Dear Editor,

I have many concerns about MP Mark Warawa’s letter [Census threats not appropriate, Aug. 17 Letters, Langley Advance]. The Long Form Census has served this country well.

Canada has lost a dedicated and respected civil servant, Dr. Munir Sheikh, former head of Statistics Canada, who resigned due to the Conservative government’s fumbling to fix something which does not require fixing.

The fact that the Conservative government has made proposed changes to the Long Form Census in the middle of the summer, when Parliament is not in session and the issue has not been democratically debated in the House of Commons, is also a concern.

The list of groups opposed to the proposed changes to the Long Form Census includes the following:

Canadian Medical Association

Federation of Canadian Municipalities

National Statistical Council

Statistical Society of Canada

Canadian Association of Business Economics

Canadian Nurses Association

Institute for Research and Public Policy

Canadian Labour Congress

Canada West Foundation

United Way Canada

Canadian Public Health Association

Canadian Council on Social Development

Canadian Economic Association

Canadian Jewish Congress

Evengelical Fellowship of Canada

Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops

The list of groups opposed to the Conservative government’s proposed changes to the Long Form Census is long because a non-mandatory census is statistically invalid, and statistically invalid data is useless.

Yet the Conservative government is proposing to spend $30 million more for a voluntary census which is statistically invalid.

Their argument is that some of the questions are intrusive on the privacy of Canadians. My response is that civic duty for the privilege of living in a country like Canada includes the duty and responsibility of voting in elections, and of completing both the short and long census forms.

Statistics Canada is responsible for protecting the privacy of individual citizens. And no one has yet gone to jail for not complying.

Try governing a country the size and complexity of Canada without statistically accurate data. I would have to conclude that the Conservative government does not need accurate data to govern, since they have shown that they govern based on ideology.

MP Warawa, in his letter, has made something as important as the Canadian Census a partisan issue by criticizing the Opposition. It would appear to be more divide-and-conquer politics, using the Canadian Census as an election campaign tool.

Sharon Stephenson, Langley