Census compromise? Minister, opposition consider options
By Jennifer Ditchburn and Heather Scoffield

OTTAWA - The door to a possible compromise on Canada's long census was left open a crack Tuesday, with both Industry Minister Tony Clement and the opposition hinting they might consider changes to the nation's big count.

At a special House of Commons committee hearing on the census, Clement emphasized his government's view that Canadians should not be compelled to divulge personal information with the threat of jail time or fines.

Late last month, the Conservative government decided to replace the long-form census with a voluntary one, stirring up an unprecedented backlash from a wide variety of organizations and governments.

"I believe that our government's decision finds that balance between collecting necessary data and protecting the rights of Canadians,'' Clement said.

But Clement wrapped up his opening comments to MPs by saying that he looked forward to "hearing the views'' of others who would appear later in the day - the first time he's indicated a willingness to listen to other voices.

Clement also said he would work with the official languages commissioner to address any concerns he had, and he would make a change to allow the release of the new voluntary survey data in 92 years - a demand of genealogist.

The opposition was also putting a little water in the wine.

Liberal, NDP and Bloc Quebecois MPs openly asked witnesses about the possibility of removing the threat of jail times, given that nobody has ever been jailed for failing to fill out the census in the first place.

Still, by the end of the day, opposition MPs moved a motion to reinstate the long census form with all its penalties intact. Conservatives put pointed questions to them about whether the jail time and fines were a necessary part of the package.

Ultimately, the motion passed with the opposition votes.

Liberal MP Marc Garneau said he was hopeful that the government would reach out to consult with other parties on the issue, and then maybe seek a compromise.

"I really hope that the government is going to change its mind, so I'm holding out hope that the little crack in the door will open up more,'' Garneau said.

Former chief statistician Ivan Fellegi said he thought he detected the possibility of a compromise.

"He's not closed to consideration of anything. If the committee comes back with alternatives that reflect the principles he announced, they might consider them,'' Fellegi told The Canadian Press.

There are several proposals for compromise floating about. Some have suggested the government undertake the 2011 census the traditional, mandatory way, and consider accompanying that survey with an additional voluntary survey to see what would happen. The United States tried a similar experiment.

Others have suggested the government move to reinstate the mandatory long census, but remove the threat of a jail term, and lighten the fines.

And others say that if the Conservatives have big problems with the intrusiveness of some of the questions, they should simply remove the ones they don't like them from the mandatory questionnaire, rather than replacing the whole gamut with a voluntary form.

Clement himself emphasized it was the federal cabinet that had the power to decide the questions on the census.

"My concern is that government has the power to change any question that it wants, and it has the power to remove the jail time, and they're not doing it,'' said NDP MP Claude Gravelle.

Statistics Canada had presented Clement with a series of options when informed about the government's desire to eliminate the long census form several months ago.

The chief statistician at the time, Munir Sheikh, went along with the plan.

But Sheikh told the committee on Tuesday, in a voice that broke occasionally, that he decided to resign his post last week when he felt the credibility of Statistics Canada had been damaged over the controversy.

The breaking point, Sheikh revealed, was the suggestion that Statistics Canada had actually backed the government's desire to scrap the census.

"The fact that in the media and the public that there was this perception that Statistics Canada is supporting a decision that no statistician would, it cast doubt on the integrity of the agency and I as head of the agency could not survive in that job.''

Fellegi and Sheikh went into detail about why a voluntary survey would produce data of a lesser quality than a mandatory survey. They pointed out that certain groups-such as aboriginals and low-income Canadians - might fill out the survey in even lower numbers than they do the census.

Those problems would create a bias in the data, and there would be ripple effect on myriad other surveys conducted by the government. The long-form census is used as a benchmark against which voluntary surveys are tested.

"We stand behind each one of our products, however, I would never recommend somebody to use a passenger car to deliver merchandise on a regular basis to Wal-Mart,'' Sheikh said.

A few groups testified in support of the government's position - including the Fraser Institute and the National Citizens Coalition. Both said the need for government to collect data is not a good enough reason to intrude on the private lives of Canadians.

"The one special interest group that's not here right now is the Canadian taxpayer, who is afraid of big government,'' said Peter Coleman of the National Citizens Coalition.

But most of the witnesses at the committee, which are called at the request of MPs, outlined their concerns around the potential loss of data.

"As Inuit, because of our small numbers within our great nation, sometimes we fall through the cracks,'' said Elisapee Sheutiapik, of the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami.

"This data brings real information that is needed in our levels of our government and non-government organizations.''

Conservative MPs at the committee repeatedly pressed witnesses whether specific questions merited the threat of jail time. MP Mike Lake said he had recently met with a group of constituents about the census debate, and found most had willingly filled out the census forms without even knowing there was a threat of jail time - a statement immediately ridiculed by a political rival.

"The fundamental difference between us and you is that we expect that an industry minister makes his decisions based on fact, not on urban myth, not on supposition, not on what people on talk radio would posit,'' said NDP Charlie Angus. -CP-