Greetings All. The following extract from Hansard of the Senate for 31 May 2000 is posted for your interest. Gordon ----------------------------------------- Statistics Act National Archives of Canada Act Bill to Amend-Second Reading-Debate Continued On the Order: Resuming debate on the motion of the Honourable Senator Milne, seconded by the Honourable Senator Chalifoux, for the second reading of Bill S-15, to amend the Statistics Act and the National Archives of Canada Act (census records).-(Honourable Senator Johnson). Hon. Janis Johnson: Honourable senators, I commend my colleague Senator Milne for her work on Bill S-15. I have looked at this issue carefully and am very much in favour of making the 1911 census available to historical and genealogical researchers. I also strongly support its release and am very concerned about any notion of destroying this data or locking it away on a permanent basis. There are many excellent reasons for releasing the 1911 census once the standard 92-year limitation has expired. First, virtually all civilized nations retain census data and make it available to historical researchers once a reasonable time has elapsed, including even such privacy-focused and litigious countries as the United States, which released its 1910 census for research years ago. European nations, such as Iceland, have only released their census records for 1910. Indeed, Iceland has published them for the general record. I mention Iceland because it is a very genealogically oriented society. Second, because of the immeasurable historical value of such data, no civilized country would have such records destroyed or censored. Third, genealogically speaking, these records are of vital importance for people tracing their ancestry. Fourth, current generations of Canadians have a right to know their genealogical past, not only for reasons pertaining to family history but also for medical reasons. No Canadian should be deprived of this vital personal data that is inherently his or hers. Fifth, because any sensitivity of such data fades quickly with the passage of time and changing circumstances and with the change of generations, concerns about the privacy of the individuals who provided census data become unfounded after a reasonable time has lapsed. Whereas assurances given by the Canadian government with regard to privacy or other matters should be inviolable and sacrosanct, I do not feel the spirit of any assurances given in the 1906 or the 1911 legislation would be violated by opening the 1911 census. A careful reading of this legislation reveals that the intent of the framers was to allay contemporaneous concerns expressed by citizens of the day primarily with regard to financial information being leaked to "nosy" neighbours or tax assessors. The intention of those responsible was obviously to allay such fears and ensure privacy in that time and context. Failure to provide guidelines for future release has simply been the result of limited focus and oversight on the part of the framers. This is evident in the wording of the census guidelines. I refer honourable senators to such phrases as "written consent," obviously not an option 100 years later, being required for the release, and such clauses as, "An enumerator is not permitted to show his schedules to any other person..." or, "...if a fear is entertained by any person that they may be used for taxation..." etcetera. Virtually all data which might have been sensitive at the time, such as income, property, religion, race, has long since become a simple matter of record which is of use only in a historical, sociological or genealogical context and poses no threat or infringement on the living or the dead. In short, to withhold the 1911 census, on the grounds of narrow and pedantic interpretations of old legislation without due and appropriate consideration for the time context and the lack of specificity evident, would simply deprive present and future generations of Canadians of a valuable historical resource to which the citizens of virtually every other modern nation have access. A close friend of mine, Mr. Nelson Gerrard of Agborg, Manitoba, has worked for 25 years on historical and genealogical research. He has used extensively census records in Canada, Britain, the United States and Iceland and sees no possible reason why the release of data such as that contained in the 1911 census would raise any concern from anyone anywhere at this time. He tells me that the data is useful in a variety of ways. It is not particularly personal in the context of history and can have no significant adverse affect on anyone. Honourable senators, in the context of his current work in compiling a history of the Icelandic pioneer community in Manitoba's Interlake Region, the withholding of the 1911 census is a significant impediment which is not easily overcome. Almost all of those alive at that time are now deceased, even the youngest children, and in the absence of records such as a census, there is no one to speak for those generations and no documentation to show that they ever existed or played a part in the founding of this nation. >From the perspective of a Canadian citizen who is well acquainted with the issues of privacy as well as the disciplines of history and genealogy, I strongly urge the Canadian government and the Senate to consider this matter in a comprehensive, common-sense context, recognizing the semantic inadequacy of that legislation which has hitherto proven an obstacle to the release of data to which every Canadian should obviously have the right of access. On motion of Senator DeWare, debate adjourned.