History puzzle may end up with missing pieces

History may soon bite its nails if Canadians do not allow Statistics Canada to divulge—after a 92-year embargo—personal information gathered about individuals in 2006.

On May 16, approximately 32 million Canadians in 12.7 million households across the country will submit personal information as part of the 2006 census. This data will be used to plan various programs and services relating to education, identify future manpower needs, plan education and training programs, as well as establish youth employment programs.

However, the 2006 census questionnaire includes a new twist. Participants are asked if they agree that all personal information gathered as part of the census be made accessible to the public in 2098.

The question was included at the request of the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada and has raised the alarm within the scientific community. Researchers fear that they may lose access to extremely valuable information.

“If someone says no to this question, they will simply be erased from the history books,” explains Chad Gaffield, history professor and principal researcher for the Canada Century Research Infrastructure (CCRI).

CCRI remains one of the most significant research projects in the humanities in the country. Some 130 geographers, sociologists and historians from seven Canadian universities are working together building integrated databases from census material from 1871 to 2001.

In Canada, census material is the only trusted source of detailed information on groups such as one-parent families, ethnic groups and professional categories.

Hence, statistical samples will be significantly skewed if individuals decide en masse to protect their personal information in perpetuity. Information provided by these individuals will be removed from the samples.

Gaffield believes that the majority of individuals who refuse to have their information divulged will be motivated by fears that the government will encroach on their private lives. Nevertheless, no one seemed to object to the release of data in 1901, says Gaffield. The census remains the best picture that can be traced of the population, he notes.