Mandatory long-form census restored by new Liberal government

[AnnaG]

Now bring back the gun registry plz.

Why? Allan Rock's pet project started out being a bad joke and never changed. People registered anything that even resembled firearms, from paint-strippers to squirtguns and hair-dryers. Some owners only registered some of their firearms and some never registered any. It is likely the biggest and most expensive garbage any Canadian government has come up with.

Mandatory long-form census restored by new Liberal government

YAY Another poll in which hubby and I can BS.

The Liberal government is reinstating the mandatory long-form census that was scrapped by the Conservatives five years ago.

"We need good, reliable data," said Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Navdeep Bains, who made the announcement on Parliament Hill.
Mandatory long-form census restored by new Liberal government - Politics - CBC News

Good and reliable lies from lots of people are very valuable.

Good detection. The census is only every 10 years on the 1 years. I find it somewhat difficult to believe that this would provide anybody any real meaningful data. Also assumes that data collected is honest and reliable. I find it hard to believe that reliability is enforceable.

Note I am not against re-instating it. I just don't think it is the be-all-end-all that some are making it out to be.

Exactly.

Gun registry is, was and always will be a farce - a cow to be milked for money and a retrieval system any twelve-year-old can hack into

A cow to be milked for money? By whom? The gov't? Since when has the gov't ever profited? How did our debt get to $36K each?
The only profit to be made anywhere in that mess is some foreign country that holds the registry information. Probably some place in India.

 

[Twila]

Why? Allan Rock's pet project started out being a bad joke and never changed. People registered anything that even resembled firearms, from paint-strippers to squirtguns and hair-dryers. Some owners only registered some of their firearms and some never registered any. It is likely the biggest and most expensive garbage any Canadian government has come up with.

YAY Another poll in which hubby and I can BS.

Good and reliable lies from lots of people are very valuable.

Exactly.

Last time the long form only went to 1 in 5 canadian households. Maybe what they should do is ask whom of those 1 in 5 WANT to fill it out?

I'm happy to fill it out. I like the idea of the policy makers having relevant reliable data in order to make decision for policing, medical staffing, education, ethnic make up of Canada, etc.

 

[IdRatherBeSkiing]

Last time the long form only went to 1 in 5 canadian households. Maybe what they should do is ask whom of those 1 in 5 WANT to fill it out?

I'm happy to fill it out. I like the idea of the policy makers having relevant reliable data in order to make decision for policing, medical staffing, education, ethnic make up of Canada, etc.

Isn't that the voluntary part of Harper's plan?

 

[Twila]

Isn't that the voluntary part of Harper's plan?

Which plan was that? the short form census of the last 5 years that wasn't voluntary? The one in which a 79yr old was taken to court for her refusal to fill it out?

 

[IdRatherBeSkiing]

Which plan was that? the short form census of the last 5 years that wasn't voluntary? The one in which a 79yr old was taken to court for her refusal to fill it out?

I thought his plan was to make the long form voluntary. The short form (the one I have always gotten) should be filled out. And the laws are such that the 79 year old should have been taken to court to fill out short form.

 

[Twila]

I thought his plan was to make the long form voluntary. The short form (the one I have always gotten) should be filled out. And the laws are such that the 79 year old should have been taken to court to fill out short form.

ah! I hadn't heard that.

 

[AnnaG]

Last time the long form only went to 1 in 5 canadian households. Maybe what they should do is ask whom of those 1 in 5 WANT to fill it out?

Voluntary long forms would be sensible.

I'm happy to fill it out. I like the idea of the policy makers having relevant reliable data in order to make decision for policing, medical staffing, education, ethnic make up of Canada, etc.

Relevant, reliable data? The government? hahaha Since when?

 

[Twila]

Voluntary long forms would be sensible.

Relevant, reliable data? The government? hahaha Since when?

Sorry, my optimism gets ahead of me sometimes. But it made you laugh, so that's good. lol

I'm still hopeful that this gov't will more more transparent then the last.

 

[lone wolf]

A cow to be milked for money? By whom? The gov't? Since when has the gov't ever profited? How did our debt get to $36K each?
The only profit to be made anywhere in that mess is some foreign country that holds the registry information. Probably some place in India.

Can you name one government service that takes your money that isn't a cash grab? Whether they profit or not isn't my concern. If they caught illegal weapons, the registru might be of some use. All it does is create a list of all the legal hunting guns for someone else to find

 

[Corduroy]

The government allocates resources to certain regions and cities based on demographics. It can't do that if it doesn't know know the demographic make up of a region. It is important that the government has accurate data to run effectively.

 

[AnnaG]

What Cord said and ...... as Canada is very large and diverse in geography, people, etc. having a huge fed makes no sense at all. We should have regional or at least provincial governments that have most of the responsibility and power. The fed should set out guidelines for the regions/provinces to follow and then STFU about internal stuff in Canada..

 

[Twila]

well I just learned that tapeworms get cancer and that their cancer can kill you!

So this long form census seems pretty much a non issue.

Tapeworms!

 

[Corduroy]

well I just learned that tapeworms get cancer and that their cancer can kill you!

So this long form census seems pretty much a non issue.

Tapeworms!

Tragically Harper promised a tapeworm tax deduction that will now never see the light of day... much like your tapeworms... eww..

 

[mentalfloss]

I won't be filling it out.

Please do let us know how that pans out for you.

What Cord said and ...... as Canada is very large and diverse in geography, people, etc. having a huge fed makes no sense at all. We should have regional or at least provincial governments that have most of the responsibility and power. The fed should set out guidelines for the regions/provinces to follow and then STFU about internal stuff in Canada..

Harper tried that by ignoring the provinces and it kinda backfired.

 

[AnnaG]

Totally disagree.

I do not care.

Harper tried that by ignoring the provinces and it completely backfired.

Wrong. He did not ignore the provinces. Nor did he transfer any power to the provinces. So he did not try what I suggested.

 

[mentalfloss]

I agree, he didn't co-operate with the provinces.

 

[Mowich]

This is already a hot potato. They have made it mandatory. When asked how they intended to enforce it there was no answer. They just 'believe that Canadians will comply'.
The penalty for refusing to comply is a$500 fine or 3 months in jail. I believe this is why the Conservatives made it non-mandatory.
There is also the question of privacy. Does the Government have the right to demand information of such a personal nature? I believe that is why the Conservatives adopted the short version.
I think the biggest benefit of the long census will be to marketing . Is this one of the Liberal plans to boost the economy?

There are a myriad of reasons for the long form census. Planning for healthcare, infrastructure, education........the list goes on. How filling out the form will boost the economy is beyond me.

 

[Curious Cdn]

I never got the point of getting rid of it in the first place. It was a bizarre move, absolutely uncalled for with no traction at all with the vast majority of Canadians. A very small group with a very strange ideology got rid of the census for themselves, alone. That is not how democracy works.

 

[Walter]

If they caught illegal weapons, the registru might be of some use.

How could a gun registry catch illegal guns?

 

[Corduroy]

I never got the point of getting rid of it in the first place. It was a bizarre move, absolutely uncalled for with no traction at all with the vast majority of Canadians. A very small group with a very strange ideology got rid of the census for themselves, alone. That is not how democracy works.

The excuse they gave was privacy... but then they enacted C-51, so privacy is not actually a concern. What other reason could there be to getting rid of it?