moved for leave to introduce Bill C-626, An Act to amend the Statistics Act (appointment of Chief Statistician and long-form census).
Mr. Speaker, in the game of chess it is said that if one sees a good move, look for an even better one.
After feedback from experts and stakeholders, I am pleased to present a refinement of my Bill C-562, an act to amend the Statistics Act. This amended bill explicitly acknowledges that new sources of data or data collection practices would be available in the future and would not simply reinstate the long form census in its recent form. It would require what was really important, the continuity of data series and the maintenance for improvement of data quality.
The proposed bill will also clarify that not all ministerial orders to the Chief Statistician or to Statistics Canada shall be published in the new Canada Gazette, but only if they fall within the scope of technical or methodological guidelines and ethical standards, which the Chief Statistician is required to post, maintain and archive on the Statistics Canada website.
The amended bill will expand the duties of its Chief Statistician to include keeping the public informed about the importance of gathering accurate statistical information and consulting with stakeholders on matters pertaining to the census.
I hope all members will see fit to support the bill to safeguard the quality of the information used for managing this country.
(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)