Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister, for coming before us today.
I want to go back to the question that Mr. Garneau was asking, focused on the difference between mandatory and voluntary. Of course, for something to be mandatory there has to be some threat attached to it. Back in the early 1970s, the Liberal government of the day introduced the long form. They decided to force Canadians to answer the questions under threat of jail time or fines.
Obviously we've made a little bit of a different decision. I want to go to the basis of this decision and ask what went into making this decision. What was the government thinking about as we made this decision?