January 9, after reading news reports like 2016-01-07 Statistics Canada Ready To Deliver Long-Form Census For 2016, having had no success with Ministers Responsible for the Census, for Democratic Institutions and for Charter Rights, I phoned one of the two Parliamentary Secretaries to the Minister of Justice. The attendant who answered the phone was attentive. We discussed; I followed up by including her in the following:
From: Sandra Finley
Sent: January 9, 2016 3:55 PM
To: Ministerial.CorrespondenceUnit-Mailout, Justice
Cc: Jody.Wilson-Raybould@parl.gc.ca;
Cc: Parliamentary Secretary to Attorney General, Sean Casey, 613-996-4714, sean.casey@parl.gc.ca
Subject: Census Long form & Charter Right to Privacy
RE: Correspondence on behalf of the Minister of Justice
Regarding your reply to my concern re
the infringement of the census long form on the Charter Right to Privacy of Personal Information,
addressed to Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould, Nov 9:
Many Canadians understand the danger inherent in allowing the state to build and maintain files that hold detailed personal information about them. The Minister of Justice will understand the importance of constitutional Charter Rights.
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Dear L. Bisson,
(L. Bisson is the person who responded to my letter to the Minister of Justice concerning the Charter Right to Privacy of Personal Information – Mandatory Census Long Form issue)
Please make your response right by acknowledging who is responsible for what.
You have gotten it wrong. Charter Rights do not, as you replied to me,
(fall) within the purview of the Honourable Navdeep Singh Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development.
Your email below passes me off to Navdeep Bains whose office does not have the expertise to deal with questions of Charter Rights.
Bains’ office has already passed me off to StatsCan. StatsCan’s non-reply (Marc Hamel, Nov 28) on behalf of Minister Bains:
“ thank you for taking the time to share your views and information …” .
The Charter Right seriously offended by the Census Long Form:
“In fostering the underlying values of dignity, integrity and autonomy, it is fitting that s. 8 of the Charter should seek to protect a biographical core of personal information which individuals in a free and democratic society would wish to maintain and control from dissemination to the state.”
Appended: Liberals re Charter Rights – – excerpt from the Prime Minister’s Mandate to Jody Wilson-Raybould and two quotes regarding Charter Rights from his book “Common Ground”.
I see now where Bains announced (Jan 7) that the Government will proceed without any changes to the Census Long Form. There will be no attempt to address infringement of Charter Rights.
I think and hope that the Government has under-estimated the determination of many Canadians to vigorously defend our Charter Right to Privacy of Personal Information.
Census non-compliance in 2011 was 11% according to numbers supplied by StatsCan at the Toronto trial of Audrey Tobias.
Through your acknowledgement of who is responsible for what, my input might be forwarded to the Attorney General and Parliamentary Secretary who in turn might have meaningful conversations with StatsCan.
Someone needs to advocate against the building of detailed files on citizens that is on-going at StatsCan. The Attorney General is the obvious person.
Engaged citizen,
Sandra Finley
APPENDED
Liberal Commitment to the Charter of Rights and Freedom:
Prime Minister J Trudeau mandated Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould (Attorney General):
… You are expected to ensure that the rights of Canadians are protected, that our work demonstrates the greatest possible commitment to respecting the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and that our government seeks to fulfill our policy goals with the least interference with the rights and privacy of Canadians as possible.
Prime Minister J Trudeau recognizes the value of Charter Rights, he writes in his book, “Common Ground” 2014:
(p. 192) “I know that everyone in this room supports our Charter of Rights,” I told the crowd. “It’s the document that forms the basis of the rights we all enjoy … The Charter of Rights protects freedoms for everyone. You can’t pick and choose the rights you want to keep and leave behind the ones you don’t like.”
(p. 184) I reminded them that it had been twenty-five years since my father had given Canada the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, one of the most valued tools the world has even seen for ensuring the protection and full exercise of human rights. “Now we are all children of that Charter,’ I said.
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From: Ministerial Correspondence Unit – Mailout, Justice
Sent: January 8, 2016 1:24 PM
Subject: Correspondence on behalf of the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
Dear Ms. Finley:
On behalf of the Honourable Jody Wilson‑Raybould, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, I acknowledge receipt of your correspondence of November 9, 2015, concerning the long‑form census.
As you may know, the matter you raise falls within the purview of the Honourable Navdeep Singh Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development. I have therefore taken the liberty of forwarding a copy of your correspondence to Minister Bains for his information and consideration.
Thank you for writing.
Yours sincerely,
L. Bisson
Manager
Ministerial Correspondence Unit
c.c.: The Honourable Navdeep Singh Bains, P.C., M.P.
Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development
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RELATED POSTINGS
Sept 20: Advocating for detailed files on citizens (Response to Maclean’s Magazine)
Nov 5. Mandatory long form census, to Minister Navdeep Bains (Innovation, Science & Development) Minister Responsible for the Census
Nov 6. To Prime Minister J Trudeau, Census Long Form & Charter Right to Privacy
Nov 7. My reply to “What’s your take?”
Nov 9. Request to defend Charter Right (Privacy of Personal Information) – to Ministers Justice, Democratic Institutions & Privacy Commissioner Includes reply and response.
Jan 9. 2016-01-09 To Parliamentary Secretary for Justice, Sean Casey, re Mandatory Census Long Form and Charter Right to Privacy of Personal Information
2015. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s commitment to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms: 1. Letter of Mandate to Attorney General & 2. Quotes from Trudeau’s book, “Common Ground”