POST 1901 CENSUS PROJECT
Open the door to Canada's Historic Census
TOWN HALL MEETINGS |
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This page contains the written submission of Elain Hamm re: public access to 1906 and 1911 Census Record made to Environics Research Group. To the panel again examining the release of the 1911 census: I feel as if we are on a merry-go-round. Statistics Canada just gets shown to be inaccurate on one ground and so switches to another ground, equally as slippery. First, we are told that the census cannot be released because people were promised privacy forever. Research is done in the House of Commons debates and in the Cabinet documents only to find that such a promise was never made. No one with any historical knowledge is surprised. Since Stats Canada lost that round, they are now suggesting that we release limited information to direct line family. No. This is NOT an acceptable solution, in fact, it is no solution at all. When one is a genealogist and looking for family, one often does not know exactly where the family is. That is the purpose in looking at the census for a genealogist. One scrolls down pages of names for hours in a dark room to find a name that may match and to check the information about address and number of children and relationships. How can this possibly interfere with privacy of people who answered questions over 90 years ago. Telephone books are available. In cities a Henderson directory is available. Church records are available. Birth certificates are available. First, however, one must find the correct family and the correct location for these other devices to be helpful. Statistics Canada, in it spurious claim to protect privacy is merely cutting off Canadians from their roots. Here in Western Canada, the great wave of immigration came after the 1901 census. Therefore, the 1911 and the 1921 censuses will be of enormous value in reconnecting us with our roots. Respect for our lands of origin and knowledge of why our ancestors left those lands for the greater promise of Canada can only help us to be more appreciative of the value of this country, our this democracy and of the opportunities both offer to us. By refusing to release the census, Stats Canada is destroying a marvellous opportunity for the people of this country and for the government of this country to rebuild our pride and our optimism which has been somewhat battered by the hard times of the 1980s and the uneven economic prosperity of the 1990s which enriched some but left a large percentage of our children still in poverty and many of our people homeless. Since Stats Canada seems to have some inkling that their so called compromise solution is a non starter they are know whining that if they release the census they will get less co-operation on future censuses. Perhaps they would be better served to look at their own incompetence in organizing the census. The information which follows is mostly common knowledge and I will speak only of what I know for sure. What I know paints a fairly clear picture of idiots at the centre causing problems with data collection in the census and not the release of the information in 92 years. Prior to a move in November I lived in Montgomery Place in Saskatoon. This is the old veterans area and the lots are very large. Some have been subdivided but it is still possible to own a half acre of land in Montgomery. The houses are far apart. I volunteered in a civic election to mail drop for four of the candidates, and like a fool, I said I would do all of Montgomery Place. I found to my horror that it involved about 14 miles of walking to mail drop every house. It took a full week of a few hours a day to get it done. One cannot, after all, carry all the material at one time and has to go back for it. Even using the car did not speed up the process much. In elections this area is divided into 6 polls provincially and 5 polls federally. The political people, at least, know how much an enumerator can handle. Stats Canada, in its infinite stupidity, had ALL of Montgomery Place and part of Holiday Park as one census enumerator's area. I must say that I am very surprised that they found someone to do the job. The person must have been desperate for a job or ignorant of the geographical size of the area. Now, interestingly, I filled out our census form and put it in my purse to photocopy before I sent it in so that my records could include that information before 92 years. I forgot it in my purse for at least two and likely more weeks when, to my horror, I realized I had not mailed it by the deadline. I then sent it in. The interesting thing to me is that in all that time no one contacted me about the missing data. Did they not know it was not in? Perhaps they did not have time to check on it with such a large area to cover. Perhaps by that time, they were so tired of being shafted by Stats Canada that they did not care? As an addendum to my situation, my son did not even have an envelope delivered to the house that he lived at. He did not complete his form because he was not given one. I have heard this story from enough other people of my own personal acquaintance that I believe the problem was widespread. Why would it not be? The enumerators were given areas that were too large to handle. This is not a "release of the information " problem. This is an "incompetent Stats Canada" problem. Stats Canada has a well know reputation for treating its employees like dirt. They are expected to be on call all the time. They cannot take other jobs and the hours that they are promised are usually not provided. The directions that are provided in the census section of Stats Canada are beyond the reach of most mortals and it is an open secret that there are heart attacks brought on by stress in every census period. It is also an open secret that there is a lot of turnover in the census period because of unrealistic expectations put upon the employees. The bottom line is that if Stats Canada is concerned that they will not get accurate information they should stop worrying about release of 92 year old information and start to worry about their own treatment of their employees. Better treatment of the employees would do more to improve the quality of their information than any other single thing. I would also suggest that Stats Canada have a look at its own statistics, particularly the 1981 information which showed that the majority of Canadian women with children under the age of 6 were in the workforce. What this means, since Stats Canada clearly does not understand, is that the reserve army of labour, which women once were, no longer exists. Prior to that time there were always talented women at home raising their families. These women had been teachers and bank tellers and store clerks and nurses and business people. They did not want a full time job but welcomed part time work such as the census or election work provided. The federal government has realized that these people are no longer available because they have full time jobs. Hence, the federal government went to a permanent voter's list. My province has not yet done this but if one checked with the provincial returning officer I am sure one would find that the hiring of competent election workers has become a real problem. The competent people are, for the most part, in full time employment or looking for full time employment. If they accept a census job and a full time job comes open they will take the full time job. They would be fools not to do so. My point is that the electoral process, which is much smaller in scope than a census, is having problems finding people for short term jobs. Why would Stats Canada expect anything different, particularly when their reputation for abusing their employees is so well known? In closing I would say, release the census. The arguments against doing so are spurious. And, Stats Canada, clean up your act. Sincerely, Elaine Hamm |
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