Patsy Hennessy patsy@nbnet.nb.ca wrote "Hello fellow listers,(Acadian List) Just left from speaking to my MP. He called Ottawa to see how the motion to release the 1911 census turned out and he tells me it passed to be released in 2003. Sending this just in case some people were not aware as yet. Cheers are called for . Patsy Hennessy patsy@nbnet.nb.ca" ========================= Hi Patsy. I don't think the cheering should start just yet. While I would very much like to believe that what you wrote is true, I have seen no evidence of such, and have my doubts. As of five minutes ago there was nothing regarding this on the Statistics Canada website. I am in frequent contact with people in Statistics Canada. I feel sure that if what you say is fact, one of them would have contacted me. The House of Commons has been in recess this week so nothing has been either proposed, or passed, regarding census recently. The only Motion that has seen discussion or a vote prior to this week was that of Jason Kenney's Motion M-160. Motion M-160 was amended by a motion of Liberal MP Mac Harb so as to make the original motion virtually ineffective -- charging the Government to only "consider taking", rather than "take", necessary action to release 1911 Census records after their transfer to the National Archives. (Our greatest problem in this regard is the refusal of Statistics Canada to allow transfer of Census records to the National Archives). Even had the main motion been passed without amendment it would not have meant that the 1911 census would have been released. A Motion (as opposed to a Bill) passed does not compel the Government to act. What it generally does is give a feeling of the House in regards a particular subject so as to encourage the Government to bring down a Bill to deal with the subject of the Motion. I might remind you that the 1911 Census is only a part of what we have been seeking to have released. We seek continuing release of all past and future census, 92 years (maximum) following collection, starting with the 1906 Census of the Western Provinces. John Manley, despite many requests to do so, has so far refused to release the Report of the Expert Panel on Access to Historic Census Records, and has given no reason for not doing so. Leaked indications are that the Expert Panel recommends allowing access to census but we have yet to see that for ourselves. I am not a subscriber to the Acadian list so would appreciate your forwarding this message to that list and any others that you might have sent your message to. The Canada Census Committee would not like to see people thinking the battle is over and so cease their efforts to obtain access to Post 1901 Census. Happy Hunting. Gordon A. WATTS gordon_watts@telus.net Canada Census Committee Port Coquitlam, BC 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 Permission to forward this message without notification is granted.