Liberal MPs condemned the Conservative government today for stalling a request by the Industry Committee to provide transparency on their decision to gut the census, and vowed to bring the committee back to keep up the pressure in the fight to keep the census.
“The Conservatives don’t want to show the public how they ignored Statistics Canada’s advice to the government,” said Liberal Public Safety Critic Mark Holland. “It’s a shame as the government starts the printing process on the useless voluntary census that Parliament has been left waiting for the information on its decision.”
The Industry Committee passed a motion six votes to five on July 27th calling for Minister Tony Clement to provide the committee, within five days, with “all documents and emails between Statistics Canada, the Privy Council Office and the Minister of Industry’s office on changes to the 2011 census.” The committee also requested the analysis given to cabinet before they made the secret decision without consultation.
On a day when Liberal MP Anita Neville is holding a roundtable on the census in Manitoba, the Liberal Party announced that it will seek to have the Industry Committee reconvene as quickly as possible to hear from the incredible number of individuals and organizations that have strongly condemned the elimination of the long-form census.
“As more and more Canadians discover just how vital accurate facts from the census are for ensuring good decisions by government, business and the non-profit sector, the more they begin to see what the Conservative’s real hidden agenda is here,” said Liberal Industry Critic Marc Garneau. “Conservative MPs are already feeling the heat from their constituents and the more we can air public criticism on this issue on Parliament Hill, the more likely it will be that the Conservatives will come to their senses and agree on a compromise course of action.”
Holland pointed out that Conservative MP Bruce Stanton recently told the Barrie Examiner that based on what he’s heard from his constituents, “most seem to be supporting the idea of continuing with the mandatory” long-form census. (Barrie Examiner, Aug. 4, 2010)
“Let’s be clear, this isn’t about the threat of jail time – because no one has been jailed on the census and because we could all agree to simply get rid of the jail penalties,” concluded Mr. Holland. “What this is really about is launching a full scale attack on the ability of governments, charities, religious groups, medical associations and many more organizations to make fact-based decisions that help Canadians in their day-to-day lives.”
