So contentious is the decision to axe the mandatory long form, that the chief statistician of Statistics Canada Munir Sheikh took the unusual move of resigning in protest—bringing the largely hidden war between the libertarian ideologies of the ruling Conservatives and the more social engineering inclined bureaucracy out into the open.
The angst aimed at the decision to replace the mandatory long form census—that one in five Canadians are required to fill out in each census under penalty of law (although no convictions have ever been recorded despite many high profile refusals) with a voluntary form sent to 30 percent of Canadian households, has quickly spread to a wide range of organizations that depend on the accuracy of the data collected.
Those concerned about the changes to the long form census point to a credible body of evidence that suggests the voluntary form will not produce accurate data upon which to base key government decisions.
"The long form has to be mandatory to be effective," said Algoma-Manitoulin-Kapuskasing MP Carol Hughes. "Municipalities and provinces rely on that data in order to make informed decisions for their communities. The whole concept that the government is proposing is quite problematic."
"We use it quite a bit," agreed Northeast Town CAO Dave Williamson, whose staff is currently gathering data for the town's 10-year strategic sustainability plan. "It is central to the work of planning for the future of the community."
Mr. Williamson noted that municipalities use the data provided by Statistics Canada to support funding applications to a wide range of government department and agencies.
"We not only use it to make the business case," he said. "We also use it in the formulation of the planning that lies behind the original proposal itself."
The ability to cross-reference different years of data will be lost with the changes and that brings another facet of concern to the matter—the impact of the loss of longitudinal data.
"It will be huge," said Mr. Williamson. "We compare that data when we are dealing with other government agencies, when we are looking at zoning amendments. We look at that data and its comparisons before making a whole raft of decisions so we can use the ratepayer's money wisely. If we lose the link with that data between the years, we lose the ability to compare apples to apples."
The move is worrisome to educators as well.
"The Rainbow District School Board has a budget of $178 million, where we are often called upon to make difficult decisions," said Manitoulin trustee Larry Killens. "The data we get from Statistics Canada allows us to distribute those monies equitably to meet the needs of a large and diverse community."
"I have to question where the drive for this is coming from," said Ms. Hughes. "I for one have never gotten a single complaint about the mandatory long form, and nobody I have talked to has either. There is no uproar against the mandatory long form, so what is driving this decision?"
Ms. Hughes said that she believes the impetus is coming from pressure from large corporations. If reliable data is no longer available from Statistics Canada, then the only ones who will have the resources to collect that data will be large multinationals—who in turn will be hiring large polling companies to do the data collection for them.
Even the ideological underpinnings of the decision became suspect when it was revealed that the new plan to send voluntary long forms to more Canadian homes would actually cost $37 million more than the status quo.
"So where is it coming from?" asked Ms. Hughes. Few complaints, poor data integrity to make decisions, provinces and municipalities expressing concern over the loss of the resource add up to a confusing picture of the government game plan. "What is driving this decision?" she asked, adding that the proposed changes do not seem to be about providing good government and value for the hard-earned Canadian tax dollar.
For his part, Industry Minister Tony Clement, who announced the changes in late June on behalf of the government, stuck to his guns, claiming that many people had in fact complained about the intrusiveness of the mandatory long form. Minister Clement had also left the impression that Statistics Canada was on board with the decision—a position belied in the resignation of Mr. Sheikh.
Minster Clement admitted that there was no consultation with groups and organizations that rely on census data, but he claimed that the voluntary form was one of three options presented by Statistics Canada to balance the concerns of people complaining about the long form and the need for data.
Other jurisdictions, including the United States, had looked at and then abandoned the voluntary long form solution—but the Conservative/Liberal coalition in the United Kingdom is rumoured to be considering a similar move.
Minister Clement was scheduled to face MPs yesterday when the industry, science and technology committee called both him and Mr. Sheikh to testify at its inquiry into the matter.
"You know, there must have been a real battle royal to bring in the long form in the first place," said Mr. Killens. "It worked out well. Why are we going back into that debate instead of tackling the real problems facing this country?"
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