Letter to the Editor about the mandatory long-form census
Letter to the Editor
July 15, 2010
An irrevocable decision?
I strongly oppose to the planned elimination of the mandatory long-form census in 2011 by the Federal Government. I would like to point out that, although Statistics Canada is a federal agency, they are also in many ways a unique service provider to all levels of government. Ontario pays for information and analysis from the data retrieved from Statistics Canada. Actually, they are the only reliable source for the vital data used by all of us
to perform our basic, daily tasks. Be it in Health, Immigration, Transportation, and of course, Francophone Affairs, we all need reliable data to establish a precise picture of our communities and households. Because this unilateral decision affects all communities, municipal and provincial governments, I urge the provincial Government of Ontario to strongly react to this dramatic change to the only service provider capable of obtaining this data. There is simply no other alternative but to restore the mandatory long-form census.
François Boileau
French Language Services Commissioner of Ontario, Toronto