Long Form Census

[Guest]

I am one of the 25% that received the long form census. It didn't take very long to fill out and I'm happy we will again have higher resolution data on which to base decisions.

[Bryan]

I ALWAYS get the long one. I have never filled it out before, and I have no intention of filling it out now. I'm sure not going to log in to their website and punch in their code either.

[Smallc]

You realize you'll be costing Manitoba almost $50K in the next 5 years, right?

If there's more than one of you not being counted, it's $50K each. You're raising your own provincial taxes, basically.

Edited May 5, 2016 by Smallc

[Bryan]

That horse-hockey. I'm already accounted for in MB's population several times over. The fact that they even CAN raise my taxes means they already know I exist.

[Smallc]

That horse-hockey. I'm already accounted for in MB's population several times over.

Not as far as federal program spending and transfers to provinces/cities is concerned.

[Bryan]

They've literally never gotten a census from me, so if I don't fill it out now, it's status quo. It won't "cost" anything.

[Smallc]

That's very strange logic.

[Bryan]

It's YOUR logic that a mythical $50K will somehow be "missing".

[Smallc]

It would otherwise be there. It won't be there.

[Bryan]

It never has been there, so the govt will have no extra money to spend. That's a good thing. Might cut spending accordingly, even better.

[Moonlight Graham]

They've literally never gotten a census from me, so if I don't fill it out now, it's status quo. It won't "cost" anything.

How's the possible? It's the law

[Bryan]

"Possible"? I just throw it out. Then, when the statistics gestapo comes by to collect it, I lie and tell them I already sent it in.

One thing I am considering doing, is leaving the whole form blank, EXCEPT for where it asks for my province. Manitoba still gets counted, but my personal info is left out.

[Smallc]

I don't understand the problem with just filling out the form.

[Bryan]

It's strictly principle. I don't recognize the government's right to compel me to answer personal questions. None of their business. Doubly so when the basic information such as what province I live in is firmly established in several govt databases -- they do NOT need my answers. I suppose if I didn't always get the long form, it's possible i might not feel so strongly

I know one guy who did his online, and just copied and pasted the questions back into the answer blanks for every question. Pretty clever, wish I had thought of that. I know another who writes factual statements that don't really answer the question: Q - "How many people reside at this residence?" A - "Not thirty-eight".

[Smallc]

There was no long form last time.

[Bryan]

There was no long form last time.

There absolutely was, I got one.

[kimmy]

Are the people who complain that the census is an invasion of their privacy usually the same people who support mass surveillance programs to fight terrorism?

-k

[August1991]

We've come a long way from the First World War, when it was not uncommon for people to be willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for their country. Now it's too much to ask of someone to fill out a form.

And that's a bad change?

====

I can understand someone fighting for individual liberty and killing other innocent people in Vietnam or Dresden or Hiroshima.

Ultimate sacrifice? IMHO, if a young healthy man commits suicide, it is evidence of insanity, or stupidity.

[in June 1914, if everyone had negotiated a deal, the Austrian-Hungarian multilingual society would have survived. Europe would be what it is now in 2014 anyway; and all the pain and sorrow would have been avoided.]

Edited May 5, 2016 by August1991

[Bryan]

Are the people who complain that the census is an invasion of their privacy usually the same people who support mass surveillance programs to fight terrorism?

-k

Not in my experience.

[August1991]

I don't understand the problem with just filling out the form.

Google gets enough info from me. The CRA too.

When StatsCan asks me to log on and enter a number? I threw the form in the garbage.

As our PM says, this is 2016.

======

For those Canadians outside of Quebec, be happy for my dishonesty.

I was tempted to open, and complete the census form in a different way - with details of my 6 sons, 8 daughters and 3 husbands - who all live with me. (In my household, we roll that way.)

Given that the Federal Government calculates equalization payments based on census results, I could reduce my tax contribution - which is more than any vote in any election.

IOW, a Census form is a ballot in an election where you can say what you really think!

Edited May 5, 2016 by August1991

[waldo]

IOW, a Census form is a ballot in an election where you can say what you really think!

your emphasis on lying to census form questions... is lying what you really think?

.

[August1991]

your emphasis on lying to census form questions... is lying what you really think?

.

To rid the country of Harper - when NDP voters put an X beside a Liberal candidate's name, were they honest?

Waldo, put that idea on steroids - and you have the census.

=====

The census form is a ballot. You can express your opinion. A policymaker is very naive to believe that anyone completes a census form honestly.

IMHO, people's actions speak louder than their words, or answers to bureaucratic forms. I suspect that in 2016, people at Google/Facebook understand how to collect/decipher "accurate" Big Data far better than bureaucrats at StatsCan.

Edited May 5, 2016 by August1991

[waldo]

To rid the country of Harper - when NDP voters put an X beside a Liberal candidate's name, were they honest?

you mean 'past NDP voters' who, apparently, positioned their vote elsewhere? Some of those were so-called strategic voters; however, yours is a most disingenuous view if you interpret the majority of those one-election cycle NDP voters suddenly became "life-long, die-hard NDP supporters". Were former Harper Conservative voters who shifted to vote for a Liberal candidate... as you say, honest?

the census form is not there for you to give your opinion/lies! The census form is there to collect data (presumed factual data) to provide appropriate analysis for decision makers to properly budget and target/position related policy. This position held by (mostly) conservatives that the census is an intrusion on privacy is bizarre at best; is stupidity on, as you say, steroids!

.

[August1991]

you mean 'past NDP voters' who, apparently, positioned their vote elsewhere? Some of those were so-called strategic voters;...

the census form is not there for you to give your opinion/lies! ....

Strategic voters, exactly.

And how is the census form any different than a ballot?

If I'm straight but like gay people, I have only one ballot in an election but I can complete the census form as if my roommate and I were a "couple" and boost the lgbqtqx numbers.

Or, I'm Whatever but feel strongly that Francophone/Aboriginal/Lutherans/Whatever are under-represented where I live. I change my ethnicity/language, and invent a few children.

With a Census questionnaire, the votes are endless.

Edited May 5, 2016 by August1991

[August1991]

the census form is not there for you to give your opinion/lies! ...

No one lies in a StatsCan form. Everybody in Canada always tells the truth.</sarcasm>