Some
facts about the Census
It is generally assumed amongst the population of Canada that it is
mandatory that all of the information requested on a census form, both
the short form and the long form, must be provided as part of an
individual’s obligation under the Statistics Act of Canada. A closer
look at the statute reveals that it isn’t necessarily so.
But first, a little history about the census in Canada.
The first pre-confederation census was held in 1666 by Intendent Jean
Talonin in the area of North America known as New France. Collecting
much of the data himself by visiting settlers, he personally counted
3,215 inhabitants. He recorded their age, sex, marital status and
occupation to help plan for the future development of the Colony of New
France
Later, as British invaders began settling in other areas of the country
they now called British North America, censuses were held there as
well. From their benign beginnings, the census was held randomly over
the ensuing years for a variety of reasons such as keeping count of
livestock, crops, buildings, churches, mills and firearms, and for
assessing the population of different religious groups and racial
groups.
Even though today’s censuses are still similar in purpose to those
pre-confederation censuses, they never really had a rational purpose
until Canada became a confederation. This excerpt from the second
reading of the BNA Act Bill in 1867 in the Imperial Parliament alludes
to the first national need to be counted.
Speeches on Canadian Affairs
Henry Howard Molyneux, 4th Earl of
Carnarvon
The second reading of the British
North America Bill February 19, 1867
Pg. 107 “As I have said, it is
proposed that the Provinces shall surrender to the Central Parliament
all powers of raising revenue except by direct taxation. In return for
this concession, the Central Government will remit to the Local
Legislatures certain fixed sums and proportionate capitation payments,
in order to enable them to more conveniently to defray the costs of
local administration.”
As a result of confederation, a national census bureau had to be
established at the federal level in order to fulfill the constitutional
quid pro quo of proportionate capitation payments, meaning the
population of each province had to be counted in order to come up with
a total amount to be paid annually to each of the four original
provinces, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec and Ontario. The counting
of the population also helped to establish representation by population
in the new Parliament.
The 1867 BNA Act required that the first census be taken in 1871 and
every tenth year thereafter until 1956 when it began to be taken every
five years. On May 12, 1870, Parliament passed the Census Act, paving
the way for Canada’s first census to be taken the following year. In
1918, 47 years later, the Dominion Bureau of Statistics was established
to oversee it and the Bureau conducted the national census for the next
53 years until 1971 when Statistics Canada was formed to take over the
task
Now, let’s look at the Statistics Act to find out what information we
are required to provide and what information is voluntary only. We will
look at Section 3 of the Act to begin with as it establishes the duties
and responsibilities of the statistics bureau also known as Statistics
Canada.
Statistics Act
CHAPTER S-19
An Act respecting statistics of Canada
Statistics Bureau
3. There shall continue to be a
statistics bureau under the Minister, to be known as Statistics Canada,
the duties of which are
(a) to collect, compile, analyse, abstract and publish statistical
information relating to the commercial, industrial, financial, social,
economic and general activities and condition of the people;
(b) to collaborate with departments of government in the collection,
compilation and publication of statistical information, including
statistics derived from the activities of those departments;
(c) to take the census of population
of Canada and the census of agriculture of Canada as provided in this
Act;
(d) to promote the avoidance of duplication in the information
collected by departments of government; and
(e) generally, to promote and develop integrated social and economic
statistics pertaining to the whole of Canada and to each of the
provinces thereof and to coordinate plans for the integration of those
statistics.
These powers seem reasonable enough but it is interesting to note and
although subsection (a) appears to be very broad in its scope of
activities, the actual census of population and agriculture are
addressed separately in subsection (c)
This brings us to Section 19 of the Act which, not only addresses the
population census mentioned in subsection 3(c) but, it’s where we find
the imperative (mandatory requirement) for the time a census must be
conducted within.
Population Census
19. (1) A census of population
of Canada shall be taken by Statistics Canada in the month of June in
the year 1971, and every fifth year thereafter in a month to be fixed
by the Governor in Council.
(2) The census of population shall be
taken in such a manner as to ensure that counts of the population are
provided for each federal electoral district of Canada, as constituted
at the time of each census of population.
(3) A reference in any Act of Parliament, in any order, rule or
regulation or in any contract or other document made thereunder to a
decennial census of population shall, unless the context otherwise
requires, be construed to refer to the census of population taken by
Statistics Canada in the year 1971 or in any tenth year thereafter.
But we all know that canvassers ask for more than just the number of
people living in our homes, especially if you are one of the lucky ones
to be subjected to the “long form”. This is where Section 22 comes in.
It gives the Chief Statistician an imperative on how to deal with other
information that may be authorized to be collected. Below is a list of
the different categories that statistics may be created from.
General Statistics
22. Without limiting the duties of Statistics Canada under section 3 or
affecting any of its powers or duties in respect of any specific
statistics that may otherwise be authorized or required under this Act,
the Chief Statistician shall, under the direction of the Minister,
collect, compile, analyse, abstract and publish statistics in relation
to all or any of the following matters in Canada:
(a) population;
(b) agriculture;
(c) health and welfare;
(d) law enforcement, the administration of justice and corrections;
(e) government and business finance;
(f) immigration and emigration;
(g) education;
(h) labour and employment;
(i) commerce with other countries;
(j) prices and the cost of living;
(k) forestry, fishing and trapping;
(l) mines, quarries and wells;
(m) manufacturing;
(n) construction;
(o) transportation, storage and communication;
(p) electric power, gas and water utilities;
(q) wholesale and retail trade;
(r) finance, insurance and real estate;
(s) public administration;
(t) community, business and personal services; and
(u) any other matters prescribed by the Minister or by the Governor in
Council.
Apparently, the Chief Statistician must collect, compile, analyze,
abstract and publish statistics in relation to all or any of the
aforementioned categories, as required under the Act. However,
regardless of what he has to do, we need to dig further to find out
what information we, the people, are required to provide in relation to
the Act, especially when it appears they require a lot of very personal
and private information. So when the canvasser comes knocking at the
door, are we really required to provide all of this information?
Of course, if we start to complain about this apparent breach of our
privacy, the canvasser has been trained to recite Section 31 of the Act
which is the penal section that outlines the penalty for every person
who neglects or refuses to answer or provide information to the
Minister.
False or unlawful information
31. Every person who, without
lawful excuse,
(a) refuses or neglects to answer, or wilfully answers falsely, any
question requisite for obtaining any information sought in respect of
the objects of this Act or pertinent thereto that has been asked of him
by any person employed or deemed to be employed under this Act, or
(b) refuses or neglects to furnish any information or to fill in to the
best of his knowledge and belief any schedule or form that the person
has been required to fill in, and to return the same when and as
required of him pursuant to this Act, or knowingly gives false or
misleading information or practises any other deception thereunder is, for every refusal or neglect, or false
answer or deception, guilty of an offence and liable on summary
conviction to a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars or to
imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months or to both.
It appears on the surface that everyone must submit to providing
information in all the different areas the Minister has authority to
create statistics from, or be faced with fines, prison time or both.
However, by reading Section 8
of the Act in conjunction with the whole Act, it becomes quite clear
that where such information is
requested, other than in relation to population and agriculture, such
information only need be provided on a voluntary basis, and any
refusal or neglect on our part to provide our private information is
not subject to any punishment as defined in Section 31.
Voluntary Surveys
8. The Minister may, by order,
authorize the obtaining, for a particular purpose, of information,
other than information for a census of population or agriculture, on a voluntary basis, but where
such information is requested, section 31 does not apply in respect of
a refusal or neglect to furnish the information.
And because commerce is such an intricate part of our daily lives,
Section 9 expands this respect for privacy to companies as well,
thereby respecting both, individuals’ and companies’ right to privacy.
No discrimination
9. (1) Neither the Governor in
Council nor the Minister shall, in the execution of the powers
conferred by this Act, discriminate between individuals or companies to
the prejudice of those individuals or companies.
So, where does this understanding of the Act leave us? Well, we now
know that we only have to tell the persistent canvasser how many people
live in our homes, regardless of how upset he or she gets, how many
cows we have in the back yard and what crops we are growing. And any other information need
only be provided on a voluntary basis. By simply reading and
understanding the relevant statute, we can learn to exercise our rights
and protect our privacy, as well as save ourselves a lot of time
answering questions on the stats form that we are not obliged to
provide answers to in the first place.
Additional resources:
Statistics Act: http://www.statcan.ca/english/about/statact.htm
Concerns about Lockheed Martin as the Census Contractor:
http://www.canadianactionparty.ca/temp/Important_Memos/index.asp
Census Opposition website: http://www.countmeout.ca/