tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400574.post4153400831817600978..comments2024-03-29T04:56:02.252-07:00Comments on Paying attention: Harper’s self-destructive census bungleUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400574.post-60783768105229501382010-08-12T18:56:33.995-07:002010-08-12T18:56:33.995-07:00Paul, your column says there are 3 reasons that mi...Paul, your column says there are 3 reasons that might explain Harper's decision to scrap the long-form census. <br /><br />But, your third reason isn't a reason:<br /><br /><i>Or they figured the census wasn't likely to attract attention and didn't anticipate just how widespread and credible the opposition would be.</i><br /><br />OK, so they thought they could get away with it. But WHY did they want to do this in the first place? This does not explain the reason they wanted to scrap the long-form census, it only speaks to their sneaky nature. <br /><br />I think you – and most of the media – have missed the real reason behind this out-of-left-field move by Harper.<br /><br />I'm trained in statistical analysis. And, I've managed political campaigns for various parties at the provincial and municipal levels in another province, but not at the national level. <br /><br />Here's why I believe Harper wants to scrap the long-form census and replace it with a voluntary one. <br /><br />If there is no credible, reliable data, the governing party can and will be able to implement any changes they wish, comfortable in the knowledge that no one will likely be able to provide data of their own to refute them. Few organizations could afford to gather such comprehensive data.<br /><br />Look at what happened with Stockwell Day just a week or so ago when he tried to claim that unreported crime was increasing and therefore we needed to spend 9 billion dollars on jails. Statistics Canada data showed him to be dead wrong. He became a laughing-stock, and his justification for $9 billion in more prisons died (or at least we should all hope it died). <br /><br />So, that’s precisely why Harper doesn’t want reliable, unbiased data from a respected agency like Statistics Canada. Harper wants to destroy our country's priceless knowledge base, and replace it with one molded in his preferred ideology.<br /><br />The Conservative Party under Harper has built, thanks to huge corporate donations, the most sophisticated database on Canadians, and it knows how to skew polling surveys to conform to the outcome they desire.<br /><br />I've worked for and voted for many parties, including the Conservatives. This is beyond politics; what Canada is heading into with Harper is tyranny of a fascist nature.Jan Courtneynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400574.post-50353872480993522352010-08-11T12:04:03.281-07:002010-08-11T12:04:03.281-07:00The Liberals say newly released documents prove th...The Liberals say newly released documents prove the Conservative government lied to Canadians about controversial changes to the census.<br /><br />Liberal MP Bob Rae says that when Industry Minister Tony Clement announced plans to make the long-form census voluntary, he claimed Statistics Canada said the new system could work.<br /><br />But Rae says government documents released Tuesday show that's <a href="http://thetyee.ca/CanadianPress/2010/08/11/Tories-Census-Scrubbed/" rel="nofollow">not true</a>.<br /><br />---<br /><br />Tony Clement’s office knew <a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ottawa-was-told-of-flaws-in-census-plan-documents-show/article1668439/" rel="nofollow">Statistics Canada felt a voluntary census would fall short</a> of the mark even as the Industry Minster defended scrapping the mandatory long form by suggesting the agency had embraced the change, newly released documents show.<br /><br />In a March of 2010 e-mail to Mr. Clement’s office, a senior Statscan official advised that a self-administered voluntary survey would yield an initial response rate of only 50 per cent.<br /><br />---<br /><br />Information must be the bedrock on which we build public policy in areas that matter to Canadians. <a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/information-must-be-canadas-bedrock/article1668377/" rel="nofollow">Trying to get a snapshot of our country with inaccurate and unreliable data is like using a camera without enough pixels</a>. The blurrier the picture gets, the harder it becomes to recognize the face of our nation.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400574.post-68720645169022904472010-07-30T19:46:43.668-07:002010-07-30T19:46:43.668-07:00So Harper's harpies cannot give any credible e...So Harper's harpies cannot give any credible examples of census information being wrongly used or abused.<br /><br />Today we <a href="http://www.vancouversun.com/news/collector+accessed+private+files+gain/3339524/story.html" rel="nofollow">learned</a> that a Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) employee accessed "the private tax files of hundreds of high-income individuals" but the CRA "confirmed this week that it has no plans to notify the taxpayers involved that their personal information was improperly accessed".<br /><br />If the Harperites were consistent they would make all income reporting and tax paying voluntary as to do otherwise would be too 'intrusive' into the privacy of Canadians.<br /><br />-----<br /><br />The Ottawa Citizen editorial is correct; Facts get in the way of ideological <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truthiness" rel="nofollow">truthiness</a>.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400574.post-82385164490408312092010-07-30T19:27:41.160-07:002010-07-30T19:27:41.160-07:00What's more disgusting is the way this announc...What's more disgusting is the way this announcement was made: a 'tweet' by incompetent minister. No press release, no reports supporting the decision - just a tweet stating "that government decisions do not need to be shouted from the rooftops." This from the same minister who thinks the nation needs a press release of him meeting the pope! (http://www.tonyclement.ca/EN/3413/95238)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com