Author Archives: wciecon
The economics of census data
One of the surprising things about the census fiasco is that of all the publicy-provided services that small-government advocates could target, the census is very near the bottom of the list of priorities. Many of the services provided by governments could and perhaps should be produced by the private sector. But the economics of databases […]
Toronto Sun Flip-Flops on Census and a Voice of Reason at the Post
From Today’s Toronto Sun editorial: Statistics Canada, which compiles census data, supposedly guards private information like a pit bull guarding a meth lab. If that is the case, then why is the decision to nuke the mandatory long-form census being condemned by everyone from Michael Ignatieff’s Liberals, to municipal politicians, to the Canadian Medical Association, […]
Jail Time and the Census
The new talking point on the census: Tony Clement: Data is valuable to many. But personal questions you would like to force Cdns to answer on pain of jail is just plain wrong. Maxime Bernier: Why in the world should peaceful and honest citizens be threatened with jail if they refuse to answer these questions?! […]
What Were MPs Saying About the Census in 2006?
Stephen Gordon’s blog entry A question for Maxime Bernier got me to thinking: “What were Bernier and other MPs saying about the census in 2006?” I decided to go through Hansard for the 39th Parliament, 1st Session (2006-04-03 to 2007-10-15) and look it up.
Double dip risks
This post was written by Simon van Norden of HEC-Montréal. Brad DeLong and some others are publicly worrying about the risks of a double-dip recession in the US as federal fiscal stimulus winds down. Noting that Goldman Sachs … put the odds of a technical double-dip recession [in 2010Q2] at 25%-30%. Brad describes this as […]
A question for Maxime Bernier
Maxime Bernier was Minister of Industry during the 2006 census, and he's now saying that he received many complaints: As industry minister during the 2006 census, Bernier said he was inundated with privacy complaints over a five- to six-week period. "I received an average of 1,000 e-mails a day during the census to my MP […]
Libertarians and the census
The announced reasons for making the 2011 census long form voluntary is that it is 'intrusive' and that it is 'coercive' to make it mandatory. If this were the the position of a principled, reality-based libertarian government, then it would be a powerful argument. But it isn't.
Peter MacKay: That’s a Cost, Not a Benefit
Peter MacKay on a proposed fighter jet purchase We have very capable pilots currently serving in the Canadian Forces. We want to continue that trend. By the year 2016, 2020, they will be asked to fly 35-, 40-year-old aircraft. So it helps a great deal, I can assure you, in recruiting, to have new gear, […]
Why Bother With Past Election Results?
A follow-up to the pieces How Difficult Will It Be For the Federal Liberals to Win an Election? and How Difficult Will It Be For the Federal Conservatives to Win an Election?. An obvious question to ask is: Who cares what happened in, say, 1911? What relevance does that have today? The answer is simple:
Voluntary surveys, mandatory surveys and StatsCan expertise
This post was written by Kevin Milligan of the Department of Economics at the University of British Columbia. I'd like to add something to Stephen's "Blame Stats Canada" post from yesterday about the government's response to the Census imbroglio.
Worthwhile Canadian Initiative 
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