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The National Statistics Council issued an urgent call for the federal Conservatives to reconsider their decision to scrap the mandatory, long-form census.
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Don Drummond, the respected Toronto economist who is a member of the council, said he was surprised not to have been consulted in advance by Clement, who is responsible for StatsCan.
“The decision is troubling, but certainly from the perspective of the advisory council, the process is shocking because we were appointed by the ministry of industry to advise on statistical matters. And not only were we not given an opportunity to advise on it, we weren’t even informed about it,” Drummond said.
Of the voluntary form, he said, “If it turns out badly, we’ll have nothing. We’ll never be able to bridge the data from 2006 and earlier.”
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http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/census/article/840267