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The following article written by Lyn Winters appeared in The Halifax Herald 3 Mar 2001

Census Records Privacy: Surely 92 years enough.

By Lyn Winters

BRIAN TOBIN is, by now, sufficiently familiar with his portfolio, as the minister to whom Statistics Canada reports, to be aware of the many thousands of genealogists across Canada and those in the United States who have their roots in this country, who have petitioned, written letters and sent e-mails concerning the reluctance of Statistics Canada to make public any census records from 1906 onwards. They have been joined by professional historians in their quest for release of these invaluable records.

We are dismayed to learn that the bureaucrats at Statistics Canada have apparently convinced Mr. Tobin to delay authorizing the transfer of these historic census records to our National Archives, as recommended by the panel of experts appointed to review this matter in November 1999. Instead, according to his press release of Dec. 15, 2000, Mr. Tobin has once again resorted to foot-dragging by suggesting that the issue of the "privacy rights of Canadians" needs more study, and referring the issue to yet another group of experts set up to review the Access to Information Act.

>From the outset, Statistics Canada has been promoting the "spin" that Canadians were given a promise of perpetual confidentiality when they were asked to respond to census records. Letter after letter sent out from Mr. Tobin's office and that of Statistics Canada, replying to questions about this issue from the genealogical community, incorporated this same spin. It was also less than subtly employed by Statistics Canada when it surveyed Canadians about their views (Environics Survey No. 2, 2000 - Question 3 - N = 1032). The same propaganda was fed to members of Parliament who, in turn, passed it on as gospel to many family historians who wrote to their MPs expressing concerns about the issue.

The statisticians at Statistics Canada are not concerned about the privacy of Canadians; they are concerned over the validity of the process of census taking. How can they be truly concerned about the privacy of Canadians when there has never been one complaint registered by the Canadian public over a violation of their privacy rights?

We are now being subjected to another delay, this time (according to Mr. Tobin's press release) by having the matter studied by another group of experts whose primary mission is to examine the Access to Information Act.

It is significant to note that beginning in May of this year, Statistics Canada will be going out to Canadians seeking data, which they will "number crunch" and produce the 2001 decennial census of Canada. Could this current delay be intended to allow the statisticians time to complete their work on the 2001 census? In their report to Mr. Tobin's predecessor, John Manley, the expert panel (page 18 at 3.2) had this to say: "Rather, the panel recommends for the 2001 census that Canada adopt the practice currently in place in the United Kingdom and the United States. For the 2001 census and all others where a household questionnaire is used, respondents would be informed that their individual census information would be kept secret for 92 years and after this time, the information would be publicly released by the National Archives."

There never was a promise of perpetual confidentiality - the panel of experts has said so, and we in the genealogical community have repeatedly said so. Despite demands that it produce records demonstrating that such a promise was made, Statistics Canada has failed to do so.

The press release of Dec. 15, 2000, in announcing why the issue had now been referred to another group of experts, indicates that: ". . . if access to historical census records is provided, this is done in a manner that respects the government's deep commitment to privacy." I would respectfully draw Mr. Tobin's attention to the report of the expert panel at page 13, where it is pointed out: "There have been no complaints whatsoever to the government of Canada or Newfoundland about the release of this information." So, why is there such a concern about the "privacy" of Canadians?

I suggest that the privacy issue is one which has been dreamed up by the statisticians at Statistics Canada and supported by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner. I would again stress that neither the Privacy Commissioner nor the statisticians can point to one complaint from the public about privacy rights having been violated through the release of census records.

Again, the expert panel deals with the privacy issue in this vein at page 15: "This perspective (that the release of historical census information, even after 92 years, violates the fundamental principles of personal privacy) is at odds with the view that the passage of time or death of an individual diminishes the privacy rights of that person, a view that is also enshrined in the Privacy Act." The panel went on to indicate that they had carefully considered the matter and came to the conclusion that: "The commitment to confidentiality of census data was not intended to last indefinitely. Our view is that the passage of 92 years is sufficient time to allay concerns regarding individual privacy."

So, why the delay? Mr. Tobin should accept the recommendations of the panel of experts appointed by his predecessor and direct Statistics Canada to transfer the 1906 and subsequent records to our National Archives, where they may be released to the public in accordance with the 92-year rule as specified in the Privacy Regulations.

L.H. (Lyn) Winters is a native of Yarmouth, N.S., who now lives in Kanata, Ont. He has been working on his family history for the past 10 years and uses the Canadian census records extensively in his genealogical pursuits.

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