Mr. Speaker, in the time I have left I will highlight a few technical pieces around the sections that the bill seeks to amend, sections 19 and 31.
The proposed amendment under section 19 would provide that the census of population include a long form questionnaire. This questionnaire would be distributed to 20% of the households or the percentage determined by the Chief Statistician to ensure an accurate statistical representation of the Canadian population.
The proposed amendment under section 31 would provide for the removal of the penalty of imprisonment.
By virtue of section 8 of the Statistics Act, all census are mandatory. It is the government's responsibility to determine the content of that census. For the 2011 census, the government decided that the census would have 10 questions on demographic and language information such as birth, gender, marital status, mother tongue, home language and knowledge of official languages, obviously placing a real priority in those regards, as well as a question on the consent to release personal census information after 92 years.
It is the government's duty to examine the options presented by Statistics Canada as well as to listen to Canadians and other concerned groups and organizations.
Based on all the available information, the government decided that asking the long form census questions on a voluntary basis in the national household survey would provide a better balance between collecting necessary data and protecting the privacy of Canadians.
The government does not believe that citizens who may have a conscientious objection to giving private information to government representatives should be forced to do so in the long form census. This reflects the government's strong commitment to protecting privacy.
We need to ask ourselves if a mandatory long form census questionnaire is the best way to obtain this information. While there is undeniably great value attached to census data, we must also consider the important principle of privacy protection. Is it right to force people to provide personal information under the threat of jail or fines?
I believe that asking the long form census questions on a voluntary basis in the national household survey provides a better balance between collecting necessary data and protecting the privacy of Canadians. We do not believe that citizens, who may conscientiously object to giving private information to government officials, should be forced to do so in the long form census.
We understand that the national household survey will have an impact on data quality. Nevertheless, I am confident that this new survey will establish a balance between the requirement of governments, businesses, municipalities and associations for good information and the willingness of Canadians to provide that information. This government is also well aware that without good information, informed decisions are difficult to make.
The national household survey will produce accurate estimates for a wide variety of geographic areas and populations of sub-groups. These areas range from very large, such as provinces and census metropolitan areas, to small, such as municipalities. It will also include groups such as aboriginals and immigrants.
Statistics Canada will monitor the results closely by applying the same thorough methods and standards for the national household survey as it does for all of its voluntary surveys.
As I close, I would like to inform my colleagues that the government intends to introduce legislation this fall to remove the threat of jail time in section 31 for persons refusing to fill out the census and all mandatory surveys administered by Statistics Canada. The government bill would remove the threat of jail in section 32 for persons refusing or neglecting to grant access to information or wilfully obstructing or seeking to obstruct Statistics Canada officials.