Greetings All. I copy below FYI a letter mailed to Prime Minister Paul Martin this morning. Happy Hunting. Gordon ================================= 19 January 2004 Right Honourable Paul Martin, Office of the Prime Minister 80 Wellington Street Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A2 Dear Sir: On 9 May 2003 the Ottawa Citizen newspaper reported on an address you made to the Crossing Boundaries conference on e-democracy (page A4 - "Leave decision-making alone, Martin warns PS" - Katherine May). In that article you were reported as having stated that the public service is not an "alternate legislature" and should stick to consulting Canadians on policy, but leave the decision-making to MPs. It was further reported you had made it clear to public servants that MPs should be as involved as bureaucrats in talking to and "consulting" Canadians on policy, but it's the job of MPs - not bureaucrats to make the policy decisions. While some might consider your reported comments to have been simply political rhetoric in your bid for the leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada you are now in the unique position, as Prime Minister of Canada, to put into practice what you preach. I call upon you now to do exactly that. Canadians have been 'consulted' regarding public access to Historic Census Records for more than twenty-five years. Consultations in the late 1970s resulted in clauses in the Access to Information and Privacy Acts that make specific provision for public access to personal information provided to Census, 92 years after collection. Those consultations, and the passage of Bill C-43 in 1980 through 1983 saw the release and unrestricted public access of the 1891 and 1901 Census records. Canadians were consulted in 1999 and 2000 - this time through an Expert Panel on Access to Historic Census Records appointed by then Industry Minister John Manley. The Expert Panel recommended unrestricted access to all Census Records - past, present and future - 92 years after collection. Canadians were consulted in December 2001 and January 2002, through a series of Town Hall Meetings conducted by Statistics Canada. At those meetings 151 of 157 presenters supported unrestricted public access to Historic Census Records. At the same time they rejected a number of conditions and restrictions to that access that had been put forth for comment by Statistics Canada. Through all these consultations Canadians have made it very clear that they desire the same unrestricted public access to Post-1901 Census records, 92 years after collection, that has been available for 235 years of records up to that time. This was made clear also through more than 62,000 signatures on petitions to the House of Commons and the Senate, and through untold numbers of personal communications to Members of Parliament and Senators. So many letters and email have been sent to our Parliamentary representatives that a number of times we were advised that they received more correspondence on the Census access issue than on any other subject. What has been the result of all these consultations, representations and recommendations? For the most part they have been ignored. More than that - certain senior bureaucrats have actively opposed the recommendations made. A Government Bill finally put forward would have allowed access to the records sought. Unfortunately the Bill included conditions and restrictions on that access that Canadians had previously rejected. Because of the wording of the Bill, particularly insofar as the conditions and restrictions is concerned, it is believed that the major player in the drafting of it was Dr. Ivan P. Fellegi - Chief Statistician of Canada. Ivan Fellegi has refused requests by National Archivist Ian E. Wilson to return the records in question to his care and control. By that refusal we believe the Chief Statistician to be in contravention of at least four Statutes of Canada. I include with this letter a summary of pertinent sections of Statutes that affect public access to Historic Census records. Mr. Prime Minister, we remind you of your statement that it is not the job of bureaucrats to make policy decisions. We call upon you to direct the Chief Statistician of Canada, Dr. Ivan P. Fellegi, to immediately obey the Laws of Canada, specifically the National Archives Act, the Access to Information Act, and the Privacy Act and Regulations attached thereto. We call upon you to direct Dr. Fellegi to immediately return care and control of Canada's Historic Census records to the National Archivist so that they might be released for public access 92 years after collection. Sincerely, Gordon A. Watts Co-chair, Canada Census Committee

Excellent.Gordon Have you also sent copies to the two Ministers that are directly or in directly in charge of the census. Regards Ian ----- Original Message ----- From: "Gordon A. Watts" <gordon_watts@telus.net> To: <SCOTS-IN-CANADA-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, January 20, 2004 12:35 PM Subject: [SCTCDN] Post 1901 Census -- Letter to PM > Greetings All. > > I copy below FYI a letter mailed to Prime Minister Paul Martin this > morning. > > Happy Hunting. > > Gordon > > ================================= > 19 January 2004 > > Right Honourable Paul Martin, > Office of the Prime Minister > 80 Wellington Street > Ottawa, Ontario > K1A 0A2 > > Dear Sir: > > On 9 May 2003 the Ottawa Citizen newspaper reported on an address you > made to the Crossing Boundaries conference on e-democracy (page A4 - > "Leave decision-making alone, Martin warns PS" - Katherine May). In that > article you were reported as having stated that the public service is > not an "alternate legislature" and should stick to consulting Canadians > on policy, but leave the decision-making to MPs. It was further > reported you had made it clear to public servants that MPs should be as > involved as bureaucrats in talking to and "consulting" Canadians on > policy, but it's the job of MPs - not bureaucrats to make the policy > decisions. > > While some might consider your reported comments to have been simply > political rhetoric in your bid for the leadership of the Liberal Party > of Canada you are now in the unique position, as Prime Minister of > Canada, to put into practice what you preach. I call upon you now to do > exactly that. > > Canadians have been 'consulted' regarding public access to Historic > Census Records for more than twenty-five years. Consultations in the > late 1970s resulted in clauses in the Access to Information and Privacy > Acts that make specific provision for public access to personal > information provided to Census, 92 years after collection. Those > consultations, and the passage of Bill C-43 in 1980 through 1983 saw the > release and unrestricted public access of the 1891 and 1901 Census > records. > > Canadians were consulted in 1999 and 2000 - this time through an Expert > Panel on Access to Historic Census Records appointed by then Industry > Minister John Manley. The Expert Panel recommended unrestricted access > to all Census Records - past, present and future - 92 years after > collection. > > Canadians were consulted in December 2001 and January 2002, through a > series of Town Hall Meetings conducted by Statistics Canada. At those > meetings 151 of 157 presenters supported unrestricted public access to > Historic Census Records. At the same time they rejected a number of > conditions and restrictions to that access that had been put forth for > comment by Statistics Canada. > > Through all these consultations Canadians have made it very clear that > they desire the same unrestricted public access to Post-1901 Census > records, 92 years after collection, that has been available for 235 > years of records up to that time. This was made clear also through more > than 62,000 signatures on petitions to the House of Commons and the > Senate, and through untold numbers of personal communications to Members > of Parliament and Senators. So many letters and email have been sent to > our Parliamentary representatives that a number of times we were advised > that they received more correspondence on the Census access issue than > on any other subject. > > What has been the result of all these consultations, representations and > recommendations? For the most part they have been ignored. More than > that - certain senior bureaucrats have actively opposed the > recommendations made. A Government Bill finally put forward would have > allowed access to the records sought. Unfortunately the Bill included > conditions and restrictions on that access that Canadians had previously > rejected. Because of the wording of the Bill, particularly insofar as > the conditions and restrictions is concerned, it is believed that the > major player in the drafting of it was Dr. Ivan P. Fellegi - Chief > Statistician of Canada. > > Ivan Fellegi has refused requests by National Archivist Ian E. Wilson to > return the records in question to his care and control. By that refusal > we believe the Chief Statistician to be in contravention of at least > four Statutes of Canada. I include with this letter a summary of > pertinent sections of Statutes that affect public access to Historic > Census records. > > Mr. Prime Minister, we remind you of your statement that it is not the > job of bureaucrats to make policy decisions. We call upon you to direct > the Chief Statistician of Canada, Dr. Ivan P. Fellegi, to immediately > obey the Laws of Canada, specifically the National Archives Act, the > Access to Information Act, and the Privacy Act and Regulations attached > thereto. We call upon you to direct Dr. Fellegi to immediately return > care and control of Canada's Historic Census records to the National > Archivist so that they might be released for public access 92 years > after collection. > > Sincerely, > > Gordon A. Watts > Co-chair, Canada Census Committee > > > > ==== SCOTS-IN-CANADA Mailing List ==== > Find your ancestors, before they find you! > > ============================== > Gain access to over two billion names including the new Immigration > Collection with an Ancestry.com free trial. Click to learn more. > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=4930&sourceid=1237 > --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.561 / Virus Database: 353 - Release Date: 13/01/2004