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From: "Don Nisbet" <dnisbet(a)vcn.bc.ca>
To: <dlkgen(a)aol.com>
Subject: VWCOGS--Americans with family ties to Canada
Date: Mon, 25 Oct 1999 01:02:02 -0700
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Dear Fellow Genealogists in the United States:
Millions of Americans from all over the United States find their search for
roots leads back into Canada and thus they turn to surviving Canadian vital
and census records in order to extend or complete their family trees. The
loss of public access to all post-1901 Canadian census records is therefore
a blow to genealogists on both sides of the American-Canadian border.
Withdrawal of public access stems from a clause inserted in a 1905 law
which in the view of the Canadian government guarantees perpetual
confidentiality of census records. Unless this law is changed there will
never be another Canadian census made available to genealogists.
Canadian genealogists are fighting this recent government decision and
are inviting American genealogists with Canadian roots to have their say
as well. Canadian Senator Lorna Milne feels strongly that all those
affected by this decision whether citizens of this country or not have a
right to be heard. She is asking Americans and all other non-Canadians to
write her if they are concerned about the loss of these irreplaceable old
records and she will be their voice in Canada's Parliament. She intends to
read some of the letters in the Senate Chamber when this issue is debated
later this year. Letters may be sent to her by email (please include postal
address) or via regular mail at:
Senator Lorna Milne,
The Senate of Canada,
Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0A4
Canada
Email: < Farquhar(a)netcom.ca >
Americans can also contribute by signing a special "Petition of Support"
which will be presented to Parliament by Senator Milne. Copies of this
petition are available on the web where they can be downloaded and
printed out:
<
http://www.globalgenealogy.com/census/petition.htm >
The closing date for the petition has been extended to the 31st October
1999. Please send completed petitions to:
Senator Lorna Milne
c/o Muriel M. Davidson
25 Crestview Avenue
Brampton, Ontario, L6W 2R8
Canada
More information may be found at the web site of Canada's Post-1901
Census Campaign. <
www.globalgenealogy.com/census/index.htm >
Support for our campaign remains strong in countries other than Canada.
Letters and petitions have been received from most of the Western
countries including the United States, England, Ireland, Scotland,
Australia and New Zealand. One of our greatest supporters has been
Sharon Sergeant organizer of the Boston States Migration Workshop and
Genealogy Fair held Saturday October 2, 1999 at the Charles River
Museum of Industry, Waltham, MA.
Sharon is an excellent writer and has submitted the following press release
to approximately 2 dozen New England newspapers. She has promoted
the campaign, in both Canada and the States, in numerous media
interviews she has had relating to the Boston States Fair.
Don Nisbet < dnisbet(a)vcn.bc.ca >
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POST-1901 CANADIAN FAMILY TREE PRUNED IN PERPETUITY
by Sharon Sergeant
Millions of Americans who have just begun researching their family
history have new found cousins and branches in Canada. They are
sometimes able to find these connections by piecing together what they
know or can gather from their immediate family members. They can also
tap the international community of Internet genealogy web sites, message
boards and email lists. Confirming these connections often requires
research in Canadian birth, marriage, death and census records.
Such records usually have restricted access for time periods prescribed by
law to protect the privacy of living individuals. The most recent Canadian
census records available for inspection are the 1901 census. However, this
may be the last Canadian census ever released to the public.
The Canadian government is currently pondering a series of laws in the
early 1900s which may have been motivated by taxation concerns, as well
as later laws protecting privacy. These Canadian laws have been
interpreted to mean that the 1901 census is the last Canadian census to be
made public. Previous census data was made available after 92 years,
when any person living at the time of the census was likely to be deceased.
Some proposals are reported to actually include records destruction.
Census returns include information on household occupants, neighbors,
property, age, birth place, ethnic origin, occupation, religion, health,
economic and lifestyle issues. Irish and French groups form the largest
populations of the recent century's migrations to the US, but immigrants
from many countries are represented in the groups that passed between the
US and Canadian borders, especially in the twentieth century.
Without access to the post-1901 census, many links to early or
pre-Canadian heritage and migration patterns in prior centuries will be
lost. Historians and hobbyists are not the only ones affected. The
ordinary Canadian citizen's ability to challenge or correct extrapolations
of census information based on outdated social policies, ignorance and
statistical methodologies or provide new insight to direct medical
research would be completely unavailable. Many human rights issues
throughout history have been hampered by the withholding of information
and destruction of important records.
On a very personal level, family histories are essential for genetic
disease studies and donors. Genealogists are often involved in family
research for medical issues such as locating bone marrow donors for
leukemia victims.
Detailed reassessments of historical information are often needed to
understand the growing complexities of our daily lives. This historical
information also provides perspective on the current challenges of the
global economy and mobility. No other historical record can provide both
the big picture and the essential details found in the census information.
Does the Canadian government have a responsibility to protect the rights
of deceased persons or is the current interpretation of the law being
confused with completely different concerns for privacy in today's
electronic data gathering? An Ottawa genealogy web site reports a
response from the office of Dr. Ivan Fellegi, Chief Statistician of Canada
as follows, " There are no exceptions in the legislation that would permit
the disclosure of information from the Census that can be related to
individuals, without their written consent."
Genealogists and historians throughout Canada have organized the
Post-1901 Census Campaign to inform representatives in the Canadian
government about the views of the current constituency. Canadian Senator
Lorna Milne has been working with the Census Campaign organizers to
call attention to this matter.
The Campaign group urges Canadian citizens living in Canada to write to
their MP and sign Canada wide petitions. They are also collecting
signatures on petitions from Canadian citizens outside of Canada and
non-Canadian citizens with research interest in the census data.
US family researchers in the northeast region are especially affected. The
1990 US census statistics show that New England has the highest
concentration of reported Canadian ancestry. It seems quite likely that
the year 2000 census will reflect even higher concentrations as the recent
surge in family history research uncovers previously unknown branches in
the hundreds of years that migrations circled the borders.
Recently, George F. Sanborn, Jr., F.A.S.G. of the New England Historic
Genealogical Society wrote to Senator Milne to voice his support:
"I am writing to you to voice my support for opening the post-1901
Canadian census records. As a Canadian citizen living in the U.S.A., I
do not have an MP to whom I can write and express my opinion. I am
told that you welcome letters from outside the country on this important
subject.
As a professional genealogist, I live in New England and work in
Boston at the New England Historic Genealogical Society where I am
the Canadian specialist. I have led genealogical research tours for the
Society to different parts of Canada; authored and edited books on
Canadian research; and lectured all over North America on Canadian
genealogical research. I cannot stress to you strongly enough how
important it is to both our countries to have these records open to
family historians and to scholars alike."
The September 20, 1999 issue of Maclean's, the award-winning Canadian
magazine, has the cover story "The Search for Roots". The story author
John Nicol made a telling comment about his visit to the Mormon church
Archives in Salt Lake City, Utah: "What amazed me was how many
Americans were researching their Canadian roots. ... "Each story I heard
added to the puzzle of putting Canada's history together."
American family history puzzle pieces are also often found in Canada.
Seafarers and traders began circling the Atlantic coast and rivers before
the settlement of Jamestown, Virginia and Plymouth, Massachusetts
colonies. Large migrations from New England occurred when a series of
Maritime Province settlers in the mid-1700s, called the Planters, were
given economic incentives to replace the expelled Acadians. Fleeing
Loyalists and post-Revolution families who had outgrown their land
moved up into the Canadian provinces during the late 1700s, often on their
way into western territories.
Steamship travel aided the movements and trade between the states and
the provinces throughout the 1800s. The industrial revolution and railroad
lines greatly increased the concentrations of eastern Canada families
moving into New England. These families went to work in the mills and
the construction of towns and cities. Some branches then radiated into the
rest of the states and provinces with the railroads or during the various
land and gold rush periods.
American researchers with Canadian ties can sign petitions in support of
the Post-1901 Canadian Census Campaign and send letters of concern and
support to Canadian Senator Lorna Milne who will bring them to the
attention of Canada's legislators.
Additional information on the Canadian laws and Census Campaign may
be found at the Global Gazette Census Campaign web site:
<
www.globalgenealogy.com/census/index.htm >
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