July 22, 2010
Long form census: playing political games will have consequences
The Harper government's decision to eliminate the mandatory long form for the 2011 census has brought together individuals and organizations of all political stripes in opposition including CEOs of major corporations and financial institutions to academics, unions and professional associations, religious and charitable organizations, social scientists and think tanks, provincial and local governments.
Join them in calling on the government to reverse this decision.
See also:
- Beyond the census: other Statistics Canada surveys that have been cut
- Canadian Labour Congress opposes changes to Canada's national census
- All the latest on the census long-form debacle (CCPA)
Changing the census long form to a shorter, voluntary form will have critical consequences for our ability to plan. Whether you're a business that wants to know how your consumer base is changing, or a city planning future transit needs, or a school board deciding where schools will be needed 10 years from now, our communities, governments and businesses depend on the detailed data the long-form census provides.
The mandatory long-form questionnaire, which is sent to about 20 per cent of households, asks 53 questions about important aspects of our society such as migration, work, child care, family life, income, the languages we speak, our origins and education levels. Mandatory surveys not only have higher response rates, the quality of data far surpasses that of voluntary surveys.
Former Chief Statistician, Ivan Fellegi, who retired after a 51-year career at Statistics Canada, zeroed in on one major consequence. "The most vulnerable groups are the least likely to respond. So if you're interested in data about aboriginal people, if you're interested in data about recently arrived immigrants, if you're interested about the poor, the disadvantaged ... those are the kind of data that will be threatened."
Official Languages Commissioner Graham Fraser has also expressed concerns that this decision may well have negative consequences for Canadians' language rights, especially in minority communities.
Without reliable data about our growing immigrant population, about how our population is aging, about the needs of young people entering the workforce, about marginalized peoples, about people in rural, urban and remote areas, governments will be unable to develop sound policy and programs that provide important services in a fair and equitable way.
As economist Armine Yalnizyan puts it, “There is no possible compromise here: asking Canadians to live without accurate census data is like asking surgeons to operate in the dark. No matter how skilled they are, they will make mistakes.”
The new voluntary form, known as the National Households Survey, comes with another cost – an additional $35 million or more. With expenditure restraint and budget cuts, which Statistics Canada surveys and their important data will be sacrificed to make up the shortfall?
The census decision helps fulfill the Harper government's ideological goal to drastically reduce the role of governments by depriving them of the information they need for responsible planning. And, without reliable, unbiased data that is openly available to all, citizens lose a powerful tool to assess if governments and corporations are acting in their best interests.
Date Modified : 2010/07/23
