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fond farewell to forced census

Although many are whinging about the federal government's decision to stop forcing people to fill in the census long form, it is great news, and for more than just the obvious reasons.

In the past, if a person didn't fill in the Census long form, she'd be threatened with fines and a possible prison term.  These threats are over. The federal government has replaced the mandatory long form with a voluntary survey.

Less coercion from a supposedly democratic government is good, and less invasion of privacy is also good. Does the federal government need to know whether you are an Eskimo, run a farm or what your property taxes are? Not only are these kinds of questions intrusive, they are available in other government departments.

And there are less obvious reasons to support less government data collection.  

One is the amount of resources used to collect and produce statistics. In 2008, Statistics Canada's bureaucrat salary cost alone was $512 million.

Another is the private cost to collect statistics. Although most small businesses divert staff resources from productive activities to filling in mandatory Statistics Canada surveys, in 2008, 11 per cent hired external service providers. Surely they could have found a better use for their scarce resources.

But the most important reason to support less government data gathering is that statistics are critical to the existence of government intervention in the lives of its citizens.

When you or I want something or need to figure something out, we don't look at statistics. We look at advertisements, talk to friends, or fall back on our personal experience in the marketplace.

Bureaucrats and busybody meddling do-gooders however, need information that is outside of their personal experience, so they need statistical information. The only way for them to find out how many mink escaped or died on fur farms in Canada, or how many non permanent resident women aged 20-24 live in Canada, is through government statistics. The only way they can find out who 'needs' other peoples' money is through statistics.

Sure, a lot of people, like journalists and those working at the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, sometimes use census and other Statscan data. But our supporters will be better off when we save millions of dollars once government gets out of the stats business.

By: Maureen Bader
Posted: July 12, 2010
Topic: British Columbia

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Comments

Wed, 2010-11-24 12:01 — An Anonymous Taxpayer (not verified)

Cens-less arguments

I know the Census debate is "over" but I was just surfing the web for information on the cost of the Census 2011 and stumbled upon this article and.. Wow!.. I rarely comment on such opinion pieces but every other sentence is filled with such flawed arguments and sheer ignorance that I couldn't help myself.. I mean, I don't know what to say. I completely agree with what Taxpayer.com is doing (shedding light on government waste) but you can't let people like Mrs. Bader write completely misinformed opinion pieces like this. Not good for your image.

Wed, 2010-08-11 07:54 — Ottawa Jeff (not verified)

Accountability

Ms. Bader

Just wondering: How exactly does the Canadian Taxpayers' Federation propose to keep the government's feet to the fire on taxation and reckless spending if it has no reliable data to use to see whether expenditures are both warranted or effective?

This decision is a clear attack on government accountability by a government that said it would be more accountable. It also allows government to make public policy and budgetary decisions based on politics rather than  clear data and facts. Not a way to ensure accountability if you ask me.

And seeing a savings in slimming Statistics Canada is short-term and short-sighted. How much more will the scrapping of the mandatory long-form cost taxpayers in wasted spending and ill-advised programs? Well, now that the government has decided to axe the mandatory long-form, we will not have a way of knowing that. But my guess is that it will be much more than the $512 million saved annually by eliminating the statisticians who gather and compile this important and relaible data which helps Canadians determine whether their money is spent in an accountable manner.

Besides, does the Canadian Taxpayers' Federation want the only data available to taxpayers for accounability purposes to be coming from and massaged by special interest groups? Or does iot believe that taxpayers have the right to access to a reliable, unbiased source of information to make an informed decision on whether governments are spending in an accounable manner?

Strangely, I always thought the Canadian Taxpayers' Federation mandate was to promote and encourage governments to engage in wise and necessary spending of tax dollars and to oppose any move by government to reduce accoutability. Apparently, I was wrong.

Thu, 2010-08-05 23:26 — An Anonymous Taxpayer (not verified)

Census Long Form

Ms. Bader does herself and your organization a disservice by writing an article and taking a position on the elimination of the mandatory long form census that is uninformed and incorrect .  Her libertarian views perhaps should be predictable but they are the usual rants of someone who didn't bother to inform herself on the issue.  If she truly wants to represent the taxpayers of this country which is what I would expect from your organization (or perhaps you should rename yourselves something that does not suggest you represent all who pay taxes not just those of a particular political bent), she would argue that this decision was made without thought, without consultatation, with no concern for it's implications AND it will cost taxpayers MORE money ($55 million!!!).  Not only that, it will result in data that is of little value since it will only represent those who self-select to participate.  Furthermore, I am surprised at Ms. Bader's position in general on Statistics Canada.  I would think your organization would want facts upon which to assess the governments record.  Without them decisions will be ideologically based and politicians will justify themselves by the numbers of phone calls they receive from constiutents.  Sound familiar?  Mr. Clement, Mr. Day, Mr. Baird....that's all they have to justify this decision.  Oh and those unreported crimes that Mr. Day now seems to have a handle on......  You should be fighting for an independent, arms length Statistics Canada that provides us with data that acts as the government's report card.  If the government is hell-bent on making the long form census voluntary you should be screaming for them to cancel it altogether for 2011 rather than waste millions of tax dollars and take the next 5 years to make a well-informed decision for 2016.  I am left wondering who you are and just what your agenda is.  Are you just a front for the libertarians?   

Sun, 2010-07-18 10:34 — Morgan B (not verified)

Changes to census will cost Canadian taxpayers MORE

Sorry Maureen, but the government's plan to make the long form census voluntary also includes the plan to send the long form to 30% of Canadian households (up from 20%) at an extra cost of $30 million.  So we'll be paying much more for worse data.

Perhaps the entire endeavour should be scrapped and our government, policy makers and planners can "look at advertisements, talk to friends, or fall back on our personal experience in the marketplace" the next time they make a decision about whether or not to place a school or hospital or new four-lane highway in your neighbourhood, or when they devlop national fiscal policy or assess the cost effectiveness and efficiency of health and education programs.  Who needs statistics, anyway?

Fri, 2010-07-23 11:01 — Michael (not verified)

I agree with this comment

I agree with this comment when it says that this move by the Government is a move in the wrong direction.

I also agree with Maureen, less government interference is ideal.  Lets just make sure changes come in a cost effective way.

I realize it seems counterintuitive to agree with both, seemingly opposite views.  In reality, both views are dealing with differenct issues. 

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