POST 1901 CENSUS PROJECT
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TOWN HALL MEETINGS |
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This page contains correspondence from Chris Bukoski, in releation to the Town Hall Meeting held in Winnipeg. Her report on the proceedings follows. Chris attended the evening session of the meetings. From: Chris Bukoski To: Gordon Watts Sent: Sunday, January 27, 2002 7:07 PM Subject: Report on Winnipeg Town Hall meeting Hi Gordon, Here is my report. After the meeting I spoke with Ron Desroches, the Environics rep, as well as a few other attendees. I brought up the subject of the focus groups and one person being asked to leave because she was a member of the OGS. I also mentioned that you had exchanged e-mails with Stats Can regarding the selection process for the focus groups and at no point was there an indication that someone would be screened out because of their association with a genealogical organization. Ron mentioned that he had not heard about it but that he would look into it. Happy reading.. Chris The Fairmont Winnipeg Winnipeg, Manitoba January 23, 2002 6p.m. The meeting began with only eight people in attendance (includes presenters). Another person showed up after the meeting was in progress. Ron Desroches of Environics was the moderator. He started the meeting by outlining the purpose of the town meeting which is to determine what Canadians think of the confidentially issue relating specifically to the 1906 and 1911 Canada Censuses. One of the questions he would be asking is, “To what extent was a promise of perpetual confidentiality made?” Interestingly enough, Mr. Desroches mentioned that no time limit was given in the instructions to enumerators but on the other hand, enumerators were asked to write legibly. We were told that the town hall meetings were being held in 11 centres across the country. All the meetings east of Winnipeg have been held and the next meeting will be in Regina on January 25. He continued his introduction by laying out some ground rules. He stated the meeting is a hearing and not a question and answer period. In addition, questions may not be asked of the Presenters although those present were welcome to make comments to the moderator. Mr. Desroches advised that the information gathered from the meetings and focus groups will be considered for their final report. The final report will be tabled with Stats Can after which it will be released to the National Archives and the National Library. It will also be available on Statistics Canada’s website. The results of the Winnipeg meeting will be on Environics website with a day or two of the meeting. When the meeting began there were only two people who were willing to make formal presentations, however, three more people spoke informally. All speakers spoke on behalf of themselves. The first speaker was Bonnie Bileski. She has been tracing her family tree for some time and her presentation included some of her experiences. Although she only touched on the subject, she mentioned the usefulness of census data when conducting medical genealogy. Some of the questions asked of her (paraphrased as are the answers):
Gordon Goldsborough was the second presenter. He is an associate professor of Botany and Environmental Science at the University of Manitoba and the Director of the Delta Marsh Field Station. His arguments for release of census data had less to do with genealogy and privacy concerns and more to do with science and research. He explained that individual census data could provide critical information on environmental change. He cited Delta Marsh in Manitoba as an example. The village of Delta, which borders the marsh, was first accessible by rail in 1901 resulting in an influx of people. By 1910, there were few records to indicate a flourishing community. The old-timers in the area indicate that there has been a dramatic decline in water quality and waterfowl over the years. Because of a lack of direct measures for determining the reasons for the decline, the scientists need to turn to indirect measures such as census data. Individual census data shows how many people were in the area. It also shows the size of families, which indicates the potential for growth. Occupation is also stated which indicates the types of activities going on around the marsh. Community wide summaries are not sufficient for research purposes because they cover too large of an area. Mr. Goldsborough went on to state the compromise would not be acceptable for researchers such as him because the data would only be provided to duly sanctioned researchers. He would not be included in this group. From a genealogical perspective, he feels the compromise is a catch-22. One would only be permitted to research their direct ancestors but in some cases you require census data to prove that someone is a direct ancestor. He closed by mentioning that when the 1901 British census was released on the Internet the web site was brought to its knees by excessive demand. He also mentioned that the United States has recently released their 1930 census. A third point he made was that Manitoba is in the process of revising its Vital Statistics Act so that birth, marriage and death records will be released 70 to 80 years after creation. The Act will likely be proclaimed in the coming months. Some of the questions asked of Mr. Goldsborough (paraphrased as are the answers):
The third and subsequent speakers had not planned to make presentations and therefore their presentations were more informal. The third speaker was Peter Bower, a private citizen with experience in archives, information management, and access and privacy issues. He feels that if we, as a nation, are to survive we need to understand ourselves. The census helps us do this. However, there must be a proper balance between access and privacy. Mr. Bower is of the opinion that the so-called Laurier promise is a symbolic barrier. Concerning the commitments of the census takers, one must understand society at that time. He finds it hard to believe that the commitment was made for perpetuity and feels that privacy for dead people is a stretch. He can understand privacy issues for heirs or privacy issues for living people soon to be dead (because of disease for example) but not for dead people. It is Mr. Bower’s contention that the census has gone beyond its original intention, that of people counting for the purposes of developing policy issues. It has become too intrusive. A lot of the information that is gathered on the census should not be gathered in the way that it is currently being gathered. A federal agency should not be in the business of gathering information for marketing purposes. Questions asked of Mr. Bower (paraphrased as are the answers):
Wayne Neily was the fourth speaker. He began by stating his disappointed that there were so few people present at the meeting. He said was not surprised though because there was no signage anywhere that there was a town hall meeting being held on behalf of Statistics Canada regarding the census issue. The only notice was posted on the hotel’s bulletin board and it stated Environics was having a meeting. Mr. Desroches made note of that. Mr. Neily informed those present that he was an enumerator in Winnipeg for the 1986 census. In his experience, there were only a miniscule number (2 or 3 people) of people concerned with confidentiality. Those who were concerned generally refused to complete the census return. The people most anxious to complete the returns were those who wanted the information preserved for the future. They wanted to be sure the information was as accurate as possible for that very reason. He feels that the census has become a failure. Rather than collecting data for long-term historians, it is being collected as information for government programs. He questions the need for very personal information to even be included in the census. Question asked of Mr. Neily (paraphrased as is the answer):
The final speaker was Nancy Stunden. Ms Stunden has been an archivist for over 30 years in both Manitoba and at the National Archives and was speaking based on her experience as an archivist. She deals daily with people doing family and community histories and she sees their joy when they find information in the census data. The census is a unique snapshot in time. It is used for many types of research, study, and knowledge gathering. It is used for demographic, medical, geographic, medical, environmental, and genealogical purposes to name a few. Concerning the “Compromise”, she believes that it will be expensive to administer in both time and resources. Implementing such a process would be a nightmare. The government would be better off not only spending money on the usual items such as education and health care but also preserving those records in the archives that are rotting. Ms Stunden is of the opinion that some sort of consent mechanism would also become too expensive to administer. She also believes that Statistics Canada is neglecting the recognized principle of passage of time as well as looking at early day censuses with present day glasses. With time, privacy sensitivity declines. Stats Can needs to consider that the information on the early censuses is nowhere near as sensitive as it is on present day returns. In fact, they should not be collecting information that is so sensitive that it cannot be released in 92 years. Questions asked of Ms. Stunden (paraphrased as are the answers):
The meeting ran the full two hours to 8 p.m.. |
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