Greetings All On Friday 5 March 2004 the Executive Assistants of Senator Lorna Milne and MP Murray Calder met with members of Industry Minister Lucienne Robillard. While Bill S-13 has not been brought forward from the last session of Parliament, and Senator Milne has requested that it not be brought forward because it is seriously flawed, the content of it is still a subject of discussion. Prior to that meeting taking place I had been asked to prioritize our concerns regarding the content of Bill S-13. Immediately following that request I quickly spent the next several hours composing a brief four page answer to that request. <]:-) I managed to finish that and get it sent so that it could be received the next morning before the meeting took place. Briefly, in far fewer words than used in the reply mentioned above the priorities I listed were, in order of importance. - no 'informed consent' for future censuses - no need to commit to an undertaking and no 20 year clause - no undertaking or 20 year clause to apply to 1911 or 1916 Censuses In effect I indicated our priority was no conditions or restrictions at all and that we still seek to regain public access to Historic Census records on the same unrestricted basis as records up to 1906 are already available. I advised that if we were FORCED to accept an 'informed consent' clause for future censuses then that consent must be on an "opt=out" basis, but that many people view the inclusion of any 'informed consent' clause to be a killer for any access bill. I advised that it is not the function of the Chief Statistician, or of the Statistics Act, to determine what records of government are of historical or archival value, or under what conditions such records are to be accessible by the public. That is the function of Parliament and, at present, the Access to Information and Privacy Acts. I advised that if the TRUE purpose of government is to 'remove a legal ambiguity in relation to access to census records' that can be accomplished by the simple addition to the Statistics Act of ONE clause, similar to the following: "Original schedules of Census, or authentic copies thereof, shall, thirty (30) years after collection, be transferred to the care and control of the National Archivist for subsequent public access in accordance with terms of the Access to Information and Privacy Acts, and regulations attached thereto." A clause such as this would ensure transfer of the records to the National Archivist, would ensure the access we seek and at the same time should relieve any concerns re: privacy as the specified legislation determines under what conditions such access would be granted. Following the meeting I was sent a message that included the following: "It was a good meeting, and Minister Robillard's staff were very receptive. We reiterated your point that it is up to the National Archivist and not the Chief Statistician to determine what information can and cannot be released under the Privacy Act. We also noted the flaws in S-13 that you have identified, mainly the "informed consent" provision and the "undertaking" and 20-year delay. We expect to have follow-up discussions on this, and hopefully will be able to arrange a direct meeting with the Minister, Senator Milne, and Murray Calder. Please be assured that this issue is still very much on the radar screen, whether or not we are able to get new and improved legislation passed before the election." Another message stated: "We all agree that S-13 as presented previously would not be acceptable. .............We found Robillard's staff open and receptive." While Bill S-13 may be dead, the issue of access to Historic Census records is not. The battle continues. 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.