Dear Ms. Ur. In a letter to Mrs. Muriel M. Davidson dated 12 June 2000 you made the following statement: "The Privacy Commissioner of Canada has come out four-square against any release, relying on the current privacy laws, and statements made by then Prime Minister Wilfred Laurier, who promised residents of the Prairies (not yet provinces) that their information would be kept secret." Would you kindly advise if you have ever seen any documented evidence of the "statements" attributed to Sir Wilfred Laurier and the supposed "promise" of never-ending confidentiality given to respondents of the 1906 Census of the western provinces. (The territories of Alberta, Assiniboia, and Saskatchewan became the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan in 1905. Bill 6, assented to 20 July 1905, reflected this by modifying Section 8 of Bill 5 [Census and Statistics Act] prior to the Census of 1906) If you have read my submission to the Expert Panel, titled "The Myths of Census", the files for which were attached to an email to you on 24 April 2000, you are aware that I have asked both Statistics Canada, and Privacy Commissioner Bruce Phillips to "show me the promise." To date they have been unable to do so. It is my position, supported by my research, that the "promise" does not exist. If you have seen documentary evidence of this "promise," please advise where I might also view it. If the results of my extensive research are incorrect, I would very much like to see this documentation. Your statement also makes reference to the Privacy Commissioner "relying on the current privacy laws." I might say that we would be quite happy if Mr. Phillips, and Statistics Canada, lived up to the clauses of the Privacy Act and the Regulations thereto. Those Regulations specifically make provision for name identifiable information from Census to be placed in the National Archives for subsequent release for research. I look forward to your reply. Thank you. Sincerely. Gordon A. WATTS gordon_watts@telus.net Port Coquitlam, BC ICQ # 9183352 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