Monday, July 26, 2010 CBC NEWS:
The City of Kelowna and the Union of B.C. Municipalities have decided to start a letter-writing campaign over the federal government's decision to end the mandatory long-form census. Ron Mattiussi, Kelowna's city manager, told CBC News that people have no idea how important accurate census information is to cities such as Kelowna. "It's fundamental that we have some data to back up where the community is going rather than just opinion or hunch," he said. Information gleaned from the census is needed for the decisions city officials make on a daily basis, information most cities can't afford on their own, he added. "Gross average rent, income by household. Where are the people coming from? Are they coming from next door, Kamloops?" Gathering such information is expensive, Mattiussi said. "I mean if you're going to pay for a relatively small survey that's statistically significant and has that kind of quality, you're going to pay $10,00 to $15,000 to $25,000, even for just a few questions," he said.
Federal Industry Minister Tony Clement has defended his decision to cut the long-form census, which he says invades people's privacy. However, the government's decision to replace it with a shorter, voluntary version has kicked up a surprising amount of opposition across the country. Munir Sheikh, the head of Statistics Canada, the national statistical agency, resigned July 21 in protest over the move.
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