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POST 1901 CENSUS PROJECT
Open the door to Canada's Historic Census

TOWN HALL MEETINGS
Edmonton -- 28 January 2002

This page contains the presentation of Marion McQuay to the Edmonton Town Hall Meeting.

Town Hall Meeting Edmonton
Alberta January 28, 2002


As a concerned Canadian citizen, I believe that the legislation that enforces permanent concealment of post 1901 Canadian Census records from the public, must be changed. Let me share with you some reasons why I am in full support of the release of all post 1901 Census records.

There is an unprecedented surge in Family History Research going on throughout the world. To many millions it is more than a ‘hobby’. Allow me to share with you some indications of what is taking place in this regard. Here are some statistics that show what is happening:

  • Ancestry.com has 1.2 billion online genealogy records.


  • Cyndis List – one of the most used family history lists that accesses sites around the world, has 121,000 links with 113,000 categorized and cross-referenced sites. In March, 2001 the site had its 20 millionth visitor. Almost 26 million historians have used the main index since 1996.


  • Familysearch.org – in a one year period had more than 2 billion hits. The family search program has information on over 700 million individuals. The majority of information is on persons who lived before 1920.


  • The LDS Family History Library -- the largest library of its kind in the world has 2.2 million rolls of microfilm, 742,000 microfiches, and 300,000 books. In the year 2000 collections increased monthly by an average of 4100 rolls of microfilm and by more than 700 books.


  • There are over 3500 Family History Centers (branches of this library) in 80 countries staffed by volunteers. Over 100,000 rolls of microfilm are circulated to these centers each month. Many of these films are Census records from around the world.


  • There are thousands of Family History and Genealogical Societies around the world, many of them with excellent libraries staffed by volunteers, who donate endless hours of their time helping their fellow researchers.


  • For the British 1881 Census available on CD, over 10,000 volunteers extracted the information on to computers.


  • England & Wales 1901 Census was released this month online. There was overwhelming public interest. The site was set to be able to cope with one million visitors a day. It is reported that there were 17 million hits the first day. The site had to be shut down so that a more powerful database server could be brought online.


  • Scots Origin – A website in association with the General Register Office of Scotland now has Indexes to Births, Marriages, Deaths, 1881, 1891 and 1901 Census online. To quote from their site: “Interest in genealogical research has shown an extraordinary and unexpected upsurge recently, and we cannot truly forecast what the level of demand will be on any day.” To access the site and do a search, there is a cost of 6 pounds (about $14 Canadian) for 30 page credits valid for 24 hours.


    • A few years ago, the United States had some opposition to access of Census records, fearing that people would be less cooperative in completing Census returns, and less trusting of Statistical agencies. It didn’t happen. The end result was that the United States now has access to Census records after 72 years. In fact the 1930 U.S. Census is scheduled for release on April 1st this year, without any opposition

    Many people are anticipating the release later this year of the 1881 Canadian Census on CD – this information was also extracted by thousands of volunteers.

    It has been estimated that about 7.5 million Canadians are involved in Family History research. These citizens depend heavily upon the information provided in Census reports.

    A fellow-researcher friend of mine shares her experience of using Canadian Census records:
      Quote: “For those of us Canadians who are interested in tracing our family histories, the census records are absolutely superb! I have been able to trace our family's movements from 1861 when they arrived in Canada from Scotland, settled in Halton County, Ontario, on poor homestead land, and subsequently moved farther west to Manitoba, then Saskatchewan and Alberta as the provinces formed and greater opportunities for their large families presented themselves. In my family's case, without the census records to substantiate this movement across this great country, there would be NO HISTORY, nothing preserved and no way of securing this vital information. Our motto, and that of everyone I know who has seen my family research is: PLEASE, PLEASE PRESERVE THE ACCESSIBILITY OF CENSUS RECORDS IN CANADA" This nation is made up of families; don't deprive us of the privilege of tracing our heritage.” Unquote.
    Researching our family’s history enriches our lives. It is an important step in uniting families, and it is an educational process. While researching and finding our ancestors, we learn the physical, social and economic conditions of the world in which our ancestors lived, loved, worked and died. Historians learn patterns of migration, employment, infant mortality and cultural tradition, geography, education, how the local parish church functioned, and how the legal system worked. How life was lived on an emigrant ship, life as a farmer, factory worker, homemaker is learned. We can learn so much about the living conditions of our ancestors, by studying the history of the time in which they lived.

    This is what we learn from the 1901 Census: family structure showing relationship of each family member to the head of the household, residence, birthdate of each individual, country or province of birth, year of immigration to Canada, year of naturalization, racial or tribal origin, religion, profession, if self-employed, employer, if wage earner, if working in factory, months employed, education and language - months at school, if he can read or write, can speak English, can speak French, his mother tongue, and if he has any infirmities. What a tremendous amount of information to help us learn about our forefathers! And do you think they cared that 92 years later that information is shared with their descendants? I would hope my posterity, my great-great-great grandchildren would want to learn about me 92 years from now! I’ve figured it out – that’s who will be living 92 years form now!

    The first part of the 20th century saw the greatest influx of immigrants in the history of Canada. Between 1900 and 1910 over 1.8 million immigrants from 49 different ethnic origins came to Canada. Between 1911 and 1920, over 1.5 million came. Without access to historical census records, descendants of many of these immigrants will never know where their ancestors originate

    Economic and social pressures have played important roles in migration patterns. There have been frequent periods of border crossings between the United States and Canada, particularly in the early 1900s. As there is a lack of vital records of births, marriages and deaths for this period, Census records become a very important source of information. Neither Canadian nor U.S. researchers can afford to be ignorant of records in the other nation. Hence Canadian Census records are vital to many U.S. researchers, as their Census records are vital to us in our research!

    Places like Fort Edmonton Park, Ukrainian Village, and Heritage Park in Calgary are examples of how our heritage and traditions are being kept alive. 100 years from now our posterity can see how WE lived in 2001 if we as Canadians have access to our Census information. Census data is vital to preserving the history of not only our communities in Alberta, but all communities across this great country after 1901. We are given an added dimension to our lives as we learn and study our past. As we build and extend our traditions, our heritage will be preserved. It is so important that we honor those who paved the way. Let us keep our heritage and not lose years of history due to closed Census records!

    After Alex Haley wrote “Roots” his mail started arriving in large canvas bags. Everyone was writing about family. The greatest common denominator is family; it is also the greatest humanizer. Family is the basic building block of society. Families and society can be strengthened by collecting history, holding family reunions, and discovering the past.

    This is how important family history research is held in United States: In Sept, 2001 a press release in United States, announced October, 2001 as Family History month, To Quote from that Press Release: “Millions of Americans are researching the history of their families. Experts say that in the United States genealogy is now the second most popular pastime next to gardening. It is believed that more than 80 million Americans are currently actively searching for more information about their ancestors. It is only natural that we want to find out more about our ancestors. What better way to bring families closer together than by discovering more about the story of their own family? Like it or not, who we are today is in large part, a product of our ancestors. Essentially, we are all immigrants to this country. Our ancestors came from different parts of the globe. By searching for our roots, we come closer together as a human family. Researching ancestry is a very important component of identity. It can lead to long sought after family reunions or allow for life saving medical treatments that only genetic links will allow.” Unquote. I believe these important reasons for searching our roots apply as much to Canada as to our neighbors to the south!

    The family history community is a world-wide community. People helping people. I have been researching my family’s history for over 25 years. Through phases of my research and with the help of others, I have found living in Australia a descendant of a brother of my great great grandfather who lived in Scotland. This connection was proved by my finding the brothers on a microfilm copy of the 1861 Census record of the place they lived in Scotland. It is a small world! Thousands of researchers are finding cousins in many different countries. These people all over the world are becoming united by this common bond of looking for the history of their family.

    I am in full support of the release of the 1906 and 1911 individual Census records. I am in support of the recommendations made by the ‘Expert Panel’ on Access to Historical Census Records. Please pay attention to the over 40,000 signatures that have been sent to Ottawa supporting access. The delay of 92 years before release to the public is a reasonable time for privacy concerns. It is vital that accessibility be made for historians so they may obtain valuable information that no source other than census can provide.

    Marion McQuay January 28, 2002



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