National Statistics Council

News release: Immediate

Victoria, August 12, 2010 – The National Statistics Council, the government-
appointed advisory body to the Chief Statistician, today welcomed the
government’s decision to eliminate the threat of jail time for those refusing to fill
out the census and its recognition of the need to make mandatory the census
questions involving language.
Removing jail times is consistent with the Council’s July 25 statement Seeking
Solutions, while the new approach to language use recognizes that “the voluntary
National Household Survey will not meet the requirements for robust and
accurate small-area data that can only be provided through a mandatory
instrument,” the Council said in a statement issued by its chair, Ian McKinnon.
The Council stressed the need for such a mandatory instrument.
While the initial census decision was taken without public consultation, the
ensuing debate and discussion have brought to light facts about the importance
of the long-form census that the government may not have known given the
previous lack of consultation.
“The government’s announcement now affords an opportunity to take a fresh and
rapid look at the issue and reach a shared solution that protects the Canadian
statistical system, ensures privacy, serves the Canadian public better, and reduces
costs.” The Council would be eager to assist the government in meeting “these
important short-term goals.”
The Council rejected recent suggestions that small-area data users such as public
health planners, voluntary associations, towns, and transportation planners
should pay for their own surveys rather than rely on the census; “this is not
possible.” Private surveys, with their 10%-15% response rates, can be adjusted
only with benchmarking from the long-form census which will no longer be
available.
Over the next year, the Council recommended that Statistics Canada consult
widely on the need for specific questions in the census and that the government
amend the Statistics Act to reflect the UN Fundamental Principles of Official
Statistics, a code to which Canada has already formally adhered. It also
suggested that Statistics Canada reduce the respondent burden placed on farmers
by the Census of Agriculture.
Contact: Ian McKinnon, Chair, National Statistics Council, (250) 812-8184
ian.mckinnon@aya.yale.edu
Céline Le Bourdais, Chaire de recherche du Canada en Statistiques
sociales et changement familial, Université McGill, (514) 398-6840,
celine.lebourdais@mcgill.ca

Statement attached.