For all the yapping I’ve done about apathy, I’m about to test those very waters on the census issue.
As you may know, the Tories are talking about converting the mandatory long-form census they send out to 20% of people to a voluntary long-form census they’ll send out to 33% of people. The line in the sand is drawn between mandatory and voluntary. Pick a side and put up your dukes.
If the census had a box for “could give a rat’s ass,” I’d check it, but that would make for a pretty lame blog entry. I’ll go with Tony Clement and the government on this one. I’m not saying I’m applauding the decision, but I think it’s sensible and, frankly, rather Canadian to do away with the mandatory census. The threat of fines or jail time if you don’t complete the census is akin to the Nazis waterboarding the Dutch. Okay… it’s nothing like that. (How does Glenn Beck do that so well?) The threat of fines or jail time is ridiculous, if not downright sad. I favour the government not pretending they’ll incarcerate people who don’t want to admit how much they drink.
The one thing I’ve gathered most from this story is that it’s another opportunity for the certainly-not-right-of-centre Canadian media to propagate an idea of folly on the part of the gov’t. The Tories are playing to the Canadians who feel the mandatory long-form is intrusive and coercive; a valid opinion. They’re effectively broadening the sample size with the same survey. If the Liberals are right in that most Canadians don’t want this change, then the gov’t can expect better information from the larger sample of eager form filler-outers. The rest of us who see this census as a blantant invasion of our bedrooms or who just can’t be bothered now have a choice, and we like that.
So… unknot your knickers, my fellow Canadians, and count yourself in! Or don’t. It’s up to you. In the meantime, enjoy the media frenzy on this one. I guess there’s nothing better to report on.
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