Or, “A measure of public interest in the census debate diversion, in one easy graph“.
Whoops.
“This world-class organization that runs on its image and its supposed professionalism had four different numbers within the same half-hour,” he said.
(While the Toronto Star is busy asking questions: what’s the compliance rate with Canada Revenue Agency?)
From the Toronto Star article: “Conservative reaction to the census was predictable, said Wilson of the AFN. He cited newspaper comments by Tory MP Rod Bruinooge that public funds are too skewed toward reserves.
“We’re proposing … what we see as being major systemic reform before massive new investments are made,” said Bruinooge, parliamentary secretary to the Indian Affairs minister.
“You need to fix the broken system or you’re going to simply have the same results over and over again.”
Veeeeerrrry interesting. I smell an election coming. The goodies are starting to be rolled out, or at least the promises of goodies.
I don’t know if that is rolling out the goodies. If some of the money that goes to reserves were re-directed to where the natives actually are it may help some. If the reserves were held accountable that would help a lot. To be fair if I came from a system where one family controls all the money I don’t think I would function too well when put in a ‘responsibility’ environment.
“In Wilson’s view, both sets of figures were wrong and could potentially affect funding to cash-strapped First Nations.”
“Cash strapped?” Why in hell are they short of money when we send them over eight billion a year?
Some Bands,like the Westbank FN, have huge rental incomes from shopping malls and other businesses on their land. The Osoyoos Band has it’s own winery,and several other businesses,are these two the only FN’s that actually make money?
If so, the FN’s first priority should be to adopt the Okanagan FN’s business practices,or if that’s not possible, encourage more of their people to get off the Rez and go where the jobs are!
Sometimes you get the notion that FN leadership is more interested in maintaining the status quo than in actually doing anything positive for their people.
Of course,that’s just a “notion”, I’d never suggest such a thing.
BTW, many are still referring to the scrapping of the long form, which isnt true.
Yet oddly enough we are hearing about a “compromise”….remove the offending questions (fair enough) and lower the penalites….so acknowledgement that 3 months in prison is a ridiculous threat for not revealing the name and age of your live in paramour (per George Jonas) thats good.
But it still cuts to the question of when is mandatory not mandatory? So lackof prosecution on over 160,000 refusniks means it is still “mandatory”? Lowering the penalties to say, you’re a naughty naughty boy, means it is still mandatory?
Can someone here, and this is an honest question, please explain why the long form census is not currently voluntary….how the fiction of mandatory makes the numbers more real rather than the reality that there already is self deselection.
It is a manufactured issue, just not sure by whom? Including StatsCan itself, who desire to be a crown corp, which means higher salaries and bonuses btw.
And I like StatsCan, have used there products and think they generally produce good stuff. I just dont tink they need the long form to be mandatory, but I am open to being convinced. To me the issue is what level of self deselection is too high for them to compensate for, what is that number and how close are we to that number.
Of course it’s rolling out the goodies, Speedy. At least it would be in Saskatchewan.
More Aboriginal people live in the cities than on reserves and the band councils on the reserves have long been considered extremely corrupt. Witness the First Nations University fiasco earlier this year.
Anyway you read it, this sounds to me like the Harper government is going after the urban Indian vote and saying to the thugs on the reserves, screw you.
For decades no one has had the balls to say that the reserves are nothing but sink holes for money to disappear in while at the same time the cities shoulder more and more of the cost of providing services to the Aboriginal populations within their borders.
If I’m not reading too much into this, it suggests to me that the Cons are pitching not just to the urban Indian but to the urban dweller and politician of whatever “race”. Someone is finally facing reality.
And I like StatsCan, have used there products and think they generally produce good stuff.
You like them so much, you pay for them.
I have to fill out the questions but there’s no law says I have to be accurate. And I’m not. Hope you enjoy the product.
Ah yes StatsCan you have a statistical need we have the result.
Special interest questions, why certainly we can accommodate you to fulfill your wishes and dreams
I’ve had to complete the long census form once.
It was a very intrusive infuriating process –
I didn’t fill in the information re income to their
liking so I wa subject to a month of harassment
about that.
Speaking of intrusive questions, here’s one I’d like to see on the form.
‘Have you ever murdered a close female relative for refusing to wear a headscarf?’
That would be interesting.
I’ll fill the census out if it’s not mandatory, if Harper flip flops I won’t fill out another one again. I’ve never filled one out truthfully nor do I know of anyone else who tells SC the truth. How they can declair their stats pure science is beyond me, the fact is threatening me with incarceration just makes me hateful and spiteful treat me like an adult and I might tell the truth.
I didn’t fill in the information re income to their
liking so I wa subject to a month of harassment
about that.
Posted by: John Lewis at July 25, 2010 4:07 PM
I’ll tell you a little story about StatsCan and harassment and the damn agriculture census.
They started calling our home several times a day and with the wonders of call display and Unknown Name/ Private Number showing up everybody just backed away from the phone and didn’t answer it.
That lead to a government car driving into the yard and a lady knocking on the door. We didn’t answer the door and thought we had given her the slip.
She finally corralled us WORKING out in the field making hay when she walked across PRIVATE property and had us stop the tractor DEMANDING we fill out her papers…or go to jail or pay a fine (her big stick!)
Would this happen to people in the city?
NEVER.
Make it voluntary to provide information to these power mad little twits and they will no longer have the threat of fines and jail to bully taxpayers. They are getting paid for their time…we aren’t.
BTW The agriculure census is a good half days work to fill out IF you have the information handy.
My questions fall into two areas:
1) Since StatsCan’s own press release says the exact same questions will be asked on the new, voluntary form (NHS) as on the old, mandatory form (OMF), why are the lefties and MSM saying the new form will perforce offer less data? Are they saying fewer people will fill out the NHS without the phony threat of prosecution? On what statistical information do they make this projection?
2) Why is no one in the media, or the Liberals/NDP/etc., asking StatsCan what the response rates to the OMF were? How many did they send out? How many were returned? How many were returned satisfactorily completed? Does StatsCan seriously expecting us to believe that they received 100% compliance with the OMF? How freakin’ stupid do they think we are? (Don’t answer that!)
Especially in regards to question two, there has been a complete failure in the media – including the Post – to cover this subject honestly (if you read most newspaper reports, you’d think the NHS is half the size or less of the OMF), and to ask the relevant questions. What a crock.
“1) Since StatsCan’s own press release says the exact same questions will be asked on the new, voluntary form (NHS) as on the old, mandatory form (OMF), why are the lefties and MSM saying the new form will perforce offer less data?”
It will necessarily offer skewed data because spineless lefties will deliberately ignore the 2011 census in order to make the cons look bad.
It’s the same idiocy which is behind behind violent protest of high security costs.