Census, Consensus and Sensibility

Anonymous said... off topic comment... I see a lot of political theater over our national census this week. Lots of drama and posturing, but with no mention of Lockheed Martin and their role in all of this. Your take? Thursday, July 15, 2010 Who's Protest Is it Anyway?

Yikes! Two weeks to respond - my apologies!

I have a couple of different views on this.

First off, the MSM/government officials will never bring the Lockheed Martin issue up. In fact, it would seem they are purposefully stifling any mention of the huge public out cry at the 2006 Census. (And now in Britain for their 2011 Census)

At that time Stats Canada contracted Lockheed Martin to develop the software for online Census forms and for the technology which scans and sorts the paper forms. Anyone uncomfortable with, or lacking access to, filling out the Census online were allowed to fill out the form with an appointed Stats Can Canvasser.

As again stated at their official site, Stats Can proudly proclaims...
“only Statistics Canada staff handle completed questionnaires and process confidential data. All questionnaires and data are processed in Statistics Canada facilities, located in Canada.”

Lockheed Martin is an undesirable company to spend our tax dollars on in any context. Why could the software not be developed by a Canadian Company and support our economy? How ethical is it to hire the largest defense contractor in the world to develop statistical software?

(insert evil laugh by someone from LM)

This is a company with tens of billions in armament sales annually, the main lobby and supplier of the US missile defence system, involved in torture scandals in Guantanamo Bay and is still being investigated for fraud in Iraq contracts. Lockheed Martin has been the number one IT prime contractor for the US Federal government in terms of annual sales each year for the last 13 years.

"With contributions from 3,000 employees, it donates $500,000 a year to about 260 House and Senate candidates. For the 2004 election cycle, Lockheed's PAC has already contributed $350,279 to federal candidates, with about 62 percent going to Republicans, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. That compares with $515,000 from General Dynamics' political action committee and $122,850 from BAE Systems North America, the center's data showed."

Dick Cheney's wife Lynne sat on the board of Lockheed Martin.

No doubt a couple of those US senators got together and bought Canada, before the SPP.
Every attempt will be, and obviously has been made, to keep Lockheed out of the dialogue.

Unfortunately, I have lost my link to the following article from the Toronto Star during a Windows reload last week - but that's old news now...

Liberal MP Ralph Goodale said the decision to scrap the long form census without consultation illustrates that the Conservative government "doesn't give a damn what Canadians think." Since the decision became public, the Conservative government has been in the cross hairs of a growing storm of criticism from agencies and individuals of all stripes who say it will mean the loss of detailed data used to plan everything from health care to schools to transit and charitable programs. But now cabinet ministers say Canadians have been complaining that the 61-question long-form census - sent to one in five households - was intrusive. Other households get the eight-question census.

The following are comments on the article, which struck a chord:

People untrained in a given field should not be making decisions for that field. Stats from a voluntary survey would be no better than a website poll result. Stupid. And I'm a right winger (also a statistician).

What do we need a census for when we have health cards, drivers licenses, birth certificates, death certificates, tax rolls, voters lists, income tax forms, employee payrolls, building permits, car sales registrations, and big business bottom lines along with all the insurance statistics that these moguls throw at us. Let the big companies pay for any surveys that they need and on a voluntary mandate.

Where is the civil liberties of Canada on this issue? If there was no census and Harper wanted to introduce one the libs would be screaming blue murder and complaining about their civil liberties.

Isn't it odd that the same people who think the long form is an invasion of privacy have no problem requiring protesters to identify themselves? Isn't it also odd that law and order types hate the gun registry?

My gut feeling is that there is much more than meets the eye, on this issue...
Secondly, I believe the MSM has most likely been appointed to plant the idea something GOOD is being taken away from us in the guise of the census information is necessary to maintain our quality of life - they are using blatant reverse psychology!

And if it is the Harpercrite's plan, it must just be all wrong. So we are being urged that we must unite and DEMAND the long Census back! Gives the general populace a feeling of power to make the government listen and provide the "people's will". See, we the sheeple can make the Harpercrite bend without burning police cars!

Yup, I believe we are being set up like a bunch of patsies!

mmmm this form of democracy is as delicious as an edible oil desert. Just makes it easier to swallow more crap from the government.

Or thirdly - but this is a huge stretch -could it be that something will be revealed in the Census that the Harpercrite doesn't want exposed?

Travers: Control connects Helena Guergis punishment to census crisis
Fear and confusion are power tools. Craftsman Stephen Harper is using both by banishing Helena Guergis and supporting Tony Clement’s quixotic tilt at the census.

If cause and effect were connected in this capital, Guergis would be back in caucus today and Clement would be out of cabinet. After all, the RCMP has cleared her of criminal wrong-doing in connection with husband Rahim Jaffer’s back corridor lobbying while a summer storm is rising over the industry minister’s bizarre assault on a benign target.

Walkom: The census kerfuffle isn’t about the census; it’s about Stephen Harper
Indeed, a casual observer might think that Canadians are fixated on statistical methodology.
My guess is that most are not. Rather, it is the arbitrary and secretive nature of the government's decision that strikes a chord. It reminds those who are suspicious of Harper why they still don't trust him.

His handling of the census is a reminder of other equally arbitrary moves, such as proroguing Parliament to avoid defeat in the Commons.

EXACTLY!