UPDATE: the reply from the Minister’s Office, and my response are appended.
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(Versions of this sent to Minister of Democratic Institutions (Maryam Monsef) and Privacy Commissioner)
Dear Jody Wilson-Raybould,
It is truly wonderful that you are the Minister of Justice!
I wish to place a pressing matter re Charter Rights on your overloaded desk. Sorry!
People are herd animals. We have gone off in a stampede, or jumped on the proverbial bandwagon. It is sometimes impossible to return us to a state of calm and realistic deliberation.
The Census long form is not a simple matter. People are advocating for the building of detailed files on citizens, if they understand the Census and Surveys data base at StatsCan.
Two Cabinet Ministers are the best hope for working out protection for the Charter Right to Privacy of Personal Information on the Census Long Form bandwagon, the
- Minister of Justice & Attorney General of Canada (you!)
- Minister for Democratic Institutions (Maryam Monsef)
The Privacy Commissioner of Canada, Daniel Therrien, also has a role to play.
You may not be aware that Lockheed Martin Corporation is a contractor at StatsCan. A specialty of theirs is surveillance, and they have contracts with the NSA. You probably know about the leaks by Edward Snowden, Glenn Greenwald and Julian Assange. The NSA, CIA, FBI establish back-door entry to data bases if they cannot obtain legal, front-door access. It is no secret that the U.S. wants access to the data on all Canadians.
Our Charter Right to Privacy of Personal Information reads:
“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.”
In light of the troubling fact that in 2011 we RE-elected the Harper Conservative Agenda for the under-mining of democracy, in light of the still rampant racism (the denigrating emails that are circulating about Muslims, the abuse even by Police of First Nations women), in light of everything that mainstream media does not tell citizens, it is my opinion that Canadians will be making a tragic mistake if they agree to extinguish our Charter Right to Privacy of Personal Information.
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.
The resolution of the debacle at StatsCan must include a solid defence of the Charter Right to Privacy of Personal Information.
I have communicated with Maryam Monsef I cannot know if my communications make it through the screening between me and a Minister. If the staff is partisan, it will not make it because the Liberal platform promised a mandatory long form census. Period.
I laid out the “minefield” on this issue in detail, for the Minister responsible for StatsCan, Navdeep Bains. Please go to http://sandrafinley.ca/?p=15633.
Because I have been involved in this issue for 12 years (from the beginning when Lockheed Martin was awarded Census contracts) I was asked for “my take” on the situation. The link to “my take” is on the above URL. I think you will find it helpful. I was thinking in terms of solutions.
Note that the original intention with the contracting out to Lockheed Martin was that they would do pretty well the whole census operation, down to the rental of the extra office space required when a census is undertaken, and the hiring of the workers. They and the StatsCan leadership did not get what they proposed because of the outrage of Canadians. Lockheed Martin fared just fine, nonetheless.
I will be happy to answer questions, if I am able.
I sincerely wish you all the best in your new job. I know you will do your best, and that will be more than enough. Other Canadians have to help out, too.
In service to democratic governance and the rule of law,
Sandra Finley
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APPENDED, REPLY FROM MINISTER’S OFFICE
From: Ministerial Correspondence Unit – Mailout 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
MY RESPONSE TO MINISTER’S OFFICE
From: Sandra Finley Sent: January 9, 2016 3:55 PM
To: ‘Ministerial Correspondence Unit – Mailout’
Cc: Jody.Wilson-Raybould (Minister); Sean.Casey (Parliamentary Secretary)
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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Cc Parliamentary Secretary to Attorney General, Sean Casey, 613-996-4714, sean.casey@parl.gc.ca
Dear L. Bisson,
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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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”
Sandra……way, way too long.
In the best spirit of my admiration for all you do may I ask that you get someone to edit your Posts.
Ministers need short, succinct statements that they can absorb inside of 1 minute or 2 at most.
Derek
(sigh), thank-you Derek!
go get em Sandra!!!
Sandra, as you are probably aware, there are many more issues at stake here dealing with the charter. The very existence of statute codes/laws decimate our charter in the first place. (24, 32, 52) You should kindly ask the Minister what she plans on doing with our current situation with overzealous law enforcement. Of course i am in favor and support the police, however, I see a lot of charter violations in their conduct, and i believe that this will contribute to massive civil unrest left unchecked. As the new kid on the block (Justin Trudeau) said it best the other day….why? BECAUSE ITS 2015!!!!!!!
God bless and play safe kids.
Hi Darcy,
Re civil unrest: It has been ramping up for a number of years. I agree with you: if there aren’t changes, it will continue to grow.
I was wondering. Unrest grows in tandem with … what? Is there a basic condition? Is it because, in this “globalized” world you would have to be severely disabled not to understand that if we don’t mobilize, if we don’t pitch in to help, we are headed into an abyss?
Thankfully, there are thousands of Canadians who are dedicated to making a difference (for the good!) in the myriad of places where “better” is required (our system of “justice” is one of them). From my observation, and because of the internet, more people are mobilizing all the time.
“Civil unrest” is not bad. It’s the only thing that has the potential to pull us through – – people working together to find solutions. Managed with integrity and thoughtfulness, this mobilization is a threat only to the powers-that-be. Think Gandhi.