| Name: | Mr. Gordon Brown |
| Political Party: | Conservative Party of Canada |
| Constituency: | Leeds - Grenville |
| Province: | Ontario |
| Telephone: | (613) 992-8756 |
| Fax: | (613) 996-9171 |
| Email: | Brown.G@parl.gc.ca |
| Address: | House of Commons, Ottawa K1A OA6 |
| Constituency Address: | 27 King Street East Brockville, Ontario K6V 1A7 |
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10/14/2004 - email from MP Gordon Brown to Adele Turner. From: Brown, Gord - M.P. [mailto:Brown.G@parl.gc.ca] Adele, I am in favor of releasing 1911 Census data. Gord Brown, Member of Parliament From: Brown, Gord - M.P. Sir, As I further stated to Muriel, I am in favor of the release of the 1911 Census data. Gord Brown, Member of Parliament 10/13/2004 - email from MP Gordon Brown to Muriel M. Davidson. From: "Brown, Gord - M.P." I was about to write to you again. Since sending the last e-mail I have contacted our party critic on this issue and have been advised that over the summer they concluded the research needed to answer the questions. If/when this comes up again we will be voting for the release of the information after the original 92 year period. Gord Brown, Member of Parliament 10/13/2004 - email from MP Gordon Brown to Muriel M. Davidson. From: "Brown, Gord - M.P." Muriel, Bill S-13 was not voted on in the last session. We expect a similar Bill will resurface in this session. Although the Senate passed bill S-13 there were some privacy and timing issues that delayed it in the House. Members, including those in my party, who had supported it initially, became concerned. As of today, those concerns have not yet been satisfactorily answered. I understand the desire to research census records. Unfortunately privacy regulations in place in Canada may interfere with access to certain information. I understand that my party's legal experts are studying the issue so that when it comes forward again we will be in a better position to make a recommendation. I will contact you again, as soon as I learn anything further about this Bill. Gord Brown, Member of Parliament 10/13/2004 - email to MP Gordon Brown from Gordon A. Watts. From: Gordon A. Watts [mailto:gordon_watts@telus.net] Dear Mr. Brown. In your message to Muriel M. Davidson, copied below, you stated "Bill S-13 was not voted on in the last session. We expect a similar Bill will resurface in this session." It is the most sincere hope of those seeking the return of public access to Historic Census records that any Bill presented on this issue will NOT be similar to Bill S-13. While the government put Bill S-13 forth supposedly to provide the access sought by genealogists and historians, in actual fact it was more concerned in placing conditions and restrictions on that access than it was in providing it. If the government is truly concerned about providing the access we seek they can do so without the necessity of changing legislation. They need only to advise the Chief Statistician to obey existing legislation and return control of the records to the National Archivist. To date they have not done so. The Chief Statistician has admitted during testimony that there is no legal constraint that would prevent control of Census records to be returned to the National Archivist. He has admitted that it is simply a matter of 'policy' -- a policy that he initiated and that he has control of. If, in order to clarify the situation, the government feels legislation is needed the access sought can be provided by adding a single clause to the Statistics Act, similar to the following:
A clause such as this would ensure transfer of the records to the National Archivist. It would further indicate that the purpose of such transfer would be to enable public access in accordance with existing legislation. The Access to Information and Privacy Acts, and Privacy Regulations would, as they do now, govern when and under what conditions that access would be allowed. Such a clause clause would not add conditions and restrictions on access that the government has not been asked for and for which they have not shown any need. Your message to Muriel refers to the position of the Conservative party without being specific as to what that position is. We have received many messages from Members of the Conservative Party indicating their support for the access we seek. In fact, in a letter received this morning from the Hon. Stephen Harper, Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada he expressed support for access. In that letter, dated 16 September 2004, he states:
We would gratefully appreciate a brief note from you expressing your personal position on the question of access to these most vital records. Hopefully your position would echo that expressed by many other Conservatives and by the Leader of the Conservative Party. Thank you for taking the time to read my message. Respectfully, Gordon A. Watts gordon_watts@telus.net 10/13/2004 - email from MP Gordon Brown to Muriel M. Davidson From: "Brown, Gord - M.P." Muriel, Bill S-13 was not voted on in the last session. We expect a similar Bill will resurface in this session. Although the Senate passed bill S-13 there were some privacy and timing issues that delayed it in the House. Members, including those in my party, who had supported it initially, became concerned. As of today, those concerns have not yet been satisfactorily answered. I understand the desire to research census records. Unfortunately privacy regulations in place in Canada may interfere with access to certain information. I understand that my party's legal experts are studying the issue so that when it comes forward again we will be in a better position to make a recommendation. I will contact you again, as soon as I learn anything further about this Bill. Gord Brown, Member of Parliament -----Original Message----- Mr. Gordon Brown - MP -- Leeds-Grenville riding It has been mentioned to me that all Members of Parliament of both Conservative and NDP parties are in complete agreement for release of our 1911 Canadian census. Please do not forward to David Emerson, Minister of Industry -- but reply -- even just a few words by email will do.Muriel M. Davidson muriel_davidson@sympatico.ca 08/29/2004 - letter sent to MP Gordon Brown from Gordon A. Watts 29 August 2004 Mr. Gordon Brown Dear Mr. Brownt Congratulations on your recent election as a Member of Parliament. To have the trust and respect of those who voted for you is a great honour. Members who have been re-elected will be aware of an issue affecting a great many Canadians that seek their personal ancestry through research of Historic Census records. Newly elected Members may not yet be aware of this issue. It has been estimated that in excess of 7.5 million Canadians have an interest in genealogy and family history. These individuals seek to regain the same public access, with no added conditions or restrictions, to 92-year-old records of Census after 1906 that is currently available for 240 years of Census records up to that time. Access to Census records after 1906 is prevented at this time because of the (believed illegal) policy of a federal civil servant - Dr. Ivan P. Fellegi - Chief Statistician of Canada. The Library and Archives of Canada Act (and it's predecessor) has designated to the Librarian and Archivist the authority to determine what records of government are of archival or historical value and that shall be deposited in the National Library and Archives. Librarian and Archivist Ian E. Wilson determined that schedules of Census have archival and historical value. He declared them to be a National Treasure. He requested the Chief Statistician to return care and control of the records in question to his authority. Dr. Fellegi denied that request. The Access to Information and Privacy Acts, and Privacy Regulations, make specific provision for personal information collected through Census or Survey to be made available to any person or body for purposes of research, 92 years following collection. The legislation assumes these records to be under the care and control of the National Archivist. By refusing to return care and control of the records in question to the Librarian and Archivist for subsequent public access the Chief Statistician has acted in deliberate contravention of the Library and Archives of Canada Act, the Access to Information Act, and the Privacy Act. He has usurped the authority of the Librarian and Archivist to determine what governmental records are of archival or historical value and that shall be deposited in the Library and Archives of Canada. In dictating policy instead of following policy determined through legislation passed by Parliament he has usurped the authority of that body. Do you believe that any Federal bureaucrat, regardless of how highly placed or regarded, is above the Laws of Canada? Do you believe that a civil servant has the power to dictate policy that contravenes legislation passed by the Parliament of Canada? The Access to Information and Privacy Acts are complementary Acts born of the same Bill debated and passed by Parliament. Do you believe the parliamentarians who passed this legislation would knowingly include clauses in one Act, the effect of which would be to totally nullify clauses in the other? If your answer to any of these questions is 'NO' we ask that you support our efforts to regain the same public access - with no added restrictions or conditions - to Historic Census records after 1906 that is currently available for 240 years of Census records up to that time. We seek nothing new. We seek only that which current legislation states we are entitled to - access that we have had in the past but is currently (believed illegally) withheld from us by the Chief Statistician of Canada. We ask that you call upon the Government of Canada to immediately direct the Chief Statistician of Canada to obey the Laws of Canada. We ask that he be directed to return care and control of schedules of Historic Census to the Librarian and Archivist of Canada for subsequent public access in accordance with the Access to Information and Privacy Acts. We ask further that you ensure continued public access to Historic Census records by seeking a government Bill that would add to the Statistics Act a single clause, similar to the following: "Original schedules of Census or authentic copies thereof shall, not later than thirty (30) years following collection, be transferred to the care and control of the National Archivist for subsequent public access in accordance with provisions of the Access to Information and Privacy Acts, and Regulations attached thereto." In reading my letter you may not feel any obligation to respond to someone living outside your electoral riding. The votes you cast in Parliament, however, affect all people living in Canada and in that respect your constituency is all of Canada. Considering this, even though I do not reside in your riding I would greatly appreciate your personal response to my letter. Your response, stating your support (or otherwise) of the access we seek, will be posted to your Correspondence Log on the Post 1901 Census Project website. It will be available for viewing by your constituents on the MPs Scoreboard at www.globalgenealogy.com/Census Thank you for taking the time to read my letter, and for your consideration of this very important issue. Respectfully Gordon A. Watts 06/28/2004 - Mr. Gordon Brown was elected to the House of Commons 28 June 2004. |
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