| Name: | Mr. John Williams |
| Political Party: | Conservative |
| Constituency: | St. Albert |
| Province: | Alberta |
| Telephone: | (613) 996-4722 |
| Fax: | (613) 995-8880 |
| Email: | willij@parl.gc.ca or willij1@parl.gc.ca |
| Website: | http://www.johnwilliams.ca |
| Address: | House of Commons, Ottawa K1A OA6 |
| Constituency Address: | Suite 205, Professional Building 7 St. Anne Street St. Albert, Alberta T8N 2X4 Tel. 780-459-0809 Fax. 780-460-1246 |
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12/01/2004 - email from office of MP John Williams to Freda Stewart. From: "Williams, John - Riding 2" Dear Ms. Stewart, On behalf of Mr. Williams, thank you for your email, and we note your support for Bill S-18, An Act to Amend the Statistics Act. While we will apprise Mr. Williams of your correspondence at the earliest opportunity, we have also taken the opportunity to review the status of Bill S-18. We note that S-18 was tabled in the Senate on November 2, 2004 and it was debated at Second Reading on November 16 and 17th. According to the legislative calendar, which was released today, we noted that S-18 is scheduled to continue debate at Second Reading on December 15th. It therefore appears that this legislation is progressing. We hope that you find this information helpful, and should you feel that we could be of further assistance to you, kindly let us know. Yours truly, Debra Bain, Manager 10/05/2004 - letter from MP John Williams to Gordon A. Watts. October 5, 2004 Mr. Gordon Watts Dear Mr. Watts On behalf of Mr. Williams I am pleased to acknowledge receipt of your letter. Mr. Williams will appreciate your endeavours to keep him apprised of your organisation's views and be assured that he will not hesitate to contact you should further information be required. We trust you find this satisfactory, and thank you again for taking the time to write to Mr. Williams. Yours truly,Jolyne Fergueson, Administrative Assistant Constituency Affairs 08/29/2004 - letter sent to MP John Williams from Gordon A. Watts 29 August 2004 Mr. John Williams Dear Mr. Williamst 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 02/26/2001 - letter from MP John Williams to Muriel M. Davidson. Identical messages were received by Linda Squires Vaillancourt and Jane Mosher Page
Mrs. Muriel Davidson Dear Mrs. Davidson, On behalf of Mr. Williams, thank you for your email regarding the current restrictions on the release of the 1911 and subsequent Canadian Census Information. Mr. Williams appreciated knowing that you are concerned about being denied access to Canadian Census Records after the year 1901. While there are sections of both the Statistics Act and the Privacy Act that allow for the release of the Canadian Census Records, in the spring of 1999, the Privacy Coordinator of Statistics Canada admitted that there was some ambiguity in the current legislation. On November 12, 1999, the Minister of Industry, The Honourable Mr. Manley announced the creation of the 'Expert Panel on Access to Historical Census Records, saying"...this Panel is to provide independent, expert advice on the legal, privacy and archival implications of releasing historical census records". It appears to be that there is a consensus forming around the notion that the census information be released around a 92 year cycle, and Mr. Williams would support legislation on that basis. We do hope that this information is helpful to you, and we appreciate you sharing your perspective. Yours truly, Debra Bain, Manager Constituency Affairs 02/17/2001 - email to MP John Williams from Muriel M. Davidson.
Sent: February 17, 2001 2:36 PM To: Williams, John - M.P. Subject: Still Perched on the Fence -- or SUPPORTIVE ???? To Mr. John Williams, MP:- The election was over Nov. 27, and congratulations on re-election. Check http://globalgenealogy.com/census/index.htm Click on your province and find your name, complete with symbols and your personal message board. We have not heard from you. QUESTION: Will you SUPPORT any Bills, government, private member's bills or other for release of the census records after 1901, and for automatic forwarding to National Archives? To date, we have not heard how you feel in this new session of Parliament. Did you know the census records of 1906 for Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan should have been released in 1998? Did you know the Report of the Expert Panel, obtained by Gordon Watts with ATI, stated the 1906 census be immediately released? Please let us know, so we may add a date later than Nov. 27, 2000 on your personal message board. In my capacity on the Canada Census Committee, I contact Members of Parliament in ALL constituencies, not only my own. Muriel M. Davidson Canada Census Committee 03/09/2001 - email to Sharon Walker from MP John Williams. This takes Mr. Williams off the fence and gives him his gold tick of support.
To: Sharon Walker Sent: Friday, March 09, 2001 2:01 PM Subject: POST 1901 CENSUS March 9, 2001 Sharon Walker Dear Ms. Walker, On behalf of Mr. Williams, thank you for your email regarding the current restrictions on the release of the 1911 and subsequent Canadian Census Information. Mr. Williams appreciated knowing that you are concerned about being denied access to Canadian Census Records after the year 1901. It appears to be that there is indeed a consensus forming around the notion that the census information be released around a 92 year cycle, and Mr. Williams would support legislation on that basis. We do hope that this information is helpful to you, and we appreciate you sharing your perspective. Yours truly, Debra Bain, Manager Constituency Affairs 06/20/2000 - email from office of MP John Williams to Gordon A. WATTS. Obviously Mr. Williams (or his office staff) cares little for the opinions and questions of the people of Canada. One might wonder on what basis he was elected.
Please be advised that, as a matter of general office policy, we do not respond to surveys. We will therefore not be participating in this endeavour. Yours truly, Debra Bain, Manager Constituency Affairs
Sent: Friday, June 16, 2000 12:31 AM To: Undisclosed-Recipient:; Subject: How will you vote? I send greetings to all Members of Parliament. In the past year or so, all Members of Parliament have been sent numerous e-mail and letters requesting an answer to the question of how they would vote on a Bill that would allow public access to Post 1901 Census records as allowed by Regulations attached to the current Privacy Act. Responses have been varied as detailed below:
* Your concerns have been noted and directed to the Minister responsible * Your concerns have been directed to Statistics Canada * Please send your full mailing address to receive a reply * Mr/Mrs/Ms MP does not respond to questions from outside their constituency * Enclosed find information detailing why Census records cannot be accessed * There is no Bill before the House to vote on * It would be immoral for Parliament to retroactively break a promise given to the people by the government of Sir Wilfred Laurier in 1906 * The law explicitly prohibits access to Census records after 1901
* There is no law that "explicitly prohibits" access to Census records after 1901. There are no clauses in any Statute, from the date of Confederation to the present, that would prevent transfer of Historic Census to the National Archives of Canada to be placed under the control of the National Archivist. There is no law that would prevent the subsequent release to the public as per Regulations attached to the current Privacy Act. * What prevents the transfer of Census to the National Archives is a policy of Statistics Canada -- a policy based on untried legal opinions that consider only one clause of several contained in Instructions to Enumerators for the Census of 1906 that had been given the "force of law". These legal opinions consider only the clause titled "Secrecy" while ignoring other pertinent clauses in these same Instructions, also having the "force of law", that state that Census had value for historical purposes, would be stored in the National Archives, and would be available for future research. Your constituents voted for you, presumably because they felt that you were a reasonably intelligent, rational, thinking individual, capable of formulating opinions and making decisions. As such, they are seeking an answer from you, on how you would vote on a Bill to allow access to Historic Census records. In all likelihood they have already expressed their concerns to Statistics Canada and Industry Minister John Manley directly and do not seek to have their MP duplicate what they have already done. On 2 June 2000, Liberal MP Murray Calder presented Private Member's Bill C-484 for first reading and printing. This Bill is identical to Bill S-15 presented to the Senate by Senator Lorna Milne on 16 December 1999, and currently in second reading in that House. These Bills would amend the Statistics Act and the National Archives of Canada Act. They expressly authorize the transfer of all census records from Statistics Canada to the National Archives of Canada for permanent safekeeping. They give access to the records to genealogists and other researchers 92 years after the census, subject to a privacy right they create that allows individuals to object to the disclosure of personal information in the census records. Jason Kenney's Motion M-160, presented to the House 13 October 1999 urges the government to take all necessary steps to release the 1911 census records once they have been deposited in the National Archives in 2003. Mr. Kenney's Motion was deemed a votable item with debate limited to three hours. To date, two of those three hours of debate have taken place. Bearing in mind the Bills of Mr. Calder and Ms. Milne, and the Motion of Mr. Kenney, I would again ask of you the following question:
For those Members of Parliament who have already given us a direct answer to the question posed above I extend my heartfelt thanks. For those who have given a non-committal response, or who have not bothered to respond to our question I would respectfully request that you answer it at this time. On 24 April 2000 I sent to you an e-mail with the files constituting my written submission to the Expert Panel on Access to Historic Census attached. Titled "The Myths of Census", this submission is the result of several months of dedicated research and details proof of what I have stated above. I urge you to read this submission to verify my statements. I would extend to you the same invitation I gave to Statistics Canada and the Privacy Commissioner -- "If you can prove me wrong, please do so." If my e-mail of 24 April 2000, and the attached files, have gone astray I would be quite happy to resend them to you. I have compiled a CD containing much more support documentation than that contained in my written submission. I would be happy to send a copy of this CD on request. Should you have any questions or comments regarding my Submission to the Expert Panel, or to this message, I would be more than happy to discuss them with you. I can be reached by e-mail, by telephone at (604) 942-6889, by Fax at (604) 942-6843, or by Canada Post at 1455 Delia Drive Port Coquitlam, BC V3C 2V9 To the francophone Members of Parliament I extend my apologies for not having a translation of this message. I regrettably neither speak nor read the French language. Sincerely, Gordon A. WATTS gordon_watts@telus.net
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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