OTTAWA, November 2, 2004 -- An Act to amend the Statistics Act was introduced in the Senate of Canada today. The proposed bill would enable access to both past and future census records. This bill has two key provisions. Personal census records for censuses taken between 1911 and 2001 inclusive would be released 92 years after each census. Starting with the 2006 Census, Canadians will be able to decide if they will allow their personal census information to be released publicly after 92 years. Individual census records would be released only when consent is given. The proposed legislation will permit access to historical census records and ask Canadians for their consent for the release of their future census records. It meets the legitimate interests of genealogists and historians while continuing to put all appropriate safeguards in place to protect the privacy of individuals. "Informed consent about the use of one's own personal information is a matter of fundamental privacy protection," said the Honourable David L. Emerson, Minister of Industry and Minister responsible for Statistics Canada. "Canadians should have the right to decide for themselves if they want their personal census records to be made publicly available in the future. I am proud of the active consent provisions of this bill which satisfy the highest standard of privacy protection." The proposed legislation includes revisions in response to concerns raised by parliamentarians over the previously proposed bill (Bill S-13), tabled on February 5, 2003. This bill died on the order paper following the prorogation of Parliament on November 12, 2003. Statistics Canada, in conjunction with Library and Archives Canada, will, as part of the 2006 Census public communications campaign, encourage Canadians to allow future access to their census records to preserve Canada's history for future generations. - 30 - Media Relations Statistics Canada (613) 951-4636 Background An Act to amend the Statistics Act In November 2004, the government proposed new legislation to amend the Statistics Act. This proposed legislation involves two key provisions. It provides access to historical census records for the period 1911 to 2001 inclusive, 92 years after each census. The 1911 Census records will be released once the legislation has been passed. Starting with the 2006 Census, Canadians will be asked to decide if they will allow their personal census information to be made publicly available 92 years after the census has been taken. These records would only be made available when consent has been given. Informed consent about the use of one's own personal information is a matter of fundamental privacy protection. Canadians should have the right to decide for themselves if they want their personal census records to be made publicly available in the future. History During the late 1990s, a number of genealogical associations, researchers and other interested individuals started a campaign to express dissatisfaction with their inability to access historical census records after 1901. The census records up to and including 1901 were not taken with a statutory guarantee of confidentiality and were made available to the public through the National Archives 92 years after the event. Those censuses held after 1901 contained a statutory provision of confidentiality and were therefore collected with legally enforceable and no time-limited promise of confidentiality. As a result, these latter census records have not been made available to the public. Legal opinion initially held that these census records may not, in fact, be made available for public access; it now holds that they may be made available. Following extensive review of the matter, the government announced two decisions on January 24, 2003: (a) that there was need to clarify the Statistics Act and that legislation would be drafted to resolve this issue; (b) to release the 1906 Census records on January 24, 2003. The 1906 Census was a special census that was conducted only in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta. Furthermore, in contrast with other censuses which contained some very sensitive questions, the 1906 special census collected only very limited information: name, address, age, sex, marital status and origin. A bill to amend the Statistics Act (Bill S-13), was introduced in the Senate on February 5, 2003 and passed 3rd reading, without amendment, on May 27, 2003. It was introduced in the House of Commons on May 28, 2003. Parliament was prorogued on November 12th, 2003. The bill died on the Order Paper. In light of the delay in resolving the matter of access to historical census records, genealogists and historians and the Information Commissioner acting on their behalf have sought legal redress to gain access to the 1911 Census records. In June 25, 2004, in a Federal Court decision, Justice Gibson ruled that the care and control of the 1911 Census records rests with the Chief Statistician. Moreover, Justice Gibson stated that there is no legal obligation that would compel the Chief Statistician to transfer these records to the National Archives absent of an agreement between both parties. The Federal Court in this case recognized that there exists a tension between the privacy rights of Canadians and public access to historical census records. He suggested that resolution of this matter is a policy matter best left to the government to address.
