As my faithful readers know, I’m a reasonable person who’s always willing to consider all sides of an issue, sometimes to a fault, and I rarely get foot-stomping angry over anything.
But if there’s one thing that does raise my blood pressure, it’s governments who make it difficult to get information. Usually that’s confined to unhelpfully funnelling everything through a “communications officer” who knows nothing or making you put in a freedom-of-information request to get the simplest report or number.
This time, though, the problem is a move to reduce the amount of information available by limiting Statistics Canada’s activities. As my friend Andre Picard points out in today’s Globe, that is a serious blow to our ability to understand who we are as a nation, what we’re doing collectively, and how to plan for the future.
I freely acknowledge that I’m a statistics geek whose fondest dream has been to fill out the census long form. But even if you don’t put yourself in that category, the kind of information that Stats Can gathers through the long form and other types of data-gathering currently under threat are vital.
In the complex society we live in, I see statistics gathering as the higher-order brain function of the national body we live in. If we don’t get that feedback to the brain about what is happening in all the various regions of the body, we can’t react to early signs of danger.
At the city, people are concerned about it too. When planners figure out the future density needed for a neighbourhood, they look at existing demographics and immigration information and project them forward. Transportation planners rely on the regular statistical information about who is walking, biking, taking the bus, driving alone, or driving with someone to see how patterns are changing … or not.
Raymond Louie told me yesterday (while we were talking about other things) that he’s going to be bringing a motion forward to have staff come up with a list of all the kinds of statistics they use for planning and what they might have to do to continue to get that information, i.e. collect it themselves. He’s worried that this will end up being just another form of downloading, as cities have to spend more money to get essential information about activities inside their boundaries.
I imagine this is something that will be unquestioningly supported by all parties, as it should be. This isn’t a partisan issue. I encourage all of you to register protests with your local MPs or the PMO’s office directly about this.
28 responses so far ↓
1 Keith // Jul 8, 2010 at 9:49 am
sorry, not in a million years.
2 spartikus // Jul 8, 2010 at 10:12 am
HERE HERE
I’ve been stewing and steaming on this too. It’s an absolute disgrace.
This isn’t a partisan issue.
Alas, but it very much is. The facts, as they says, have a well-known liberal bias. Empirical data collected in the census often conflicts with the world-view currently espoused by the Conservative Party of Canada.
Who are poor are and how they are poor and all that.
3 Frances Bula // Jul 8, 2010 at 10:14 am
Okay, I meant not a partisan issue locally.
4 spartikus // Jul 8, 2010 at 10:18 am
I mean honestly…
A spokesman for Industry Minister Tony Clement (who is responsible for Statistics Canada) justified the change by saying the government wants a “reasonable limit on what most Canadians felt was an intrusion into their personal privacy in terms of answering the longer form.”
Uh…what? Which Canadians felt it was an intrusion? Is there some sort of anti-Long Form census movement I am completely unaware of?
Someone, please, enlighten me.
5 Frances Bula // Jul 8, 2010 at 10:31 am
Apparently, this Canadian from Saskatchewan felt it was an intrusion
http://news.sympatico.ca/canada/anti-census_poster_crusader_not_satisfied_with_federal_axing_of_long_form/6a605064
6 spartikus // Jul 8, 2010 at 10:31 am
Okay, I meant not a partisan issue locally.
You’d think. If Gregor Likes It, It Must Be Opposed (IGLIIMBO) is the operating principle of those who currently control the public face of the NPA
Hopefully, I will be surprised.
7 spartikus // Jul 8, 2010 at 10:38 am
Apparently, this Canadian from Saskatchewan felt it was an intrusion
Well, there’s one! Isn’t it nice our Federal Government is so responsive to the concerns of individual Canadians.
Industry Minister Tony Clement has said that no polling or consultation was done on the issue
The Tories are slowly but surely dismantling everything that was good and effective about our federal government so that they can then say, (when things inevitably go south because of it) “See, government doesn’t work!”
8 Bill Lee // Jul 8, 2010 at 10:52 am
1 —— from the data map people in Canadian universities
VOTE – to save the Census & for Open Data – LAST DAY
Wednesday, July 7, 2010 8:50 PM
From: “Tracey P. Lauriault”
To: mail list
There is one day left folks! Go nuts and vote.
You have to login, your info is confidential, see top right navigation bar. Once you do, then you can vote.
1) Save the Census: http://de-en.gc.ca/2010/07/06/reinstate-our-census-long-form-aka-questionnaire-2b/
2) For Open Data: http://de-en.gc.ca/2010/06/10/open-access-to-canadas-public-sector-information-and-data/
You will see both of these nested within Canada’s Digital Content!
Also read here to find out about Census Actions & Media – http://datalibre.ca/2010/07/07/more-on-the-census-cuts/. If you come across any new material or actions, do not hesitate to share! I am updating the blog daily.
2 —- Comments on the folly of dropping the mandatory long form from Stephen Gordon, teaching rightish-wing economics at Laval University.
http://worthwhile.typepad.com/worthwhile_canadian_initi/2010/06/an-incredibly-stupid-decision-on-the-2011-census.html
and he links to his later more “temperate” posting below
http://worthwhile.typepad.com/worthwhile_canadian_initi/2010/07/why-making-2011-census-long-form-voluntary-is-a-bad-idea.html
later 2011 with an asterisk
“Unless the federal government reverses its decision, researchers will be obliged to put an asterisk next to numbers from the 2011 census,…”
http://worthwhile.typepad.com/worthwhile_canadian_initi/2010/07/2011.html
The political press (Macleans magazine others) has been chortling with gleein the past few days at how Tony Clement ((ir-)responsible Industry minister for StatsCan and the census) is losing a twitter battle with Stephen Gordon.
9 East Vancouverite // Jul 8, 2010 at 10:55 am
Newt Gingrich was once quoted as saying that the goal of the GOP was to shrink the federal government enough that it could be drowned in a bathtub.
10 spartikus // Jul 8, 2010 at 11:14 am
That was before good old Newt and co. realized it’s far easier to simply blow government up. For example, embarking on two major wars, while cutting taxes for the wealthy and increasing spending.
Or for a local example of the process, committing to building a certain long-delayed LRT line while not fully funding it.
11 Booge // Jul 8, 2010 at 11:38 am
The dumbing down of Government and Canadians is greatly aided and abetted by this small-minded decision by fiat to abolish the 2011 census 2b-form (this decision was announced by teh PMO).
I have heard that none of the stakeholders ; STC, Academia, Provincial Statistics Agencies, NGOs, Business Groups etc., where aware of this nor are they in favour of it. The former chief Statistician is one of many influential voices speaking out against Harper’s Census Folly!
The opposition needs to stop this nonsense (non-census)
To add even more to the dumbing down: Tony Clement MP and Minister responsible for the Census is debating this neantherdal move via twitter. Gawd help as all.
for a better flavour of the opposition:
http://bit.ly/9tSFqe
12 Carlos // Jul 8, 2010 at 12:37 pm
As someone who used to work for UBC & numerous research groups, the move for the gov’t to reduce the data collection is absurd. It is already hard enough for academics to share any data collected from StatsCan. I work in the geospatial field and when I was there at UBC, StatsCan told my research group that sharing geospatial boundaries was a strict no-no (“privacy concerns” was a huge issue, especially when it came to areas of Canada where data was limited and the boundary area was relatively small) . But if you check out the US Census website, anyone can go on-line and download this data for free! Argh.
13 landlord // Jul 8, 2010 at 12:53 pm
So the government doesn’t already have files on everyone and should collect even more information? Good thing nobody lies on the census form.
If we need better intelligence on Canadians perhaps we should ask the (seemingly well-informed) Chinese.
You can learn all you need to know about someone by reading their credit-card statements, phone/cable use and banking transactions. Throw in medical records and work history and you can almost pick the day they’ll die and what from.
All those files are easily obtained, and not just by government agencies. There is no such thing as privacy. Not if you want to borrow money or buy insurance or use your passport.
Maybe that’s good or maybe it’s not, but that’s how it is.
14 Brenton // Jul 8, 2010 at 1:05 pm
Here’s a petition asking the gov’t to keep the long-form:
http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/keep-the-canadian-census-long-form/sign.html
15 spartikus // Jul 8, 2010 at 1:17 pm
Tony Clement MP and Minister responsible for the Census is debating this neantherdal move via twitter.
Good grief, he is too.
Sample:
It’s logic like this that causes more & more state coercion & intrusion. RT @GarethPerry314 And if people don’t pay their taxes?
And to think Australia actually “coerces” people to vote. We should invade and set them free!
Anyway, judge for yourself. Personally, it’s like reading the scribbles of a 16 year old disciple of Ayn Rand.
16 Bill Lee // Jul 8, 2010 at 3:41 pm
The horror, the Horror!
http://twitter.com/TONYCLEMENT_MP
( and do see the previous entries about the census on the previous page )
And a sample of census specific tweets
http://www2.macleans.ca/2010/07/07/when-ministers-of-the-crown-tweet/
17 MB // Jul 8, 2010 at 4:11 pm
The current government, if given another two or three years, may create a new department: the Minstry of No. The new minister, who will undoubetedly be Mr. Clement, will then only have to utter one word with every question. That will please the utlimate Controlmeister, S. Harper, to no end.
18 spartikus // Jul 8, 2010 at 4:55 pm
And a sample of census specific tweets
LOL…you can literally visualize the pie hitting his face in that one.
19 Sharon // Jul 8, 2010 at 10:30 pm
census info helps distribute government funds. the more we tell… the more money we probably get. As a person who has used census data to track down ancestors, you might be answering hundreds of burning questions for future generations of your family.
20 Dan Cooper // Jul 9, 2010 at 11:26 am
OMG! The government is going to send out long forms to 33% of the population instead of only 20%, and – are you sitting down? taken your heart meds? – they’re only going to encourage people to return them instead of fining or throwing them in prison if they refuse! The world is ending!
(Insert sound of uproarious laughter here.)
21 spartikus // Jul 9, 2010 at 1:10 pm
(Insert sound of uproarious laughter here.)
TonyClement_MP @wicary Actually the Long Form is still around & will be going to more Cdns–minus the state coercion.
Harbles @TonyClement_MP However the statistical randomness is gone making the data skewed.
TonyClement_MP @Harbles Wrong. Statisticians can ensure validity w larger sample size
stephenfgordon @TonyClement_MP Wrong. Large samples can’t fix sample selection biases.
TonyClement_MP @stephenfgordon Which is why proper weighting will be used, as always the case
stephenfgordon @TonyClement_MP Where will the weights come from? Other voluntary surveys get their weights from the census.
c_9 @TonyClement_MP But weighting is done based on CENSUS DATA. Can’t weight the original data. Answers to these concerns somewhere?
TonyClement_MP @c_9 Folks! There is STILL a mandatory Census!
stephenfgordon @TonyClement_MP How can we reweight for education and income using short form data?
Hilarious.
22 Joseph Jones // Jul 9, 2010 at 1:18 pm
After that laughing, Dan, you can bore yourself. Read up on the case law and calculate the judicial consequences of not returning the mandatory long form.
23 spartikus // Jul 9, 2010 at 1:19 pm
More hilarity…
Today the government trumpeted the release of positive jobs numbers.
Alas, this will probably be the last such release. Why? Because these numbers are based on the Labour Force Survey which, like the Census Long Form, is mandatory with coercive penalties, as well as being long and intrusive.
The Minister has made it clear such practices are not acceptable to Canadians.
24 Bill // Jul 9, 2010 at 8:05 pm
Of course the former chief Statistician is opposed to the change in the census – what bureaucrat doesn’t want to spend the public’s money. The only people that favour bigger government are those who know they won’t be paying for it.
25 JP // Jul 13, 2010 at 9:14 am
I posted this on the Tyee, but thought I’d “go to the horses mouth” so to speak.
While this may makes collecting statistics more of a challenge for governments, it certainly is a win in terms of personal freedoms. Canadians shouldn’t be forced to participate in the census, but rather complete it out of a sense of civic duty. There’s good reasons not to fill out the census; for example, the fact that the previous census data was compiled by Lockheed Martin (http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=2242).
It’s quite unfortunate and unfair that those that chose not to participate in the 2006 census due to this reason are currently being prosecuted (http://www.vivelecanada.ca/article/235930229-updates-on-census-court-cases).
So to me, this step by the conservative government is one of the very few positive things they’ve done. The census should be optional.
26 Bill Lee // Jul 15, 2010 at 4:02 pm
Add in the CMAJ
http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2010/07/15/census-short-healthcare.html
Last Updated: Thursday, July 15, 2010 | 4:02 PM
“The federal government’s decision to eliminate the long census form in 2011 will negatively affect how health information is gathered and acted on, says an editorial in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.
The editorial, published Thursday, says the reduction in the amount and type of information collected about Canadians via the census will impede how health programs are planned and executed. [ more ]
And everyone is passing around Haroun Siddiqi’s insider view of long-form struggle
http://www.thestar.com/opinion/article/835993–siddiqui-pm-facing-revolt-over-census-change
27 Bill Lee // Jul 20, 2010 at 2:51 pm
And a song.
http://scottdiatribe.canflag.com/2010/07/20/a-song-in-support-of-the-longform-census-count-me-in/
The multi-author economcs blog A Worthwhile Canadian Initative has some good analysis, zingers, past histories and such. See right column and previous entries.
http://worthwhile.typepad.com/
28 Bill Lee // Jul 20, 2010 at 5:54 pm
Could be an interesting “virtual town hall” On Wednesday 2 pm (ET) (not broadcast from the CBC Ottawa studio over the census a few days before the Maxime Bernier committee (yes, he was former Industry Minister in charge of StatCan).
http://www.cbc.ca/politics/insidepolitics/2010/07/ending-the-mandatory-long-census-form—-a-virtual-town-hall.html
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