Census data will help us appreciate our history.
Canada Day is a holiday based on history, a celebration of our heritage
as Canadians. And this year, the federal government has given us a
special gift - it has unlocked the door to documents that will help us
discover more about our past.
The good news came on Tuesday morning, when MPs gave unanimous consent to a change in Canada's statistics law. That sounds, well, boring, so it's no real surprise that the controversial same-sex marriage that was passed a few hours later took all the attention.
But the amendment to the Statistics Act matters, too, especially to the tens of thousands of Canadians who have been lobbying MPs for the change for several years. They include genealogists and historians, not the usual suspects when it comes to fighting for a change in a law.
The amendment allows census returns to be opened for research 92 years
after they are compiled. That means we will get immediate access to the
national census taken in the spring of 1911, and all of the
information it contains about people, relationships, occupations and more.
And we'll be able to see the 1916 census of the Prairies in 2008, the 1921 national census in 2013, and another census every five years after that.
This is great news for anyone with an interest in the country's history.
So if you hear a lot of cheering in your neighbourhood this weekend, it
might not be Canada Day celebrants, it might just be historians
getting
out of hand.
A census represents a view of the country and its people - all of
its
people - at one point in time. As a source of historical
information, it
can't be matched.
Despite the obvious value of opening these old records, there was
a real
risk that they could have been locked away forever, which would
have
imposed severe limits on our understanding of our collective
past.
The problem was that when the census was taken, there was a
promise that
the information would be kept confidential. That promise was
interpreted
in some federal government circles as being a promise for all
time -
even long after the people who provided the information were
dead.
And so, with the records hidden from view, researchers started
writing
letters, signing petitions and filing access-to-information
requests in
an effort to have them opened.
The census returns up to 1901 had all been released, after all,
without
causing a commotion. Still, the government refused to let anyone
see the
census returns from 1906 and later.
I must admit to a personal bias here. I was one of a dozen people
from
across Canada who got together to sue the government for the
release of
the 1906 census, which covered just the high-growth (at that
time,
anyway) Prairie provinces.
We were pressing forward, confident of victory, and ready to
argue our
case in court when the government suddenly decided, in January
2003,
that it could open up the 1906 census after all.
But it still drew the line at the 1911 one. It's taken the firm
resolve
of some keen supporters inside government - Ontario Liberal
Senator
Lorna Milne tops the list - along with private individuals to
ensure
that we would finally get access to the old documents.
Milne first raised the issue about access to historic census
returns in
1998, after Statistics Canada said it had concerns about the
legality of
releasing them.
StatsCan has an understandable concern, because much of its work
would
become much more difficult if Canadians stopped trusting it. And
going
back on a promise of confidentiality doesn't do much to build
trust.
That said, there surely must be a time limit to any promise to
keep
things quiet. I'd guess that King Tutankhamen didn't want the
world to
know all his secrets, but that hasn't stopped anyone from putting
his
assets on display.
And I'm sure that my great-grandfather William Montgomery
wouldn't have
wanted his neighbours, back in 1911, to know how much money he
made. But
old Will has been at rest, as they say, in Vancouver for more
than six
decades. I'm not convinced that he cares about his old secrets
any more.
The amendment that was passed by MPs this week eliminates any
need for
further discussion about historic census records for years to
come. That
is a tremendous boost for anyone doing historical research, for
whatever
reason, and it's fitting that the change came so close to Canada
Day.
Friday's holiday is our chance to remember the founding of our
nation,
and to look back at how Canada has evolved through the years. All
the
flag-waving and face-painting is nice, but there would be no
reason for
Canada Day without Canadian history.
Our history matters. It's refreshing to know that our MPs
understand
that.
dobee@tc.canwest.com
