9 October 2000 Hon. John Manley Minister of Industry Sir: On behalf of the many thousands of Canadian Citizens who seek their ancestry though the use of Census records, I send you Thanksgiving Greetings. It would truly be a time of Thanksgiving if you would see fit to release to the Public the Report of the Expert Panel on Access to Historic Census Records. You have been sitting on this Report for more than three months. It is time now to stand up and be counted. I call on you now, as I have done several times previously, to immediately release to the Public, the Report of the Expert Panel on Access to Historic Census Records. I further call on you to accept MP Murray Calder's Bill C-484, "an Act to amend the Statistics Act and the National Archives of Canada Act (census records)", as a Government Bill, and to expedite passage of that Bill, thus assuring that the upcoming Census of 2001 is covered thereby. Bill C-484 is a replica of Senator Lorna Milne's Bill S-15 which has completed second reading in the Senate, and is currently in committee. Mr. Manley, this is an issue that has been under discussion for at least thirty years. It is time to put an end to the discussion and to act decisively, taking the necessary steps to allow public access to Historic Census Records, 92 years after collection, as currently permitted under Regulation 6.(d) of the Privacy Act. You have the opportunity, and it is your responsibility, to act now. I respectfully urge you to do so. Gordon A. WATTS gordon_watts@telus.net Canada Census Committee 1455 Delia Drive Port Coquitlam, BC V3C 2V9 Tel (604) 942-6883 Fax (604) 942-6843 Keep up to date on Post 1901 Census information at http://www.globalgenealogy.com/census and http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Farm/7843/poll.html Download and circulate Post 1901 Census Petitions now from http://www.globalgenealogy.com/census/petition.htm