POST 1901 CENSUS PROJECT
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françaisPress Release of Professor Bill Waiser - 18 December 2002The following Press Release was made by Professor Waiser at 10:00 AM, 18 December 2002, at the University of Saskatchewan, following receipt of the Information Commissioner's response to his complaint. “What Parliament intended”University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon In August 2000, I applied to Statistics Canada for access to the nominal returns of the 1906 special western census. This was no ordinary census. At the beginning of the twentieth century, hundreds of thousands of immigrants to western Canada helped fuel what became known at the "Laurier Boom." Most newcomers were attracted by the promise of the "last best west" and took up homesteads in record numbers. Prairie cities also became some of the world’s fastest growing urban centres. Saskatoon, for example, mushroomed from a mere hamlet of 113 in 1901 to 12,000 a decade later. Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier took great pride in the settlement of western Canada and wanted to document the remarkable transformation the three prairie provinces were undergoing. Census-taking was normally held every 10 years, the last one in 1901. But western Canada’s growth was so spectacular that Laurier ordered a special survey of the region’s population and agricultural activity. For western Canada, the 1906 census is the equivalent of Jean Talon’s first census of Quebec in 1666. This material is now almost a century old and should have been made available for public consultation, according to existing legislation, after 92 years in other words, in 1998. But Statistics Canada flatly refused my request, and I appealed its decision to the Information Commissioner. This past week, after "a thorough and fair hearing," the Hon. John Reid upheld the complaint and called on Statistics Canada to release the material in its entirety. "I have not been convinced," he informed Statistics Canada about his pending ruling, "that access to these records can be refused lawfully." Reid also noted that the 1906 census was meant to be a permanent record of the National Archives of Canada and thus available for future consultation. "That, in my view," he unequivocally stated, "is what Parliament intended." Reid’s report is not an isolated one. In December 2000, the Expert Panel on Access to Historical Census Materials (which included a former Supreme Court of Canada judge) concluded there was no legal or moral impediment to transferring the 1906 census to the custody and control of the National Archives for release to Canadians. This recommendation was supported by an August 2000 Department of Justice opinion, which indicated that pre-1918 census records could be legally released after 92 years without any legislative change. Then, there were the town hall meetings conducted across the country by Environics Canada on behalf of Statistics Canada during the winter of 2001-02 to survey the public’s attitude to the release of historic census records. The answer at the public sessions was a resounding yes. Unfortunately, Dr. Ivan Fellegi, the Chief Statistician, has steadfastly ignored these findings. In fact, he has already advised the Information Commissioner that he does not intend to accept his recommendation and turn over the 1906 census. I have written him, however, and once again asked for access to the 1906 nominal census returns in light of the Information Commissioner’s ruling. It does not need to be this way. The Chief Statistician could do the honourable thing: respect the law of Canada and release the information. He would not be breaking any promise to the Canadian people since no one, including Statistics Canada, has been able to provide any evidence that Prime Minister Laurier intended the material to be kept confidential forever or that it should not become an archival record. Nor would there be any cause for complaint for violation of privacy. The previous release of census materials in Canada (up to 1901) has not produced a single objection--not even in Newfoundland where data from 1945 is available to the public. Nor would Statistics Canada be setting a precedent. Census material in the United States is released after only 70 years. Americans currently enjoy access to the nominal data up to 1930. Some have questioned why researchers cannot be simply satisfied with the anonymous aggregate information published by Statistics Canada, in addition to surviving personal letters and diaries found in the nation's archives. Our history and identity as Canadians, however, is not just the story of the elite. If researchers are going to tell the past lives of everyday people who made up the fabric of this country, then they must have access to raw census data to track and interconnect the life cycles of average Canadians over time and place. Researchers have used name-specific census returns to reconstruct family and local histories, employment patterns, mobility across place and time, medical history and disease occurrences, marriage and fertility, boarders staying with families, and much more. In other words, data from past censuses (up to 1901) have allowed researchers to put average men, women, and children, and ethnic, occupational, and community groups back into our history. Census material is also absolutely essential for genealogical research, a pleasure enjoyed annually by thousands of Canadians seeking to find their own roots in Canada's past. And the interest in the 1906 special western census extends beyond the region. The new immigrants to western Canada in the early twentieth century came not only from other parts of Canada, but from the United States and Europe. People in other parts of the world seeking to discover personal roots will consequently use the 1906 census to help reconstruct family and community histories. As a case in point, so many people tried to access the new on-line1901 British census that it overloaded the system. The 1906 census records are some of the fundamental building blocks of western Canadian history. They are an invaluable source of information to historians, genealogists, and other researchers, especially with the provincial centennials of Saskatchewan and Alberta only three years away. And if Statistics Canada is not prepared to observe Canada’s laws, then it is up to the Department of Industry, the department responsible for the agency, to see that the Information Commissioner’s report is upheld, and to the Department Justice to enforce Canada’s law. There is no need for further study, no need for additional reports--least of all, any need for new legislation. Canada’s Parliament debated this very issue in the early 1980s and struck a balance between the interests of privacy and access. That’s why historic census material is supposed to be made available 92 years after the data was collected. It falls, then, to the Chretien government to see that law is respected. The 1906 special western census should be immediately transferred to the custody and control of the National Archives of Canada so that it can be made available for public consultation according to existing regulations. Only then will Prime Minister Laurier's vision be fulfilled For further information, or an interview, please contact: Bill Waiser Department of History 9 Campus Drive Saskatoon Saskatchewan S7N 5A5 Tel: (306) 966-5801 website http://duke.usask.ca/~waiser/ |
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