| Name: | Mr. Bob Mills |
| Political Party: | Conservative |
| Constituency: | Red Deer |
| Province: | Alberta |
| Telephone: | (613) 995-0590 |
| Fax: | (613) 995-6831 |
| Email: | millsb@parl.gc.ca or bmillsmp@telusplanet.net |
| Website: | http://www.bobmillsmp.com/ |
| Address: | House of Commons, Ottawa K1A OA6 |
| Constituency Address: | 4921 - 47th St. Red Deer, Alberta T4N 1R4 Tel. 403-347-7426 or 1-800-667-0523 Fax. 403-347-7423 |
07/20/2001 - email from MP Bob Mills to Muriel M. Davidson. This reply basically gives the position of the Canadian Alliance Party. However, the use of the collective "We believe" is likely positive enough to earn Mr. Mills his gold tick of support.
To: 'Muriel M. Davidson' Sent: Friday, July 20, 2001 12:57 PM Subject: RE: TEN Blue ???? -- Why? July 20, 2001 Dear Ms. Davidson: Thank you very much for your recent e-mail expressing support for the release of post-1901 census records. I appreciate knowing your views on this issue and please accept my apologies for the delay in responding. The Canadian Alliance supports the preservation of census records and the subsequent transfer of these records to the National Archives for public release. We believe that keeping the records confidential for the historical 92-year period is an adequate length of time, and that this is generally consistent with the practice in Britain and the United States where records are kept confidential for 100 and 72 years respectively. Again, thanks for writing and making me aware of your views. Yours truly, Bob Mills, MP Red Deer --Original Message----- From: Muriel M. Davidson [mailto:davidson3542@home.com] Sent: July 18, 2001 11:56 PM To: CANADA-CENSUS-CAMPAIGN-L@rootsweb.com Subject: TEN Blue ???? -- Why? To all:- We have heard and read messages that both Canadian Alliance and Conservative caucuses are solidly behind release of the Post-1901 census. Unless a positive memo is being posted, this is where 10 Blue ? are:- British Columbia:- Jim Gouk, Philip Mayfield, Joe Peschisolido, Werner Schmidt, Randy White Alberta:- Peter Goldring and Bob Mills Saskatchewan:- Lynne Yelich Manitoba:- Howard Hilstrom and Brian Pallister I have written to all the above many times -- now it is YOUR turn. We do want their SUPPORT re Post-1901 Census Release Muriel M. Davidson Co-Chair, Canada Census Committee http://www.globalgenealogy.com/Census/Index6.htm 07/20/2001 - email to MP Bob Mills from Jan Breuls-Dorang.
To: Dennis - M. P. Mills Cc: Sent: Friday, July 20, 2001 10:33 PM Subject: 1901 Census Dear Mr. Mills, I wrote you previously and to Brian Tobin regarding access to the 1901 Census. I am one of your constituents, living at 695 Rhodes Avenue, Toronto, ON, M4J 4X5. You state you've heard from constituents, how many have responded to this issue? Many that I have talked to in our riding, are not even aware of this issue. How and when do you plan to let the constituents know about this issue? Isn't it your responsibility as our MP to keep us informed of what's happening at Parliament Hill? I noticed on your message board that you stated because of privacy that many people did not want the census available. How many of these people will be 102 if the census is released? To date, I still have not seen you mention anything in your newsletters, etc, asking our opinion on wanting the 1901 Census available in 2003. As stated in a previous letter to you by Muriel Davidson and I quote: When you are talking to various ones who voted you into your present status as a Member of Parliament, would you ask them one or more questions, please:- Do your CONSTITUENTS wish to have the Post-1901 census records released for family research? Do your CONSTITUENTS believe you should SUPPORT Senator Lorna Milne's Bill S-12 and Murray Calder's Bill C-312? I would like to see you ask this question of the constituents. Sincerely, Jan Breuls-Dorang 08/30/2000 - email to MP Bob Mills from Gordon A. Watts. Mr. Bob Mills, MP for Red Deer Dear Mr. Mills Do you recognize the statements below? "..........most Canadians believe that this is the best country in the world in which to live. They are proud of the country in which we live. However, most of them would agree that the status quo is not acceptable. We cannot keep on doing things the way we have always done them. Now there is a demand across Canada for more open and accountable government. Open government means a free flow of information between government and its citizens. It means government informs the public, rather than manipulating them. Open government means that when tax dollars are used to commission polls about the thoughts and opinions of Canadians, then everyone has the right to access that information in a timely manner. Canadians want to be able to access to these poll results in an easy manner, not in a manner in which they have to jump through a whole bunch of bureaucratic hoops and satisfy a whole bunch of requirements before accessing the information. If that is what has to happen, people will be discouraged from accessing poll results." These words were spoken in the House of Commons, 31 October 1997, at the start of second reading of your Bill C-217, an act to amend the Access to Information Act (disclosure of results of public opinion polls). Do you still believe the words you spoke at that time? If your answer is affirmative, it is certainly not evident in your lack of response to your constituents, and others, who for the past couple of years have been seeking an answer to the question of how you would vote on a Bill to allow access to Post 1901 Census, 92 years after collection, as permitted by Regulations attached to the Privacy Act. Census is a poll, albeit a special one conducted every five years to all residents of the country, the same as the limited polls referred to in your Bill C-217. At this time I would once again ask of you the question Would you, as an elected Member of the House of Commons of the Parliament of Canada, vote FOR or AGAINST a Bill supporting release to the Public, of Post 1901 Census Records, 92 years after they were recorded. (1911 census information available in 2003, 1921 in 2013 etc) I would respectfully request a specific answer to the specific question above. Kindly do not respond by quoting outdated information distributed by Statistics Canada without responding to the question. I am currently aware of all information regarding this matter that has been put out by Statistics Canada. Contrary to the public position of Statistics Canada that they are "specifically prohibited by law" from transferring Post 1901 Census records to the National Archives, in fact their stance is actually a "policy decision" based on a series of faulty, and disputed, legal decisions received from the Department of Justice. These legal opinions are faulty in that they consider only one clause dealing with secrecy of information (26.) of Instructions to Commissioners and Enumerators for the Western Census of 1906, while ignoring other clauses of those same instructions that stated "The census is intended to be a permanent record, and its schedules will be stored in the Archives of the Dominion.", and that census will "have value as a record for historical use in tracing the origin and rise of future towns in the country." It hardly seems likely that legislators of the day would consider Census to be a permanent record having value for historical use, and store them in the Archives of the Dominion, if it were not intended that at some time in the future access to it would be allowed. I would bring to your attention the fact that the "legal opinions" upon which Statistics Canada base their current position are in fact just that -- opinions, and are not Law. These opinions are subject to dispute and have not as yet been tested in a Court of Law. I invite you to read my Submission to the Expert Panel on Access to Historic Census entitled "The Myths of Census". The files for my submission were sent to you attached to an email on 24 April 2000. For your convenience I have again attached them to this message. I would welcome any comments that you might have regarding my submission, or any aspect relating to Census. Although in the past few years you have been asked several times how you would vote on a Bill to allow access to Post 1901 Census, you are currently shown on the MPs Scoreboard located at http://www.globalgenealogy.com as having a blue question mark, indicating that we have not received a response from you. A great deal of information relating to Access to Post 1901 Census may also be found here. I would be more than happy to change your blue question mark to reflect your response to the question above, hopefully to a gold tick supporting access to Historic Census. I look forward to your early response giving a definitive answer to the question above. Thank you. Gordon A. WATTS gordon_watts@telus.net Canada Census Committee 04/30/99- e-mail from The Global Gazette to MP
A web site has been posted at http://globalgenealogy.com/census to record MP's responses, so that those who are interested, will know the position that their elected representative has (or has not expressed) on the issue. Also included on the web site, is a correspondence log for each Member of Parliament, which will contain responses to this e-mail plus any other correspondence from the MP. The Question: "Would you, as an elected Member of the House of Commons of the Parliament of Canada, vote FOR or AGAINST a Bill supporting release to the Public, of Post 1901 Census Records, 92 years after they were recorded. ( 1911 census information available in 2003, 1921 in 2013 etc)" If you would like to expand on your position, your entire response will be posted to your individual correspondence log. The Post 1901 Census web site is sponsored by Global Genealogy & History Bookstore. A vast number of e-mails and calls from subscribers and web site visitors, clearly demonstrates that this issue is extremely important to them. Many readers have expressed that their current MP's position on this issue will weigh heavily in their decision process during the next election. |
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