So I was busy at the end of last week and missed the chance to comment on the Tories’ decision to scrap the full, proper census in favour of a “less intrusive” short form. David Eaves explains well enough that removing the long-form census hobbles government’s ability to perform social services for the general public (and of course it’s shocking that the Harper government would hobble the government’s ability to deliver public services) and Counternarratives pointed out that the reasoning behind the removal of the long-form census – privacy concerns – is stupid, considering that census participation is anonymized and then analyzed only in a giant aggregate mass.
But this isn’t about privacy, because that’s a silly concern, and Harper might be a bit of an ideologue but he’s never been a stupid one. And it’s not about the delivery of social services either, although that’s of course a wonderful bonus when you’re talking about a government which has made it quite clear they’re disinterested in providing them. This is, when you get to it, about accountability. Eaves mentions this when he points out that with less data, private citizens are less able to argue against government action (or, for that matter, large business action). But that’s just one aspect of it.
Censuses, at their heart, are the best single measure of longterm government performance, because they demonstrate longterm societal trends: population migration, demographic change, economic stability. When you consider the Harper government’s general lack of interest in accountability, them killing the census makes even more sense than it previously did; census data is among the best ways to hold a government accountable for their actions because it provides big-picture data, and a lot of it.
God, what a useless government we’ve got.
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You may be right, but I prefer an even simpler explanation. Elements of the American right object to the census because of its purported goal of expanding Big Government Control of Everything. Pandering to this sentiment, even if there’s only the faintest echo of it in Canada, is a cheap way to “shore up the base”.
Try an American government that won’t help fucking create jobs like they used to.
I was a US census worker and you have no idea how many people just really didn’t understand the whole idea. Some people you can talk to, but there’s always the Becktards who think the government is up to nefarious purposes if you tell them you are white and were born in 1975.
A white man born in the 70s? Why, thems theres the guys who we are sending to the new reservations!
And you *know* they won’t be voted out in the next election. It makes me so damned depressed.
Why is it that every time I read about the Harper “government’s” actions, the more I become convinced that they want power just to have it?
Oh, right. It’s because they do. Never mind.
I’ve been told by more than one Canadian friend (all Liberals/NDP, for whatever that’s worth) that the Canadian Tories basically think the U.S Republican party have EXACTLY the right ideas, but they know they can’t possibly say that out loud, so they try and sidle into office however they can and then implement their paleocon shit on the down-low.
That’s always seemed about right to me. I just think ‘What would Bush do if he were still in charge and running Canada?’ and that usually gets me to a good approximation of whatever bullshit Harper is up to.
“– God, what a useless government we’ve got. –”
Fuck yeah, tell me about it.
~ The States
If you’re enjoying this, wait till your conservatives try to slap Ronald Reagen on the dime and treat it like this is the most important political event since the end of your last big war (1812? French and Indian?)
The big joke with the Census could be seen up in Minnesota. There was some fear that population treads were going to cost the state a Congressional seat. One of the biggest anti-Census demagogues is Congressional Representative Michelle Bachman. If Minnesota loses a seat, her district is on prime turf for being cannibalized by her neighbors. So if you track her statements, she’s been absolutely all over the map by decrying the illegality of the government asking how many people live in your house while demanding that the Feds give her state more resources to do a proper head count.
If you want Harper to STFU, you have to tie his electoral fortunes to a long form census document. That’ll twist him in knots.
Speaking as someone who worked as an occupation coder for the last full census – we took privacy pretty friggin’ seriously. Bag searches, summary firing for talking about data outside of work, no bringing papers in or out, or anything that could possibly record media…
Yeah. Privacy issues are essentially a lie or a cover for something they’d like to do regardless.
You’re right, MGK.
Yeah. Privacy issues are essentially a lie or a cover for something they’d like to do regardless.
So pretty much like every issue conservatives claim to have.
Actual issue: “Grr! I hate Government Forms!”