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EXTRACTS FROM HANSARD
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PROCEEDINGS OF CANADA'S SENATE

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

Debates of the Senate (Hansard)
2nd Session, 37th Parliament,
Volume 140, Issue 32
Wednesday, February 5, 2003
The Honourable Dan Hays, Speaker

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ROUTINE PROCEEDINGS

Statistics Act

Bill to Amend-First Reading

Hon. Fernand Robichaud (Deputy Leader of the Government) introduced Bill S-13, to amend the Statistics Act.

Bill read first time.

The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, when shall this bill be read the second time?

On motion of Senator Robichaud, bill placed on the Orders of the Day for second reading two days hence.

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Access to Census Information Presentation of Petition

Hon. Lorna Milne: Honourable senators, I have the honour to present 467 signatures from Canadians in the provinces of British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island who are researching their ancestry, as well as signatures from 89 people in the United States, three from Australia, two from Norway, one from Iceland and one from the U.K. who are researching their Canadian roots; a total of 563 people, some with surnames such as Lynch, Fraser, Léger, Losier, Smith, Morin, Graham and Kenny. Jason Milne - no relation - from Vancouver, and even a George Baker, also from Vancouver, signed the petition.

These people are petitioning the following:

Your petitioners call upon Parliament to take whatever steps necessary to retroactively amend the Confidentiality- Privacy clauses of Statistics Acts since 1906, to allow release to the Public, after a reasonable period of time, the Post 1901 Census reports starting with the 1906 Census.

Honourable senators, I have now presented petitions with 20,486 signatures to the Thirty-seventh Parliament and petitions with over 6,000 signatures to the Thirty-sixth Parliament, all calling for immediate action on this very important matter of Canadian history.

I am thrilled to inform those honourable senators who may not have heard that on Friday, January 24, at 11:15 a.m., the government released the nominal census returns from the 1906 census. Further, as we heard a few moments ago, the government has now introduced legislation to govern the release of the 1911 census and all subsequent censuses. On behalf of the -

The Hon. the Speaker: Senator Milne, I am sorry to interrupt, but I must remind honourable senators that the item under Routine Proceedings, Presentation of Petitions, is just that: A presentation of petitions.