A question for Maxime Bernier

Maxime Bernier was Minister of Industry during the 2006 census, and he's now saying that he received many complaints:

As industry minister during the 2006 census, Bernier said he was inundated with privacy complaints over a five- to six-week period.

"I received an average of 1,000 e-mails a day during the census to my MP office complaining about all that, so I know that Canadians who were obliged to answer that long-form census — very intrusive in their personal lives — I know they were upset," he said.

Some of the complaints related to U.S. arms manufacturer Lockheed Martin providing computer services to Statistics Canada, he said, but the majority objected to the census questions themselves.

In the months following the census, Statistics Canada conducted its usual review in preparation for the 2011 census. This review included a consultation period between April and November 2007, which was the basis for this report.

Maxime Bernier was the Minister of Industry until August 2007, so he was responsible for setting the terms of the review. But as far as I can tell, there is essentially no mention of complaints of intrusiveness. Granted, most of the report is devoted to the comments made by users of census data, but the review's mandate included all stakeholders, and Statistics Canada advertised widely for feedback.

So here's my question for M Bernier: Why didn't you make sure that the review of the 2006 census addressed your concerns?

Comments

[Scott Wolfe]

I had the same thought as I read the Toronto Star article containing these quotes. I wonder, further, whether previous Ministers with responsibility for this portfolio...say, Brian Tobin, in 2001, would recall public complaints being commonplace at census time?

If not, does this mean that Canadians have, throughout the course of the 2000s, become significantly more concerned about the intrusiveness of the census? Or, perhaps more vocal about their concerns? If so, what might explain this evolution in Canadian disposition, and how would we endeavour to make sense of it? Are there trends across the country? And, are there any correlations between concern over government intrusiveness and factors such as location, income level, education, language, or other factors?

It would be interesting to see. Too bad we wouldn't have the information necessary, from the census, study this and better understand the changing qualities and dispositions of civil society.

[Just visiting from Macleans]

I received an average of 1,000 e-mails a day during the census to my MP office complaining about all that, so I know that Canadians who were obliged to answer that long-form census — very intrusive in their personal lives — I know they were upset

B.S., or an organized campaign by a narrow group. Who could possibly read 1000 emails a day unless they were all the same? And how would the average long census requestee know Bernier's email add? Is there a complaint line with the form? And would you use your real name whn complaining? Seems to me you would be putting a big bullseye on your forehead if you didn't comply.

Yeah, "good" sampling of public opinion. Or "faulty" memory. I think I'd correct for bias.

[the truth is....]

I used some of my remaining error quota to error correct extra hookers and cattle semen collectors.
CPC knows Indians and recent immigrants (who might be CPC overrepresented because culturally closet cases), the unemployed, the homeless...all are underrepresented by voluntary census. If you don't have right busfare or ID you don't vote and you are more likely to assume all politicians are crooked.
But by targetting the poor CPC members are going to Hell if there is a God (at least I think all major religions say this). Because the Stats Canada website is unwieldy and you have to pay for some of the Stats, I'm mostly neutral on this middle class vs upper-middle class fight.

[Winston]

According to Wikipedia and his website, Bernier is an apostle of high finance, a lawyer by training, and a denier of the science behind global warming, so he must be exceptionally honest.

Frankly, Stephen, I don't think he deserves the advertising you've given him.

[Mike Moffatt]

So here's my questions for M Bernier:

- Why didn't he suggest to the complaintants people that they file a complaint with the privacy commissioner?

- Why did he wait until now to release this information?

- Why did he not reveal this information to Minister Clement, along with a detailed accounting of the number of complaints? It seems this kind of data would assist in the 'selling' of the policy change.

[Armine Yalnizyan]

The process of the consultation did indeed include his government's concerns. Among the several elements of feedback sought was privacy and "respondent burden". See the extract from what StatCan was looking for at http://www.progressive-economics.ca/2010/07/09/rolling-thunder-census-review/. The problem for the government was that there was not one complaint in the 1200 submissions in that report.

[Guillaume]

Winston, you forgot that he's also a goldbug: http://www.maximebernier.com/en/2010/06/inflation/

[the truth is....]

I guess the CPC point is you don't want 9 yr old moms and undercover cops reporting info on stats, but why not just lie. Watching the libertarians and at least one Palin endorser CPC MP, lie about Death Panels, I know they can lie. They need to teach. It does get annoying how many people speak esparanto, love, alien tongues, computer languages...hire more staff at least now in an Edm stats office to replace the battery jobs Dion could've given to AB and is watching Michigan get.
Give the Edm office the power to get hospital stats as a condition for full fed transfer payments. Pandemic readiness ($$ to whoever prepares infected and now verified immune staff to come to work for 2nd wave), staph infection rates, bloated administrative salaries/#'s, publicly accessible emergency room wait times for each triage...take some vague provinces cash and give to efficient ones.

ftr, attacking the poor is fair game if a GAI or if inability to find work comes with welfare or some Rooseveltian tree/food planting scheme, or picking up condoms and valuable aluminum cans from parks like fine option and urban green team.

[Patrick]

Winston: Bernier is one of the rising stars in the Conservative party. He's fairly young, handsome, and Quebecois. They have big plans for him and they've been desperately trying to rehabilitate his image after his little dalliance with a woman having some unsavory criminal associations in her past blew-up in his face and became a scandal.

[Determinant]

Patrick, that doesn't excuse the fact that he's still a fruit loop.

[D. Rogers]

For once the Tories have done something worthwhile.

The long-form census was personally intrusive into people's lives. The idea of throwing a conscientious objector to this intrusiveness into jail for 3 months and/or a $500 fine is abhorrent. It is the sort of coercion one might expect to find in some third world countries, not in Canada.

All other polls, such as Ipsos-Reid, are voluntary, yet the statistical integrity of such polls are not questioned.