OTTAWA – The chairman of the national body that advises Statistics Canada opened testimony at a Parliamentary committee hearing on the census controversy by saying changes to the long-form census will undermine the statistical system and the voluntary replacement survey is inadequate.
"We believe the announced changes would harm the integrity and quality of the Canadian statistical system," said Ian McKinnon, chairman of the National Statistics Council – a 40-member board that advises the statistical agency. "A voluntary survey will not be able to fulfil the needs of our national statistical system."
He advised the government to make mandatory the new National Household Survey, which is set to replace the long-form questionnaire in 2011, and then to go back to the drawing board to study alternatives for 2016.
McKinnon said the furious debate over the census that was sparked with the government’s quiet announcement of the changes on June 26 has been both "surprising" and "illuminating" for statisticians who often worry no one notices their work.
Mel Cappe, president of the Institute for Research on Public Policy, testified on the same panel with McKinnon. He said he’d sent four letters to Industry Minister Tony Clement, who oversees Statistics Canada, and Prime Minister Stephen Harper. He said he received no response from Clement and only a brief acknowledgment from Harper’s office.
Clement was correct when he asserted that Statistics Canada is a government department that reports to him as minister, Cappe said, but it’s a problem that the census controversy has created the impression the government can intervene on matters of statistical methodology. The chief statistician should be the only person speaking publicly on these technical issues, he told the committee, and that role should be enshrined in the Statistics Act.
"(The census) is a public good," Cappe said. "It serves the public and can be more efficiently collected by the state than by private entities conducting their own surveys.
"I would urge the committee not to play partisan games with an important public document."
Later in Friday’s hearing, representatives of the Canadian Association of University Teachers, Metis National Council, British Columbia Civil Liberties Association and the Canadian Council on Social Development are scheduled to appear.
Michael Veall, a McMaster University economics professor and incoming president of the Canadian Economics Association, is also expected to speak at the hearing Friday.
This week marks the second round of all-day hearings on the census controversy for Parliament’s standing committee on science, industry and technology.
Earlier hearings a month ago included testimony from former chief statisticians Ivan Fellegi and Munir Sheikh – who resigned in protest over the government’s census changes – as well as Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart and Clement.
More than 300 organizations have publicly denounced the decision, saying a voluntary survey will produce skewed results and undermine the statistical backbone of programs, businesses and municipalities across the country.
Clement said the changes strike a better balance between the need for information and citizens’ desire for privacy, and the government has held firm in its decision.
On Thursday, the Liberals vowed to table a bill as soon as Parliament resumes in September to reinstate of the long-form census and removing the threat of jail time for not completing a questionnaire.
The Tories have also said they will abolish the jail threat for non-completion on the short-form questionnaire and the agricultural census, which remain mandatory. No Canadian has ever been jailed for failing to fill out a census form, though a fine of up to $500 remains as a penalty.
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