Industry committee  Well, you know and I know that the government controls penalties under the Statistics Act--certainly they can change those penalties--and that Statistics Canada does not.

Industry committee  Presumably, if they have opposition support.

Industry committee  Well, I dearly wish that my information could be compromised under that clause, but I don't think it'll happen. I don't want to join the political fray here. I want to look forward. Statistics Canada, as you frequently heard, is one of the pre-eminent statistical agencies in the

Industry committee  As far as I know, there have been no compromises. The fact that you might find out that the average number of rooms in my census tract is 8.4 doesn't tell you how many rooms are in my house, since there are 7,900 other people living there. So as far as I'm concerned, invasion o

Industry committee  Sir, with respect, you're asking a question that you yourself have control over. Statisticians, to the best of my knowledge, have not enacted laws sending people to jail or fining them.

Industry committee  No. My society has not taken a position on what the penalties associated with non-compliance with the Statistics Act should be, because that's not really our expertise. That's a government decision.

Industry committee  No, my association advocates that the long form of the census be mandatory, as in the past.

Industry committee  I think that's very clearly a decision that you should make. The word “mandatory”, for example, assigns to all sorts of things: where I park my car, or how fast I drive on the highway. It's mandatory that I not drive speaking on a cellphone. The fines associated with non-complian

Industry committee  In my personal view, they should not be threatened with jail time, in part because it has never happened and it's a red herring in this debate, and in part because it's all out of proportion--just as I shouldn't be threatened with jail time if I inadvertently leave my car five mi

Industry committee  In terms of fines, look, I have to pay, as do you and most Canadians, a large chunk of my salary to the government for policy, to make decisions on our behalf that benefit society. How much time—

Industry committee  When you overpark, or drive at 150—

Industry committee  The point is that the maximum penalty associated with non-compliance with rules and laws in this country is not always at the top of people's lists when they consider doing something. The word “mandatory” is important. I submit that the level of fine associated with it, which i

Industry committee  Well, in answer to the question briefly, the U.S. did study this in 2003. They sent essentially the same questionnaire to people, with the covering message that it was, on the one hand, voluntary, and in the other case that it was mandatory. The difference in response rates was a

Industry committee  I can't really speak to that, but I do believe that 20% will very likely not respond. I believe the government's responsible for those 20% as well as the 80%, and the policy should be made for everyone.

Industry committee  Well, I refuse to believe that the damage is done. I believe we can move forward with this, and in fact there's an incredible silver lining here. All of the groups that have spoken in favour of the long form of the census in the data, and Statistics Canada in general, have shown