue with the Honourable John Manley, Minister responsible for Statistics Canada, since the fall of 1998. The government took some time before answering the enquiries of the PC Party, which wrote to Minister Manley on behalf of the many Canadians who have contacted us on this matter. Mr. Manley's responding correspondence states that he is considering two options submitted by Statistics Canada: - Amending the Statistics Act to allow records, starting with the 2001 Census, to be transferred to the National Archives of Canada and to be subsequently made available to the public; or - Retroactively changing the confidentiality provisions of the Statistics Act to allow the 1911 Census and all censuses taken thereafter to be eventually placed in the public domain. In either scenario proposed by Statistics Canada, 92 years would need to elapse from the time of the respective Census before the public would be permitted to access these records, which is in keeping with current regulations pursuant to the Privacy Act. I would welcome your views on these two options, as well as suggestions for alternatives. In my view, I believe neither of these scenarios fully addresses the concerns you and many others have raised. Should the government's current review fail to be satisfactory, the PC Party will examine possibly legislative action to make sure that this issue is resolved. I thank you for taking the time to write to me on this important matter. Yours truly, [Signature] Elsie Wayne, M.P. Deputy Leader, Progressive Conservative Party of Canada OTTAWA: Room 436-N, Centre Block/House of Commons/Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6 Ph: (613) 947-4571 / Fax: (613) 947-4574 Constituency: 36 King Street, Saint John, NB E2L 1G3 Ph: (506) 636-5177 / Fax: (506) 636-5190