Wednesday 19 June 2013

1921 Canadian census - all dressed up, nowhere to go?

The latest news from Canada is that the 1921 census there, which should have been released several days ago, is apparently all digitised and ready to go, with a geographical index already prepared, but that it's release has been seemingly blocked by the Canadian Government.

I've also read in an email an unattributed comment, claimed to be from a Government member, that the Canadian government may be sitting on it because they think "the only persons interested in the 1921 census are "three old ladies in Kingston (Ontario)" who only want to use it for genealogy" (Source: http://globalgenealogy.com/news/articles/00059.htm). Talk about age discrimination! If a little old lady wants to read the census for genealogy, I'd be interested to know what the problem with that might be, particularly if there are three of them - hell hath no fury than three little old ladies with a genealogy interest scorned... or an entire nation. Apparently this is similar to the release of the 1901 Canadian census a few years back, for which a campaign was created to provoke action from another apparently intransigent government.

If you'd like to help three little old ladies in Kingston - or thousands of others - to gain access to something they are already legally entitled to view, read Elizabeth Lapointe's full post on the subject at http://genealogycanada.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/breaking-news-1921-census-of-canada.html, and John Reid's various posts at www.anglo-celtic-connections.blogspot.ca.

(With thanks to Graham MacDonnell, Elizabeth Lapointe, John Reid and Dick Eastman)

Chris

My new book, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet, is now available from Pen and Sword. My Scottish land and church records ebooks are available at http://www.gen-ebooks.com/unlock-the-past.html, whilst my next Pharos Scottish course, Scottish Research Online, starts Sep 4th - see http://pharostutors.com/details.php?coursenumber=102. Time to smash a few brick walls...!

1 comment:

  1. It always amazes me when governments pick fights with the people they are elected to represent. Instead of spreading sunshine, they are spreading anger.. The next government may or may not learn from this...

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