My Census Email to Peter Braid (CPC - KW)

Mr. Braid,

I am writing you today as a concerned constituent who believes that making the long-form census voluntary will have a number of ill affects on Canadian society.

Making the long-form census voluntary defeats the purpose of having a census at all. If only those concerned about filling out the census fills it out then the data being collected will be skewed. Secondly, the sample size of the statistical information will be reduced considerably by making the reliability of any data collected questionable.

Consider this, if you received a mandatory short-form census and a voluntary long-form census, which one would you be more likely to fill out and send away? I believe the government is being naive in thinking that the same, if not more, households receiving the long-form census after 2011 will complete it and send it back to Stats Canada.

As an academic I value Statistics Canada greatly. Throughout my master's program and work experience I have used statistical data from Stats Canada on a regular basis. Eliminating the mandatory long-form census will hurt the future of young Canadians studying public policy and the integrity of think-tanks in Canada.

As a parliamentarian whose constituency comprises of two universities, I implore you side with the integrity of education. It would be shameful to remain silent on the issue when so many of your constituents use Stats Can. information everyday to educate the future generations of Canadians. People come from all over the country to attend the University of Waterloo and Wilfrid Laurier University, let's not deprive them of the best education and the accurate statistical tools they need to learn.

I find no cost benefit for making the long-form voluntary, nor can I see any practical reason beyond mysterious complaints from disgruntled individuals. There are bigger fish to fry than the long-form census (I believe income trust taxation is one of them) that have far greater implications on Canadian households than filing out a form that is beneficial to so many sectors of the Canadian economy.

I urge you to break with Tony Clement's ranks and side with reason. Please show your support for keeping the long-form census mandatory.

Dylan