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Government by Truthiness
It’s no wonder the Conservatives don’t see the value of having accurate Census data, when they’re going to disregard statistics completely: OTTAWA — Canada needs to spend more money building prisons because of violent criminals and a rise in unreported crimes, Treasury Board President Stockwell Day said Tuesday. “We’re very concerned . . . about […]
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The Comeback Kid?
The good people at The Mark asked me to pen a short essay on a Canadian historical comeback Michael Ignatieff could learn from. So I took the most recent example, focusing on Stephen Harper circa 2005 – that infamous “Glad as Hell” tour when Harper went coast to coast to try and humanize himself, and […]
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Everything You Always Wanted To Know About The Census (But Were Afraid To Ask)
The Great Census Crisis of 2010 has its first music video. It’s only a matter of time before angry mobs of statisticians take to the streets holding “I’m with Fellegi signs” and chanting “What do we want? Mandatory long form Census! When do we want? Every 5 years!”. Don’t worry, if you can’t make the […]
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"In light of today’s media coverage…"
This morning, Tony Clement gives an in depth Q & A in the Globe, where he talks about the relationship between StatsCan and the government, their role in the Census changes, and his relationship with chief statistician Munir Sheikh. Clement ends the Q & A by assuring us that both him and Mr. Sheikh will […]
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On the list of things I never thought I’d write on this blog…
A group of Canadians sing in defence of the mandatory long form Census.
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Clement to Farmers: Prepare to be Coerced
Farmers still face mandatory agricultural census Canadian farmers will still be required to fill out a questionnaire about their farming methods, even though the federal government is scrapping the mandatory long-form personal census because it says it is too intrusive. In conjunction with the regular census, Statistics Canada also surveys farmers across the country, asking […]
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The Fraser Institute: Truthiness Over Fact Based Research
Warren Kinsella defends Tony Clement, and a National Post editorial rips into the Tories: This is profoundly undignified governance. If, as it seems, the government cannot defend changing the census on any logical, resonant or particularly urgent grounds, it should abandon the undertaking until it’s prepared to do so. My world is upside down! Luckily, […]
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As the call for state sanctioned coercion grows…
Via Aaron Wherry, a non-random sampling of opposition to the government’s plan to defile the Census: To those who oppose the government’s changes to the census you can now add the Statistical Society of Canada, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, the Canadian Marketing Association, the Canadian Federation of Francophone and Acadian […]
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Grab Your Pitchforks and Sampling Methodology Textbooks
Further to my post over the weekend, people are starting to take note of self-selection-gate. Yeah, I know it’s just because Helena Guergis hasn’t said anything lately but still, it’s nice to see a mind numbingly boring issue that actually matters get some ink. Below is a non-random sample of what people are saying: “Abolishing […]
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In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world…among those who felt like it
I know this isn’t a big issue. I don’t expect facebook groups and protests in the streets over it. But, as someone who worked on the Census in the past, this really grates me: Former StatsCan head slams census decision by Tories OTTAWA – The former chief statistician of Canada says he would have quit […]