Mr. Speaker, I support the principle behind this private member's bill, but I am puzzled by it, since we know that no one has ever been imprisoned for refusing to respond to the Statistics Canada census. It is a problem that does not exist.
The real problem is that since the Conservatives took power, they have made cuts to Statistics Canada, which has prevented this agency from collecting high-quality data. The Conservatives also eliminated the long form census, which severely impaired Statistics Canada's ability to gather reliable data to help federal and provincial governments make decisions and provide services to the public.
Could my hon. colleague speak to the fact that Statistics Canada can no longer provide data to assist with making fact-based decisions? Can he also speak to the fact that Munir Sheikh, the former chief statistician of Canada, resigned in 2010 because of the Conservatives' attack on Statistics Canada and because Statistics Canada was no longer able to gather reliable information?