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EXTRACTS FROM HANSARD
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PROCEEDINGS OF CANADA'S HOUSE OF COMMONS

The following extracts have been taken from Hansard Records
of Canada's House of Commons for the 37th Parliament of Canada:

Debates of the House of Commons (Hansard)
1st Session, 37th Parliament,
NUMBER 069
Thursday, May 31, 2001
The Honourable Peter Milliken, Speaker

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STATEMENTS BY MEMBERS

CENSUS RECORDS

Ms. Carol Skelton (Saskatoon-Rosetown-Biggar, Canadian Alliance): Mr. Speaker, in today's National Post there is a story about Grey Alexander, an Alberta sheep farmer, who is upset that the local area census worker has access to personal information about him.

Mr. Alexander was contacted by a census worker after he failed to complete the long census form in full. The problem is the census worker is someone he knows quite well.

To quote Mr. Alexander, "Elements of my income end up with somebody I see twice a week. What if it's a business competitor or somebody you have acrimony with? This is a small town".

In today's Saskatoon Star Phoenix there is a letter describing a similar situation. To quote the writer, "There is no one in our community to whom I knowingly would have provided all the private personal confidential information contained in the census form. Not even the loans officer at my bank in town".

Statistics Canada clearly needs to do a far better job of protecting confidentiality of census data in rural areas.

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CENSUS RECORDS

Mr. Grant Hill (Macleod, Canadian Alliance): Mr. Speaker, the census information is supposed to be private and confidential. Imagine the dismay of one of my constituents to find that his neighbour had access to every personal question on his census form.

Why was that personal information made available to neighbours?

Hon. Brian Tobin (Minister of Industry, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, the census information in question was made available to a census official who was sworn to secrecy and subject to penalties if the information was made public. This was somebody doing a job. I think it is a disservice to describe those officials as a neighbour. This was someone working.

If any Canadian does not want to provide information to the census that way, they have an opportunity to send their information through the mail or through a 1-800 line. There should be no question about privacy in this regard.

Mr. Grant Hill (Macleod, Canadian Alliance): Mr. Speaker, the minister should tell that to Grey Alexander, my constituent. He got a phone call from the census worker and he said "Trudy, is that you?" Trudy said "Yes, it is me". Trudy has quit her job because it is so intrusive.

Grey Alexander says that he will not fill out that information, and I say it is intrusive, so my question stands. Why is personal information being made available to neighbours and acquaintances? It should never happen.

Hon. Brian Tobin (Minister of Industry, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, the member has now gone from describing the individual in question as a neighbour to being a census official.

There is provision that anybody who wants to provide census information in an anonymous fashion can do so. Unless it is the position of the party opposite that there ought to be no census information, that we can just assume that we all began with alligators in the swamp, I think we should stick with the census.