Tories scrap mandatory long census: Census: Is it an invasion of privacy?


StatsCan head mulls future in census dispute

The Canadian Press : CBC NEWS: Last Updated: Wednesday, July 21, 2010 | 2:20 PM ET : The head of Statistics Canada says he's "reflecting" on his future at the agency, the latest twist in the crisis over the government's decision to scrub the mandatory long-form census.

Munir Sheikh issued an email to all agency staff Wednesday, cancelling a planned town hall meeting and saying he would comment soon — sparking speculation from insiders that he might resign.

The chief statistician added he would get back to employees soon with a decision on his position and that of Statistics Canada.

"In light of today's media coverage, I am cancelling the scheduled town hall meeting," Sheikh, a respected economist, said in the terse email. "I am reflecting on my position and that of the agency and will get back to you soon."

It was not immediately clear what "media coverage" Sheikh referred to, though Industry Minister Tony Clement, who's responsible for the agency, was quoted as saying Statistics Canada is not an independent organization.

"Sometimes, some of them like to think they are, but that doesn't make it so," said Clement. "They report to a minister."

With no consultation, the government quietly ditched the mandatory long census late last month, and suggested its decision was endorsed by Statistics Canada.

Instead, a voluntary long census form is to be sent to more Canadians next year, a move that has been denounced by critics ranging from economists to religious leaders.

Sources inside Statistics Canada have said the decision was entirely the government's, and that agency officials neither sought the change nor endorsed it.

Clement has said the government made the change to protect Canadians from a coercive, prying government.


Espionage in Canada and Western Countries: Part One to Five

https://poetsofottawa.ning.com/profiles/blogs/espionage-in-canada-and

https://poetsofottawa.ning.com/profiles/blogs/espionage-in-canada-and-1

https://poetsofottawa.ning.com/profiles/blogs/espionage-in-canada-and-2

https://poetsofottawa.ning.com/profiles/blogs/espionage-in-canada-and-3

https://poetsofottawa.ning.com/profiles/blogs/espionage-in-canada-and-4

CBC Virtual Town Hall: Ending the mandatory long census form

By Andrew Davidson

CBC NEWS July 21, 2010 9:55 AM: Join the CBC's national affairs editor Chris Hall and CBC Politics blogger Kady O'Malley at 2 p.m. ET Wednesday, as they host a live virtual town hall forum on the Conservative government's decision to scrap the mandatory long census form.

Chris and Kady will be joined by Nik Nanos, pollster and president of Nanos Research, Roger Gibbins, president and CEO of Canada West Foundation, Laval University economics professor Stephen Gordon and Terrence Watson, associate editor of the Western Standard.

The government announced late last month it would stop sending the mandatory long form in 2011 and replace it with a voluntary national household survey.

Industry Minister Tony Clement and other Conservative ministers have argued that many Canadians complained to them about the intrusiveness of the questions on the long-form census and the threat of fines or jail time if they don't complete it.

But statisticians, researchers, academics, municipalities, religious groups and opposition parties have decried the government's move, arguing it will result in skewed and unreliable data and leave Canada's policy-makers flying blind.

The panel will take your questions on the census and weigh in on the political storm surrounding the government's decision. We will open the discussion window at 1 p.m. ET for you to submit your questions ahead of time.
Since it is a moderated event, only questions related to the issue will be posted.

Read More: http://www.cbc.ca/politics/insidepolitics/2010/07/ending-the-mandatory-long-census-form----a-virtual-town-hall.html

Census changes bad for public: economist

The federal government's plan to change the Canadian census in 2011 will mean government and business won't have the information they need, a prominent Nova Scotia economist says.

CBC NEWS: July 16, 2010: The federal government's plan to change the Canadian census in 2011 will mean government and business won't have the information they need, a prominent Nova Scotia economist says.

Fred Morley, executive vice-president and chief economist of the Greater Halifax Partnership, said making the long-form census voluntary will decrease the quality of the data available about the Canadian population.

"We're going to look at a significant degrading of census data, " Morley said Thursday.

"Making it voluntary changes the whole dynamic. In fact, it creates a break in the data which means we can't look at trends anymore, we can't look at past information. It makes it more difficult to project into the future. It's bad in any number of different ways."

The Conservative government announced at the end of June that the long form part of the questionnaire will no longer be mandatory because of privacy concerns. Now, Canadians who receive the long form can refuse to fill it out.

P.O.V.:

shisha-hookah.jpg

Semitic illegal drug calls Khat spreads in North America and Europe

Census: Is it an invasion of privacy? Take our poll.

[http://www.cbc.ca/news/pointofview/2010/07/census-is-it-an-invasion-of-privacy.html]

The 2006 census required about 20 per cent of Canadians to complete the long form which provides detailed household information used to decide everything from bus routes to new subdivisions to what support services are in local schools

Morley said businesses and government rely on the detailed census data when they decide where jobs are created or cut.

"They need good information. They need information they can rely on. If you don't have that, you make poor decisions," he said.

He said a voluntary census will also cost more money to promote if the government wants a good result.

Morley said the Conservatives are responding to a vocal fringe that distrusts government.

No consultation

"There's tremendous restrictions on this data and the use of this data. The general public probably gives out more, and more detailed, information when they fill out a ballot at a trade show," he said.

Morley said the government made the change without consulting any of the groups that use the data.

The co-ordinator of the Every Woman's Centre in Sydney said she is also against the plan to scrap the long census form.

Louise Smith-MacDonald said the data provided by those surveys are very useful.

"The long form gathers information that we feel is really necessary for a number of reasons. One, it helps to identify issues that people are living with," she said.

"And the other is that ... it provides a statistical record for us which is important to be able to have that information when we're applying for other funding and to run programs and to do some research."

Smith-MacDonald said she is worried that the poor and disadvantaged will statistically disappear if information on income is no longer rigorously collected in the census.

The Canadian Medical Association said Thursday that the census data are an essential tool in the delivery of health-care services to Canadians.

Tories scrap mandatory long census

The Conservative government is scrapping the mandatory long census form for the 2011 census, replacing it with a voluntary national household survey.

CBC NEWS: June 29, 2010: The Conservative government is scrapping the mandatory long census form for the 2011 census, replacing it with a voluntary national household survey.

All Canadians will still receive a mandatory short census. One in three households will be sent the new household survey as well. Previously, one in five households were sent the mandatory long-form census.

But while more people will receive the longer survey, the fact that it is voluntary means Statistics Canada will have to double its efforts to get people to respond.

"We acknowledge that we might not get the same level of detail [as in previous years]," said assistant chief statistician Rosemary Bender, who is responsible for the new survey. The agency has never undertaken a voluntary survey of this size, she said.

animated_crown.gif

The moncitizenship is the new Canadian governmental task. The diplomatic lines of Republics of Yemen and Poland are non grata with their masks.

Bender would not comment, however, on how the change might affect the data in terms of whether respondents of a certain socio-economic or ethno-cultural background might be more or less inclined to answer the longer survey.

Peter Morrison, assistant chief statistician responsible for the census, said that he knows of no other country that has made a similar move. He would not confirm that the idea was not one proposed by Statistics Canada, nor would he or Bender address whether the move is something statisticians agree with.

"Our role is to execute the decision that was made [by the government]," he said, adding that he is optimistic it can be a success.

A spokesperson for Industry Minister Tony Clement said in an email to CBC that the change was "made to reasonably limit what many Canadians felt was an intrusion of their personal privacy."

New questions will be added to the national survey, including ones about commuting time, child care and religion.

Information gathered through the census can be used for government plans and decisions pertaining to local and community programs.

Morrison said the budget to execute the 2011 census, including the new survey, is $630 million, the same as the 2006 census. Since that works out to be less money per household, due to increased population, the agency is hoping more Canadians will make use of the internet and file their census responses online.

Census: Is it an invasion of privacy?

CBC NEWS: July 21, 2010: The federal government's elimination of the mandatory long-form census is expected to be a topic of discussion at next month's meeting of Canada's premiers.



Jim Eldridge, Manitoba's acting deputy minister of intergovernmental relations, says there is much talk about the census issue at the Council of the Federation.

Officials in Manitoba, Quebec and Prince Edward Island have spoken publicly against the change, saying the provinces need detailed census data when planning the delivery of services.

Federal Industry Minister Tony Clement has said many Canadians have complained the long-form census violates their privacy.

With files from The Canadian Press


Have you ever filled out the long-form census? Do you think the questions intrude on individual privacy? Is it worth the intrusiveness to have reliable findings on the Canadian population?

To Vote Click on this link:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/pointofview/2010/07/census-is-it-an-invasion-of-privacy.html



E-mail me when people leave their comments –

You need to be a member of poetsofottawa3 to add comments!

Join poetsofottawa3

Ottawa International Poets and Writers for human Rights (OIPWHR)