The recent controversy over the federal Conservative Party's plan to scrap the mandatory long-form census is about a lot more than some StatsCan survey. It's about the degree to which Canadians want government policy to be based on evidence and not just ideology.
The Tories, obviously, don't like the mandatory survey. That, they say, is because no Canadian should face jail time for failing to fill out a survey. It smacks of Big Brother to toss someone in the slammer for non-compliance (even though no Canadian has ever gone to jail for failing to fill out the long-form census).
We agree that it's wrong to send people to jail for failing to fill out a form. So reduce the penalty - make the maximum penalty a fine, or the withholding of some non-essential service like the issuance of passports. Don't scrap a survey that has helped inform decision-makers at all three levels of government for decades - and would, if scrapped, leave a huge gap in the reliability of information both the public and decision-makers use to inform their decisions.
We think the real reason the Tories want to scrap the survey is that reliable demographic and socio-economic information about ordinary Canadians' lives often points to the need for social programs they tend not to support. In fact, the Harper Conservatives have been consistent in their disdain for the so-called expert information and advice in many spheres.
They push forward with tough-on-crime legislation despite the fact that in most categories, crime statistics are falling and that both research and experience elsewhere indicate longer sentences don't reduce crime. But hey, the appearance of being tough on crime wins votes - damn the experts, whether your name is Harper or Bush. They staunchly oppose Vancouver's pioneering safe-injection site, to the point of appealing a B.C. court ruling declaring it provincial jurisdiction to the Supreme Court of Canada, in spite of consistent research showing that the Insite experiment has been successful in reducing urban drug addiction. Heck, even B.C. Health Minister Kevin Falcon (of the small-c provincial Liberals) has slammed the Feds for refusing to drop the case. And the Tories' antipathy toward credible climate science informing policies is well known, resulting in policies that have made Canada a pariah state among those seeking real, aggressive greenhouse gas emissions reductions.
We're not saying all policies have to be based on the latest and greatest research or survey information. There is, after all, value in taking a go-slow approach to governance, and knee-jerk policy making based on the latest survey information or study is generally bad policy making.
However, evidence is evidence, and it needs to be reliable and consistent if it's to inform government policy. In an insidious sort of way, scrapping the long-form census undermines the reliability of that information and, instead, leaves policy making to the ideological whims of those in power - whether they have a minority or a majority. The Planning Institute of B.C., which represents municipal planners, on Wednesday (Aug. 18) became the latest group to call on the Feds to reverse course on the census issue. "Census data, and long-form data in particular, informs our members' work. Accurate, timely and consistent socio-economic data is essential to ensure adequate and appropriate transportation, infrastructure, social services and economic development," the group said in a statement.
Credible evidence is only one piece of the decision-making puzzle, but it's an important piece. It should be as consistent and reliable as it can be.
