In a move to bring ‘sense back to the census,’ Liberals today introduced legislation to amend the Statistics Act to bring back the mandatory long-form census questionnaire.
“Liberals believe that sound information helps make sound decisions,” said Liberal Finance Critic John McCallum. “That’s why we will fix the mess Stephen Harper created by reinstating the mandatory long-form census and ensuring the threat of jail time is removed in the Act.”
The Bill – which will be tabled upon the September 20th return of Parliament – clarifies that 20 per cent of the Canadian population will receive a mandatory long-form questionnaire during the period in which the Government of Canada conducts a census. It will also remove the controversial threat of jail time for not completing the census.
“As one business person put it recently, the first rule of business is ‘you can’t manage what you don’t measure,’ said Mr. McCallum. “It’s also the first rule of government, yet the Conservatives have chosen to blindfold themselves by gutting the census, which means our annual $250-billion budget is more likely to be mismanaged.”
The long-form census plays a major role in improving health care, education, employment equity, immigrant settlement, retirement security, public transportation, and support for veterans and Aboriginals, to name a few.
“Provincial, territorial and municipal governments, community groups, medical associations, religious groups and countless organizations who spoke out against the Conservative decision understand the census is a vital tool that helps inform their decisions,” said Liberal Industry Critic Marc Garneau.
The Conservative decision to make the long-form census voluntary will mean that the results can’t be compared to previous years, and will skew the picture of what Canada looks like, as lower income, minority Canadians will be less likely to fill out a voluntary survey.
“The Conservatives have shown zero interest in listening to Canadians but were forced to add language questions only when they faced legal threat, effectively admitting the voluntary form is inadequate,” added Mr. Garneau. “Now that the Conservatives are the last party to advocate removing the threat of jail time, it’s time to make the long-form census mandatory again, so we can get an accurate picture of Canadians.”
“Canadians rely on the federal government for a multitude of services, and they expect our federal government to make wise decisions based on sound information. This bill will make sure decision makers at all levels of society can do just that,” he concluded.
