Debates of March 2nd, 2000

Jason Kenney Calgary Southeast, AB

moved:

That, in the opinion of this House, the government should take all necessary steps to release the 1911 census records once they have been deposited in the National Archives in 2003.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise to speak to a motion on an important matter which has been of some concern. It reads:

That, in the opinion of this House, the government should take all necessary steps to release the 1911 census records once they have been deposited in the National Archives in 2003.

On its face the motion may appear to be a rather technical and arcane matter of concern only to a small community of genealogists and amateur historians, but in fact the motion speaks to a very important matter about access to our shared history as a country.

All members of this place will know, having been contacted undoubtedly by members of genealogical organizations, historical associations, archivists and others, that the rules respecting the normal release of the census data collected from the 1911 census have been interpreted in such as way as to prevent their public release and access. Hence, for the first time in Canadian history, historians will not have access to the data collected in the 1911 census.

Up to and including the 1901 census in Canada, the census records were transferred to the National Archives and were subsequently made available to the public 92 years after collection. This was possible because clauses in the Privacy Act allowed for the release of certain pieces of information to the National Archives subject to certain aspects of the Privacy Act.

However, in 1906 the Government of Canada passed an act respecting the census and statistics in which section 68 empowered the governor in council, the cabinet, to make regulations respecting confidentiality. The government of Sir Wilfrid Laurier in 1906 did in fact promulgate certain orders in council which restricted access to the census of 1911.

Apparently it did this because at that time there was concern among the public that the data collected could be used in the assessment of taxation and perhaps for the conscription of Canadians in a future wartime conflict. There was some political sensitivity and a feeling at that time that the public should be assured the information it was obliged to surrender to the government would be kept in confidence and not used for other public purposes.

However, no commitment was made by the government either in statute or regulation at that time that this information would be kept secret in perpetuity. It was clear to all concerned, according to many of the historians who have examined this matter, that the regulation applied in the context of the day. People understandably did not want to have bureaucrats, politicians or others having access to personal information which they were required to surrender under the Statistics Act.

It is a long and much honoured convention both in this country and in similar jurisdictions that such information eventually after a reasonable time, roughly the maximum period of an average lifespan, ought eventually to become publicly accessible for research and academic purposes.

In 1985 the justice department arrived at a legal opinion, an interpretation of the statutory and regulatory decisions in 1906, in which it decided the census data had to remain in secret in perpetuity following the 1911 census. Thus today we find ourselves in the position where in the last couple of years archivists, genealogists and historians have suddenly discovered that the huge treasure trove of historical data which they anticipated would be deposited at the National Archives in 2003, the data obtained in the 1911 census of Canadian subjects and citizens, would not be made available.

All across the country there are tens of thousands of concerned Canadians who take a deep interest in the history of the country. They began to express their concern about the secret nature of the census records.

This is important because as we all know, in the first decade of the 20th century, there was an enormous wave of immigration into Canada. Many people today can trace their ancestors' arrival to Canada to that period between 1901 and 1911. Many millions of Canadian families have some ancestors who arrived, acquired land and began their lives in this great country during those early years of development, immigration and settlement.

The 1911 census represents a critical link to the past for historians and genealogists. For us it is a window which allows us to find who arrived generally from Europe at the time, where they settled, how many people were in their families, their birth dates, their relatives, the location of their land and their occupations.

I do not think the release of this very basic genealogical data would in any way violate the privacy of those who lived in the country between 1901 and 1911. It goes without saying that the vast majority of those people who were subject to the 1911 census are today posthumous Canadians and indeed have no living interest in the release of this information, but there are some. I can say with some pride that next week my grandfather, Mart Kenney, a great Canadian musician, will be celebrating his 90th birthday. He was born in 1910 in Vancouver. I asked him if he would be concerned if I and his other descendants could have access to census information concerning his family in 1910. He said of course not, that is ridiculous.

If we could consult those who lived at the time of the 1911 census and ask them whether they would object to their grandchildren and great grandchildren, and academic and professional historians, looking at the information to find out where they settled, where they lived, how many people were in their families and other data of this nature, I am sure we would find that they would not raise any objection. I am sure they would be intrigued to learn that there are so many thousands of Canadians who are deeply concerned about their familial past, their regional past and national past and hope they will have access to this information.

Virtually every other jurisdiction in the developed democracies recognize the principle that we must respect the privacy rights of citizens when the government or state requires people to surrender information under sanction of law. That ought to be managed with great discretion. Information should for a lengthy period of time be kept secret. However, these jurisdictions also recognize that a time comes when such information no longer poses a privacy interest for individuals but rather poses a public interest for access by historians and others.

I can give examples of such jurisdictions. Australia releases its census data after 100 years. France releases its census data a century after collection. Denmark releases such data 65 years after collection, well within a normal lifespan. In the United Kingdom efforts are being made to release data after 100 years.

Surely the 92 year rule which we have respected in Canada until today is an adequate period of time to ensure and protect the privacy interests of those who filled out census forms in 1911.

The legal status quo is interpreted by the justice department and applied by Statistics Canada. It does not only affect the 1911 census. It affects all censuses taken since then. If we maintain the legal status quo in this regard, never again will Canadian historians, archivists or genealogists be able to reach back in time and research the important information which gives us clues to the past from whence we came.

Too often we forget the importance of our history. In this country in particular we can read the brilliant best-selling book Who Killed Canadian History? authored by eminent Canadian historian Jack Granatstein last year. We can look at the polling information which suggests that the vast majority of Canadians, and young Canadians in particular, have an astounding ignorance about the basic facts of our national history, our political history, our military history and our social history. One could make the argument that this country is losing touch with its past. A country which does not know from whence it came is a country that has no clear direction in the future.

It is essential for a thriving, modern democracy like Canada to have a deep sense of its past. That is not just done by academic historians writing sweeping histories about the socioeconomic and political history of the country. That understanding of our history is, at its most profound level, conducted by amateur genealogists and historians who dig into the past of particular families with their own particular traditions. This is very important information. It helps the thousands and thousands of people every day who are collecting the data on who settled in Canada, where they settled and how they built their lives in this place. It contributes collectively to our historical understanding as a nation.

It is extremely important that parliament hear the voices of those Canadians who are concerned about our history by opening up access to the 1911 census and all census data which has been collected since then.

This motion is limited in its scope. Once more it seeks only to release the 1911 census records, something which could be achieved by amending the Statistics Act to make it evident that this will be public information once deposited at the National Archives in 2003. Again the scope is limited. It only deals with that census. However, should the House in its wisdom decide to vote for this private member's motion, which in fact has been granted votable status by the relevant committee, that I hope would be taken by the government as direction from parliament to amend the Statistics Act to permit access to all census data collected from 1911 onward, and indeed from the 2001 census into the future.

This may seem to be a modest motion, and indeed it is, but it is an important one. I believe that the overwhelming number of Canadians who have an understanding of this issue desire for the government to open up access to our past, not to lock away this important historical information into some vault, and certainly not to destroy that information as some, shall we say, absolutists in the privacy field have suggested.

There are those who do not see the need for a balance between the interest of privacy and the public interest of access to information. There are those whom I would characterize as absolutists on the question of privacy and who actually have recommended that the National Archives destroy the census data once it has been deposited there so that no one in the future can ever gain access to it.

Let us send a clear signal to the chief statistician, the national archivist and the Government of Canada that Canadians want access to our past. They want to respect Canadians' privacy, but we believe that can be done with the 92 year timeframe in place and contemplated by my motion.

I look forward to the debate which will ensue. I hope that when it is concluded, members of this place will choose to vote in favour of Motion No. 160 and allow us to open up a window into our past while respecting the privacy rights of Canadians who have gone before us.