POST 1901 CENSUS PROJECT
Open the door to Canada's Historic Census
TOWN HALL MEETINGS |
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This page contains correspondence from Victor Badeau, President, New Brunswick Genealogical Society Inc., relating to the Town Hall Meetings in Fredericton. His presentation to the meeting follows. Victor attended both sessions of these meetings. Environics Research Group report on Fredericton meetings From: Jeanne and Victor Badeau To: gordon_watts@telus.net Sent: Tuesday, January 15, 2002 5:34 PM Subject: Town Hall Meetings - Fredericton Hello Gordon, Yesterday's Town Hall Meetings (Fredericton) went well. Even better than I had anticipated. There were approximately 20 people in attendance at each session. This was good when you consider Fredericton received 30cm of snow overnight. All of the presenters were in favour of transferring historical census records to the National Archives of Canada and all speakers were in favour of releasing the records to the public. Here is a list of presenters and others who addressed the Chair. Afternoon Session: Dawn Bremner - Queens County Historical Society David Curtis - University student who traveled all the way from Virginia by bus to make his presentation. George Kingston - Private Citizen with a strong interest in genealogy. Marion Beyea - Provincial Archivist, Province of New Brunswick Darrel Butler - Chief Curator, Kings Landing Historical Settlement Victor Luce- Généalogie Tracadie Inc. (Was not there in person because of the snow storm, but his presentation was read) Andy Scott - Member of Parliament Evening Session: Victor Badeau - President of New Brunswick Genealogical Society Greg Kealey- Vice President of Research - University of New Brunswick Fernand Lévesque- Associates of the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick Gail Campbell - Faculty, History Dept. of University of New Brunswick Fred Farrell - Chair of Canadian Council of Archives Charles Ferris - Diocesan Archives of the Anglican Church of Canada and New Brunswick Regards, Victor Badeau President, New Brunswick Genealogical Society Inc 14 January 2002 Lord Beaverbook Hotel, Fredericton, New Brunswick Mr. Chairman, My Name is Victor Badeau. I am the President of the New Brunswick Genealogical Society. The New Brunswick Genealogical Society is a volunteer Provincial heritage organization with seven active Branches and over one thousand members. Our mission is to promote and develop the study, research and preservation of genealogical records and family history. One of our mandates is to promote the collection, preservation and accessibility of New Brunswick genealogical and heritage records. I am here today to speak in support of releasing all historical census records to the public after a reasonable period of time. In particular we feel 92 years is sufficient time to put at rest any concerns regarding individual privacy. 92 years is also sufficient to eliminate concerns for identity theft. Last year, at census time, my wife and I had the privilege of filling out the "long form". We were happy to fill it out hoping one day, the information would be available, not just to the federal government, but to historians, genealogists, authors, students, or anyone else who might take an interest in it. The information we contributed was personal, but none of it was embarrassing. We definitely have no concerns about who sees that information in the year 2093 as we expect by then, our bones will be nothing more than a pile of dust. Canadians can be proud of our long history of census taking. We can also be proud of Statistics Canada’s reputation for accuracy and the quality of its statistical output. Chief Statistician Dr. Ivan Fellegi has expressed concern that the eventual release of historical census data could jeopardize the cooperation of respondents to provide complete and reliable private information. My response to this concern is that if people are so concerned about other people accessing this information long after they are gone, they are probably more concerned about the government having access to this information while they are still living. Maybe, just maybe, those people might not be willing to divulge "complete and reliable" information anyway. I think Canadians will be more inclined to provide accurate personal information if they know it eventually will be accessible to individuals and research institutions. Restricting census data to government use and a means of generating government revenue will likely reduce the public’s trust in Statistics Canada. We recognize Statistics Canada’s concern with the preservation of the integrity of Canada’s statistical system; however, we do not feel the release of census records after a period of 92 years will affect census participation. It is my understanding that the government has not received any complaints about the release of pre 1901 census records. In New Brunswick, our Vital Statistics Act allows the release of vital statistic records to the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick after 95 years for births, after 50 years for marriages and after 50 years for deaths. This means I can go to the Provincial Archives and make a photocopy of my great-grandfather’s death certificate at a cost of 25 cents instead of paying the usual $20 to $25 for a certificate at the Vital Statistics Office. This provides a considerable savings for anyone doing family history research. Alice Garner was the Registrar of Vital Statistics for the Province of New Brunswick when the Province started releasing vital statistic records to the public in the early 1990s. She is retired now, but I spoke with her last week and she said she did not receive any complaints about records being released while she was registrar, only praise. When taxpayers spend hundreds of millions of dollars having census data collected and processed, those taxpayers and their descendants should get the most for their money. In this case, the most for their money means the records should be transferred to the National Archives of Canada for preservation and they should be released to the public. Historical census records must be accessible and available to everyone. Not just to our Government, not just to academics and scholars, but to the general public. Releasing these records to the National Archives of Canada means they can be accessible on microfilm through inter-institutional loan to libraries and record repositories across Canada. Possibly someday, they will be available on-line. Census records are a vital source of information for genealogists and family historians. It is not possible to compile a proper genealogy or family history without having knowledge about the community where our ancestors lived. Census records provide genealogists with names, dates, places of birth, religion, occupations, but they also provide family groupings, migration patterns and insight into the economic and social conditions at the time when the census was taken. Any genealogist will tell you census records are not a perfect source of genealogical information, but they provide us with a unique look at individuals, families and communities that is not available through other records. Genealogists and historians need census records. Genealogy is one of the fastest growing hobbies in North America. Some Canadians use genealogy to make a living or to supplement their income. People from the United States and overseas travel to Canada to conduct research and to attend conferences and family reunions. Genealogists purchase books, computers, software, scanners, airline tickets, rental cars, gasoline, cameras, film, CDs, food, accommodations and internet service. Genealogy generates millions of dollars in revenue to Canadian business which helps drive our economy. Genealogy is a time consuming past-time. As our population ages and more people retire, we expect more people will have time to take up this very rewarding activity. Some medical conditions are genetic in nature. Knowing a person’s pedigree can predict these conditions and allow for early treatment or awareness that might lead to the prevention of any serious medical condition. We must also think ahead and look to the future. Governments and corporations are spending billions of dollars on research and development in the fields of genetics and medicine. As time goes on and science and technology bring us treatments and cures, information collected by the census takers might provide someone with a much needed link to an ancestor. If census records are locked away or worse (destroyed) that person might be denied a chance at having a full life. Many other countries automatically release census records after a designated period of time. The United States releases records after 72 years and Great Britain releases records after 100 years. In both cases, the release of census records is governed by legislation relating to their national archives and is assumed to apply after the records have been transferred to their national archives. Both, like Canada, have legislation that provides guarantees of confidentiality and penalties for breach of confidentiality while the data is in the hands of census officials and is silent on the length of time. In Canada, Regulation 6(d) of our national Privacy Act allows for access to personal information obtained through the taking of a census, 92 years after it is collected. The Expert Panel on Access to Historical Census Records concluded that no perpetual guarantee of confidentiality was ever intended to attach to Canadian census records. Statistics Canada has presented a compromise proposal. The proposal would provide limited access to historical census records for genealogical research on one’s own family and for historical research. As I understand it, access would be unrestricted , but researchers would be limited on the type of information they could make public and would be required to sign an agreement before accessing the information. This proposal is too restrictive and would be too difficult and costly to enforce. In particular, the compromise would discriminate against individuals who were adopted as it would restrict them from releasing information on their natural ancestors. The advantages of releasing census data after a reasonable period of time outweighs any concerns for not releasing it. The Government of Canada should stick with tradition and release historical census records to the National Archives of Canada for preservation and public access after a period of 92 years. Access should be unrestricted and the records should be available to all Canadians. In particular the New Brunswick Genealogical Society gives full support to Senator Lorna Milne’s Bill S - 12 to amend the National Archives of Canada Act and Statistics Act. Thank you for the opportunity to make this presentation. Respectfully submitted, Victor Badeau President New Brunswick Genealogical Society Inc. P.O. Box 3235, Station B Fredericton, NB E3A 5G9 |
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