Greetings All. A number of people have asked for a point by point summary of the Post 1901 Census issue. Because of this I have compiled the following Summary. Feel free to circulate it to those you feel will be interested. It will shortly be included on the Post 1901 Census Project website which, I am happy to say after the problems of the past few days, is once again accessible. Happy Hunting. Gordon A. Watts gordon_watts@telus.net Co-Chair, Canada Census Committee Port Coquitlam, BC http://globalgenealogy.com/Census en français http://globalgenealogy.com/Census/Index_f.htm Permission to forward without notice is granted. *********************************** Post 1901 Census Issue Summary ** 235 years of Census records, from the first Census of New France in 1666, up to and including the 1901 national Census of Canada, currently reside in the National Archives of Canada and are accessible to any person or body for purposes of research. ** Clauses in the Access to Information and Privacy Acts make specific provision for public access to 'personal' information contained in Census 92 years after collection. ** The National Archives of Canada Act provides that the National Archivist shall determine what records of government are of historical or archival value and that shall be deposited in the National Archives. ** The National Archivist, Ian E. Wilson, has determined that records of Historic Census do have historical or archival value and are, in fact, a National treasure. He has formally requested Statistics Canada to turn control of the 1906 Special Census of the Western Provinces (Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba) over to his control. ** Statistics Canada (i.e. Chief Statistician Dr. Ivan P. Fellegi) refuses to turn control of Historic Census records after 1901 over to control of the National Archivist of Canada. ** The rational for this refusal is based on misinterpreted legislation and Instructions to Officers and Enumerators of Census going back as far as 1905, and Statistics Canada's claim that a 'promise' was made to the people of Canada that confidentiality of Census was perpetual. ** Statistics Canada has been unable to provide a single piece of documented evidence that a 'promise' of 'confidentiality of Census in perpetuity' has ever been made. It does not exist! ** In November 1999, then Industry Minister John Manley appointed an Expert Panel to study and make recommendations regarding public access to Historic Census Records. Their report, finally made public 15 December 2000, found no evidence that legislators of the day intended that records of Census were to remain confidential for all time. They recommended allowing public access to all Census records, past, present and future, 92 years after collection. They urged caution only in the method by which records from 1918 to 2001 were made available. ** In making the Report of the Expert Panel on Access to Historical Census Records public, then Industry Minister Brian Tobin discounted the recommendations contained therein, claiming that 'further broad-based consultations with all Canadians' was required. He stated these consultations would take place with already mandated reviews of the Access to Information and Privacy Acts. ** The review of the Access to Information Act took place and the report released with no mention of public access to Historic Census records - it was not part of their mandate. A review of the Privacy Act is not expected to be completed within three years, and access to Census is likewise not included in the mandate of those expected to review it. ** In December 2001 and January 2002 a series of Town Hall Meetings and Focus Groups were conducted across Canada. Of 157 presenters at the Town Hall Meetings, 151 were fully supportive of unrestricted public access of all records of Census, 92 years after collection, in accordance with current legislation. ** Each of these 151 presenters likewise rejected the so-called 'compromise solution' being pushed by Statistics Canada as being too restrictive in who might access the records, what information might be accessed and what might be done with information retrieved. ** The 'compromise' does not do what it is proposed to do. It would be excessively expensive to set up and maintain, and would be a bureaucratic nightmare to administer. It would prevent access for the greater portion of the Canadian population that do not live within reasonable travel distance to a government office holding copies of the Census records. ** Instructions to Officers and Enumerators of Census from at least 1901 to 1946, having the Force of Law, contain clauses that state that records of Census "have value as a record for historical use", that "The census is intended to be a permanent record", and "its schedules will be stored in the Archives of the Dominion." If any 'promise' was made to the people of Canada regarding Census it was this. ** On 5 March 2002, Calgary lawyer Lois Sparling, on behalf of the Canada Census Committee and many thousands of genealogists and historians, submitted an Application for Judicial Review to the Federal Court of Canada. The purpose of this Application is to obtain a Writ of Mandamus to compel the Chief Statistician of Canada to turn control of 1906 Census schedules over to the National Archivist. It was later modified to include a request for certain declarations relating to public access of these records. At the time of writing the legal action is proceeding more or less as expected. ** To date (September 2002), more than 55,000 signatures have been sent to Ottawa seeking to regain public access to Post 1901 Census records on the same basis as records up to and including 1901 are currently available. ** There is still a requirement for signatures on petitions (downloadable from the Post 1901 Census Project website), and for letters to be sent to MPs and Senators seeking their support for access. With an expected proroguing of the current session of Parliament on 30 September 2002 all Bills and Motions (including Bill S-12) will cease to exist. It is expected that Senator Lorna Milne and MP Murray Calder will immediately re-introduce their Census Bills. This will be the third time our Bills have been started from scratch. It is therefore essential that we continue to reinforce our desire for access with our elected and appointed representatives.