To Hallmans, I agreed to post this letter below to our list because it does affect many on our list who descend from Canadian ancestors. Thanks for your indulgence. Faith Hutchings > Greetings Listers > > Have you ever used information in Canada's Census records to find that > great-great-grandfather James XXX was married to Mary, and that they > had four daughters and five sons, most of whom you were previously > unaware of? Have you been able to find that g-g-grandfather James was > born DD-MM-YY and that Mary was born DD-MM-YY? Did you find their > countries of origin? Did you find the ages and birthdates of their > children? Did you find the location of their homestead and that in > 1901 they owned one horse, two cows, and three sheep? Would you like > to continue using Canada's Census records to find information like > this? > > Did you know that the last Census of Canada that was released to the > Public was for 1901? > > Are you aware that under current legislation in Canada THERE WILL > NEVER BE ANOTHER CENSUS RELEASED TO THE PUBLIC? > > Did you know that privacy/confidentiality clauses in Canada's > Statistics Acts since 1906 over-ride clauses in the Privacy Act that > allowed Census records containing personal/identifiable information to > be released to the National Archives, and subsequently to the Public > 92 years after collection? > > A Canada-wide committee of genealogists and historians, of which I am > a part, are dedicated to obtaining release to the Public after a > reasonable period of time, of Canada's Post 1901 Census records . We > have been working on the internet > encouraging interested genealogists and historians to write Members of > Parliament, the Hon. John Manley - Minister for Industry and Minister > responsible for Statistics Canada, and the Hon. Sheila Copps - > Minister for Canada Heritage. The purpose of writing is to express > our dismay with the current legislation and to urge them to take steps > to remedy the situation. > > A formal Petition to the House of Commons of Canada has been drawn up > and is being circulated Canada-wide. This petition, for > citizens/residents of Canada to sign, urges the Government of Canada > to take whatever steps necessary to retroactively amend > Privacy/confidentiality clauses of Statistics Acts since 1906 to allow > Release to the Public of Post 1901 Census records after a reasonable > period, starting with the 1906 Census. > > This petition is downloadable from the Post 1901 Census Project page > at > > http://www.globalgenealogy.com/census > > Available from the same website is a French Language > petition, identical in content to the English version. These > petitions will be presented to the House of Commons in October 1999. > > After many requests from people living outside of Canada, a petition > to be signed by citizens/residents of countries other than Canada, but > having roots in Canada, is also downloadable. This petition has > been worded to compliment the petition to the House of Commons and > will be used as support in the Senate by Senator Lorna Milne. > > Also available at this site is a more detailed explanation of the > problem, sample letters to write to Members of Parliament and the > appropriate Ministers, excerpts from Hansard that detail efforts by > Senator Lorna Milne in the Senate of Canada, to bring attention to > this problem, and links to other websites that have information > regarding the problem and our campaign. > > There is a Scoreboard that lists all 301 Members of Parliament, their > e-mail addresses, and shows how they would vote on a Bill to Release > to the Public Post 1901 Census records. Click on your MP's name to > bring up a correspondence log for him/her. > > Finally at this site are links to articles I have written on the Post > 1901 Census campaign for the Global Gazette and for The Family Tree, > as well as a link to a speech given by Senator Lorna Milne to the > Ontario Genealogy Society convention. > > I have set up a mailing list to be used as a forum for genealogists > and historians interested in Post 1901 Census issues. Everyone having > an interest in Canada's Census information is more than welcome to > join the list and participate in the discussion. To join this mailing > list send an e-mail to > > CANADA-CENSUS-CAMPAIGN-L-request@rootsweb.com > > with ONLY the word SUBSCRIBE in the Subject line and the body of > the message. Please do not have any other text, or signature files, > in the body of the message, or the server will reject your e-mail. > > Please feel free to forward this e-mail to other lists to which you > belong. Happy Hunting. > > Gordon A. WATTS gordon_watts@bc.sympatico.ca > Port Coquitlam, BC > ICQ # 9183352 > > Keep up to date on Post 1901 Census information at > http://www.globalgenealogy.com/census/index.htm > Download and circulate Post 1901 Census Petiton now from > http://www.globalgenealogy.com/census/petition.htm > Read my column on Post 1901 Census News at > http://www.globalgenealogy.com/gazette.htm > Subscribe to the CANADA-CENSUS-CAMPAIGN mail list at > CANADA-CENSUS-CAMPAIGN-L-request@rootsweb.com > > ----------------------------------------------------