TORONTO -- An elderly peace activist remains defiant as she prepares to stand trial today over refusing to fill out the census because it's processed with software from a U.S. military contractor.
Audrey Tobias says she's prepared to serve time in jail if that's what it takes to protest Ottawa's decision to use Lockheed Martin technology to sift, sort and analyze census data.
Tobias faces up to 90 days in jail and/or a maximum $500 fine if convicted under the Statistics Act, which bars Canadians from trying to skip out on the census.
She says she'd also refuse to hand over a single penny in fines since that would amount to an admission of guilt.
The 89-year-old did not complete the 2011 short-form census, but says she'd proudly send along her questionnaire answers if they were instead handled by Statistics Canada using software not sourced from a military contractor.
Statistics Canada purchased Lockheed's software back in 2003 and has used it for both the 2006 and 2011 census, a connection cited by several other people charged for their census refusal.
In 2011, a Saskatchewan woman was found guilty and given an absolute discharge for refusing to fill out the now-voluntary long-form section of the 2006 census over the Lockheed software link, and is awaiting to hear whether the Supreme Court will grant her appeal request.
Tobias, a peace activist for some six decades, shrugged off the thought of doing time behind bars.
"Too bad. It just has to be done," she said ahead of her day in court.
"The fact of giving the contract to a military company says a great deal of where the sympathies of our government lie."
"We don't want our country to indicate support for that sort of thing," Tobias said.
"I want us to rather favour peace-seeking companies. But that is the worst company that they could have chosen," she said of Ottawa's use of the Lockheed software.
Read more: Toronto woman, 89, ready to go to jail over census protest linked to Lockheed Martin | CTV News
Audrey Tobias says she's prepared to serve time in jail if that's what it takes to protest Ottawa's decision to use Lockheed Martin technology to sift, sort and analyze census data.
Tobias faces up to 90 days in jail and/or a maximum $500 fine if convicted under the Statistics Act, which bars Canadians from trying to skip out on the census.
She says she'd also refuse to hand over a single penny in fines since that would amount to an admission of guilt.
The 89-year-old did not complete the 2011 short-form census, but says she'd proudly send along her questionnaire answers if they were instead handled by Statistics Canada using software not sourced from a military contractor.
Statistics Canada purchased Lockheed's software back in 2003 and has used it for both the 2006 and 2011 census, a connection cited by several other people charged for their census refusal.
In 2011, a Saskatchewan woman was found guilty and given an absolute discharge for refusing to fill out the now-voluntary long-form section of the 2006 census over the Lockheed software link, and is awaiting to hear whether the Supreme Court will grant her appeal request.
Tobias, a peace activist for some six decades, shrugged off the thought of doing time behind bars.
"Too bad. It just has to be done," she said ahead of her day in court.
"The fact of giving the contract to a military company says a great deal of where the sympathies of our government lie."
"We don't want our country to indicate support for that sort of thing," Tobias said.
"I want us to rather favour peace-seeking companies. But that is the worst company that they could have chosen," she said of Ottawa's use of the Lockheed software.
Read more: Toronto woman, 89, ready to go to jail over census protest linked to Lockheed Martin | CTV News
