From fall 2006:
2006 Census Canada – Non-Compliance
There have been a few media reports about the high rate of non-compliance with the 2006 census. The cause has been attributed, for example, to a transient population (e.g. Alberta).
If you are in the email networks you know what the media is not telling: the Government contracted-out part of the 2006 census to Lockheed-Martin Corporation which is part of the American military machine. People have refused to co-operate with the census as a form of protest or resistance.
There are a number of reasons why the census should not have been out-sourced but the Lockheed-Martin situation is pivotal.
My first communication to the Government about their plans to “out-source”
to Lockheed-Martin was in 2003. I have appended a copy of the excellent letter from the Quaker (Society of Friends) community in Halifax dated February 2004. …
Later, we worked with the Government on the GDR (Government Directive on
Regulating) which is part of so-called “Smart Regulations”. I used the GDR to reinforce the point about the census, telling the Government that Canadians are learning non-compliance with regulations. I told them there would be a high level of non-compliance with the census for very legitimate reasons, if they did not change their direction. It wasn’t hard to figure out, from all the protest. The rule of law in Canada is being undermined which is a very serious situation.
Corruption, governments in bed with the people they are supposed to regulate, the complete failure to regulate to protect “the commons”, the gun registry, contracting-out to corporations like Lockheed-Martin, etc. etc. – all PREDICTABLY lead to a loss of confidence and consequent disrespect for the laws of the land. Definitely not a good place to be. You can point this out to the Government, but they seem incapable of hearing.
I have continued to communicate with Ivan Felligi (Chief Statistician for Canada) about the census. A Statistics Canada person phoned me and we talked the matter through, or so I thought. I have participated in the on-line support network at Vive le Canada. These are people who have resisted the census in various ways. Statistics Canada personnel also watch the site.
There is a recent posting from one of them. (April 2008, web address deleted; the page is no longer available.)
“Count Me Out” (a play on the Government promotion of the Census “Count Me In”)was another web-site for the sharing of information in 2006.
There are thousands of people across Canada who have not complied, many of them for the same reason: Lockheed-Martin. On July 5th we circulated in our network the report that 400,000 adults in British Columbia alone had not sent in their census forms – 10% of the population. The Government stepped up efforts to gain compliance. They do not disseminate the information on how many people have sabotaged the census in various ways, from the provision of inaccurate information up to refusal to submit.
The letter I received this week from Ivan Felligi tells me, “If your completed questionnaire is not received by Statistics Canada by October 27, 2006, I will turn the matter over to the Department of Justice with a recommendation that appropriate charges be laid….”
Further, if I am tried and found guilty of an offence under the Statistics Act, I “may be liable to a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months, or both.”
The reason given by Ivan for why the census form from me is required, is simply not true. It is contained in my reply to him (copy below). …
The following is my letter to Ivan Felligi, head of Statistics Canada. I have cc’d it to the President of Lockheed-Martin Canada, Martin Munro. And to Maxime Bernier, who, as the Minister for Industry Canada is responsible for Statistics Canada.
/Sandra
CONTACT AT: 306-373-8078
The PPJ Gazette 