Industry committee  So do you think the law should be changed?

Industry committee  I think the answer is “no”. In Australia, for example, there's a small fine for not voting. Voting is a mandatory thing in Australia. So I think small fines are appropriate. But the thing is that if you're trying to understand the character of the population, if you're trying t

Industry committee  I have just two very brief examples. I did some research for the Portuguese Canadian National Congress and spoke to them about the educational attainment of Portuguese Canadians. Portuguese Canadians are actually extraordinary. In a certain way, they've been very successful. Th

Industry committee  Probably you think it's important to study poverty. The census is used to study poverty and to study differentials in poverty between racialized groups. It's used to study poverty of first nations people. It turns out that one of the reasons people are poor is because their hou

Industry committee  No, I don't think it's appropriate to threaten them with a $500 fine. I don't think that's what the issue is at all. I think what you're doing is taking absolutely untypical, single complaints and trying to deal with policy in this way. I think your entire approach to this is co

Industry committee  No.

Industry committee  I don't think the issue has to do with fines.

Industry committee  I agree with Mr. McKinnon. This is an empirical question, so there's experience on which to base an answer. The answer is that about 20% or 25% would not answer if the survey were not mandatory. Let me say one other thing. The key thing is identifying the mandatory census as an

Industry committee  First, the census is extraordinary in that the entire questionnaire is approved by the cabinet. So the notion that these things come out of midair and there's no reason for them is ridiculous. That doesn't mean we shouldn't examine what's there and consider change, but there is a

Industry committee  Let me first say something about the burden. One-fifth of the population gets the mandatory census every five years, so I would get one every 25 years. Actually, only one is filled out per household, typically, and one person in the household would do it. So perhaps every 25 ye

Industry committee  Thanks, Jim. Let me start by asking, what is distinct about the mandatory long-form census? First, the response rate is very high, so the measure is free from bias to the maximum extent possible. This is just as important as the size of the sample. Second, the questionnaire