Who can disagree with wanting better longitudinal, detailed, granular information? So, yes.
But what I think is the most important point now is that when you actually look at all of Statistics Canada's existing tools, they represent a rusted toolkit measuring backwards for the twentieth century. Now we need new data that really helps, including graduate employment rates and earning power. Are people finding jobs in the field they studied? How many work-integrated learning opportunities do the programs offer? From an employer perspective, what are the actual barriers? Qualifications are not the same as actual skills, so clearly there is a disconnect there.
I will tell you that I contribute a lot of my thinking to the Canadian Chamber of Commerce through its HR skills committee, and what I think is superb is that there is this alignment now on the need for better labour market information. The council of CEOs is saying it, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce is saying it. It's not just that they want demand-side data, but supply-side data. They don't know what's in our talent supply chain. They don't know how many graduates we're going to have in mechatronics two years from now. That's the kind of information we need the federal government to put out.
So regarding your question on the census, I think we need a re-look at the whole of the evidence.