Did you say less than one minute? Certainly. I'll cut to the chase, then, and go to my conclusion. I hopefully will bring up some of the research that CCSD has used extensively, relying on the information generated by the census, in our social research and economic work over the years.
I would like to conclude and leave with you the thought that CCSD strongly recommends the committee use its powers to ensure that the mandatory long-form census is included in the 2011 census. We certainly would like to add our support as well for the recommendations proposed by the National Statistics Council that were generated this past summer, as well as for current efforts under way to establish and maintain the autonomy of Statistics Canada and its chief statistician to pursue, with all due science and professionalism, the quality work that they have done.
I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that the census is the foundation of our data collection systems in Canada. The decision to abandon the long-form census will critically undermine the integrity of the census and certainly will have far-reaching consequences into the future. It will compromise the ability of governments, certainly federally but at all levels in Canada, to pursue evidence-based decision-making and inform policy program choices, especially at the community level.