Counting archives in: The appraisal of the 1991 census of Canada

Archivaria

Volumn 45, Issue , 1998, Pages 27-46

  Piché, Jean Stéphen ^a   Powell, Sheila ^a  

^a National Archives of Canada   (Canada)

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[No Author keywords available]

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EID: 2442594159     PISSN: 03186954     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: None     Document Type: Article

References (16)

1. Introduction to Arthur G. Doughty, The Canadian Archives and Its Activities (Ottawa, 1924). p. 5. Doughty immediately went on to write: Each day that passes is a triumph for an archive, for each day some mere scrap of paper permits justice to prevail. And yet while so much of our happiness and safety as individuals, and as a people, is inseparable from archives, the average man bestows little thought either upon their commercial or their historical value. Indeed those who are deeply concerned about these matters are not infrequently accorded scant sympathy. Serious minded people often question the wisdom of preserving records, and the fiat is issued for their destruction. Nor is this altogether surprising. For twenty years or more, perchance, no one has required them. Why should they be kept? Decades later, Doughty's words remain relevant to archivists, especially those who advocate the preservation of records whose continued survival is deemed needless or inappropriate by some members of society.
2. For a comprehensive discussion of access issues relating to the census see David H. Flaherty, "Access to Historic Census Data in Canada: a Comparative Analysis, " Canadian Public Administration (Winter 1978). pp. 481-98.
3. This information on the history of the Canadian census is taken from Statistics Canada, Census Handbook (Ottawa, 1992). pp. 7-12.
4. National Archives of Canada, Manuscript Division, Acquisition Register 1 (1908-1937). p. 64.
5. National Archives of Canada, RG 37, vol. 29, file 60-3-DBS and National Archives of Canada. file 9430-50lS5. vol. 2.
6. A confidentiality directive was passed as an Order-in-Council on 31 March 1911 (P.C. 646). Because the 1906 statistics legislation stipulates that all rules and instructions related to the census set out by the Governor-in-Council have force of law, Statistics Canada interprets the 191. 1 confidentiality provision to apply to the 1906 census and all subsequent censuses.
7. Access to census records is governed by the Privacy Act. Depending on who is the custodian of the records, the regulations to the Privacy Act, which provide guidelines for the application of the Act, govern access to census records differently. If census records are in the custody and under the control of the National Archives, they can be released after 92 years (Regulations to the Privacy Act, Section 6d). Because no post-1901 census records have been transferred to the National Archives, this means that all census returns currently at the National Archives are open to researchers. As for post-1901 nominal census records held at Statistics Canada, there are no provisions in the regulations to the Privacy Act for making these records available to the public.
8. The Privacy Commissioner of Canada, Annual Report, 1994-1995 (Ottawa, 1995). pp. 33-38. "Of the thirty-three complaints received by the Privacy Commissioner, seven were "not wellfounded or were discontinued.
9. Speech by Bruce Phillips, Privacy Commission of Canada, to the National Statistics Council, Ottawa, 26 November 1993. Transcript provided by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner.
10. Bmce Phillips, Privacy Commissioner, to Jean-Pierre Wallot, National Archivist, 29 April 1994, File EX6237-50lS5, Vol. One. I I "Census Records, Privacy Issues and the Preservation of Canadian Heritage, " A Draft Discussion Paper Prepared by Michael Swift, Assistant National Archivist, June 1994, File EX6237-50lS5, Vol. One.
11. Under normal circumstances, the National Archives would have entered into an agreement, known as a Multi-Year Disposition Plan, with Statistics Canada. This agreement would have set out joint priorities for the disposition of Statistics Canada's records.
12. Teny Cook, The Archival Appraisal of Records Containing Personal Information: A RAMP Study With Guidelines (Paris, 1991). p. 22.
13. The 1840 US census serves as an example of why it is valuable to have a first hand look at how the answers to the census questions are recorded, or more significantly, misrecorded and misinterpreted. The final results of the 1840 census showed an alarming rate of insanity and idiocy among the African-American population of the northern states, which proponents of slavery held up as proof that freedom led to insanity among former slaves. The statistics, however, were wildly inaccurate due to a problem with the format of the census form that led information to be recorded in the wrong category. For a discussion of the problems with the 1840 and other American censuses, see Margo J. Anderson, The American Census: A Social History (New Haven and London, 1988).
14. Revenue Canada employees involved in census processing are sworn in as employees of Statistics Canada, and are therefore allowed to view census records. The authors were also sworn in as Statistics Canada employees in order to conduct their appraisal.
15. While the Dissemination Database does not contain the names and addresses of census respondents, it does contain a code that can be converted into the unique identifying code (the FED-PROV-EA-HOUSEHOLD-PERSON number) used on the original census forms and in the other processing databases. In this way, the names and addresses of respondents from the forms can eventually be linked to the corresponding census data in the Dissemination Database.
16. Records Disposition Authority Number 951024.