Industry committee  In my testimony to the committee seven years ago, I said that I had two jobs, one was to give my best advice to the government, and the second was to implement whatever the government decided. I think it's pretty obvious by now that the advice that we gave the government was to continue with the long-form census.

Industry committee  I found the council to be extremely helpful. In fact, whatever path we were going to be on, to make substantial changes to something, my approach was to take it to the council, hear out what they had to say, make my decisions, but then get back to the council to explain why we had done what we had done.

Industry committee  They were a sounding board, and I must say that I did get good advice.

Industry committee  No. We wanted to get the membership of the NSC to ensure that in every subject matter area, we had an advisory committee on their subject matter. The NSC would have to fill the gaps that were not filled at that level, and the appointment of the members was based on that. By the way, it was the minister who would send these letters of appointment.

Industry committee  I think 40 is too much; 10 is probably too little. So it's somewhere in between. It's hard to pick out a number. A bit more than 10 would be helpful.

Industry committee  Before the 2010 census problem, as chief statistician, whenever I met with chief statisticians of the world, what I kept hearing was that Statistics Canada was the best statistical agency in the world. That reputation, of course, suffered as a result of what happened in 2010. Therefore, the question I give to you, sir, is if Bill C-36 had been the law at that time, would that situation have been avoided?

Industry committee  The bill does need some pretty important amendments. It's not because somebody disagrees with those amendments, but my view is that probably someone hasn't thought about the challenges—

Industry committee  I think it would, but let me just mention another dimension that is important to any deputy minister or chief statistician of a department. Running an organization of 5,000 or 6,000 people is not a small task, so in addition to a person having statistical expertise, they should also have the ability to run a very large organization with very complex issues.

Industry committee  I don't think I'll be able to provide a definition right now. I haven't given it much thought. I think the system we have has worked really well. You have a past census that you can search very widely. You can make changes to what the census should look like, and then the cabinet approves it.

Industry committee  Should you give up on that opportunity? The question I'm raising is you—

Industry committee  What I see mostly, in the bill, is a fixed five-year term for the chief statistician. There's really not much detail as to how the chief statistician is selected. The point I was trying to make was that the new bill, by changing the balance of accountability, political interference, professionalism, raises a lot of questions.

Industry committee  I think it's great to have the census back, and I am quite pleased with the quality of the data it produces. I hope it stays around for a long time to come.

Industry committee  First of all, I would like to thank the committee for inviting me to come here today and share my thoughts with you on Bill C-36. It's good to be back at this committee after almost seven years, when I appeared following my resignation as chief statistician. I think it would be useful for me to set a context for my comments on Bill C-36 and proposing changes to the Statistics Act.