To sheila Ward:- Your statement has been read and taken to heart. Many thanks for the kind words about Gordon Watts and myself -- we often wonder where the other members of the committee are, but continue on as this is a personal campaign on behalf of all researchers. Genealogical societies???? The group to which Senator Lorna Milne belongs has not supported her to date -- I was told they might "in the future". Re Stockwell Day -- I think the automated feature is great, wish all MPs used the same little gadget. Instead, their UNELECTED assistants answer for them, often contrary to thoughts of the ELECTED MP. I have been copying Stockwell Day in on many messages long before he was elected -- to date, there has been NO ANSWER. I am also one of those who will not be voting for him -- but many others of the Canadian Alliance Party have replied to me in a POSITIVE tone. Exasperation and frustration often take over -- and the automated messages have been the last straw, when the man does not know how to say YES, NO, MAYBE. There are only two colours wanted on the scoreboard, GOLD and RED. Will YOU try to get an answer from Mr. Stockwell Day, MP, please???? YOU might succeed where others have not. Muriel M. Davidson <davidson3542@home.com> Canada Census Committee NOTE:- Your message came through in "layers", words on top of each other -- somewhere along the line, the message was compressed. Sheila Ward wrote: > I am feeling increasingly uneasy about the tone of some emails being sent out > to MPs. This subject has arisen before and I was somewhat sympathetic with the > gentleman who suggested we might be more successful with a less strident tone > of voice. I didn't say anything at the time because I want to support the > tremendous effort Murial and Gordon have been and are putting forth on behalf > of all of us. They have waged a two person campaign that must seem to MPs to > be coming from a team of thousands. However, I thought I would add my thoughts > to the message below. First, I don't care whether Stockwell Day and his entire > caucus support our request - I will never vote for him because of all the > things he stands for that are anethma to me. I don't want to suggest that my > vote and indeed the vote of 1000s of Canadians will necessarily follow because > he acts responsibly on this one issue. I think he should be reminded that > there are 1000s of us, that this issue is a very critical one to us and that > we will be watching how he votes on it. He can draw what he wishes from that > and indeed, it may be that some of us would vote for him on the basis of one > issue. I won't, however, and I am sure there are at least 2 or 3 others like > me in the ranks. And so I am uncomfortable with a suggestion to the > contrary. Secondly, as much as I oppose this man and his party, I think we > need to be fair to him and taking him to task for an automatic reply is, in my > view, foolish. Given the number of lobbyists pummeling MPs daily, it makes > sense to me that they use this feature. The tremendous upside is that we have > proof positive that the email was received in his office. Now, if he ignores > its, or tries to pretend he didn't receive it, he hasn't a leg to stand on. It > also means we get an accurate read of whether or not this issue is any kind of > priority a) by the length of time it takes to get an answer, and, b) by the > kind of answer we get. Seems to me we are better off on all fronts because of > this automatic response which is nothing more than an acknowledgement. We > look a bit foolish, I think, responding to the automatic response. I hope my > comments are taken in the spirit in which they are intended. I salute the > magnificent effort that has been put forth by Muriel and Gordon and there is > no doubt in my mind that, Mac Harb not withstanding, there would have been no > possibility of even that weakened motion having been passed if not for the > effort they put forth. If we eventually get the census released, we will owe > it almost entirely to their efforts. What I hope we can avoid is any backlash > brought on by an unfortunate approach in our correspondence with MPs. Like us, > they are angered by any kind of subtle or implied threat and like us, too, > they expect some understanding that they receive dozens of pieces of mail > every single day and it takes time and thought to reply to it. Which also > leads me to another point - most of our MPs represent upwards of 100,000 > voters and they are pushed to stay on top of all the issues that that many > people can be involved in. Many have a rule that they will only respond to > constituents and again, if you knew how many paid lobbyists bombard them with > material each day you would understand why they follow this approach. It is > not at all unreasonable, in my view, for them to respond only to constituents. > After all, if the issue is national in scope, or as important as all lobbyists > claim their issue is, then it is not at all unreasonable for them to expect to > hear about it from one of their own voters. And be certain, they will > certainly respond to their own constituents. When we run into that policy, we > need to see what we can do to mobilize individuals in the riding to write in. > We can do that through local genealogical societies etc. We need to be as > sophisticated in our approach as the registered professional lobbyists are in > their campaigns and I offer this with a view to helping us be more successful. > That the issue has gone as far as it has, that the government is feeling the > heat that it is, is due in large measure to the very professional job Muriel > and Gordon have done in dealing with all aspects of it. There is tremendous > opposition within Stats Canada and within the Privacy Commissioner's office > to a change of policy on the census; we need to remind ourselves of just how > extremely difficult it is to move ministers when bureaucrats dig in their > heels.Sheila Wardin Toronto > >> Subject: Response from day@canadianalliance.ca >> Date: Sat, 30 Sep 2000 22:16:24 -0700 >> From: day@canadianalliance.ca >> Reply-To: postmaster@mail.netmatrix.com >> To: davidson3542@home.com >> >> Your message has been received, thank you. >> Nous avons reçu votre message, merci. >> ------------------------------------------------------------- >> To all: >> I am acquiring a large collection of the above meaningless message -- >> only proves to us he has a machine minding his mail! >> Wonder if we might get an answer if he had a human being looking >> at his mail -- one with eyes to read, or be able to tell Mr. Day to answer. >> >> He might soon be PLEADING for votes to "become the next prime >> minister of Canada" as we have heard many, many times. >> >> Stockwell -- If YOU want OUR votes, we need to hear from you re >> Post-1901 Census Release. >> >> The date an election is announced YOU will see how quickly your >> BLUE ???? will turn to a RED X -- meaning NO. >> >> If you wish votes -- and you will -- remember we are voters! >> >> Muriel M. Davidson <davidson3542@home.com> >> http://www.globalgenealogy.com/census/index6.htm >> >> NOTE:- Now I have to turn the computer off quickly before I add >> another "SAY NOTHING" automated message to a collection! > >