Conservative MP says government could make short-form census optional

This year’s mandatory short-form census could be the last of its kind, Conservative MP Rick Dykstra told a local newspaper in his riding. In an interview with the St. Catharines Standard, Dykstra said the provision requiring Canadians to fill it out could be eliminated. “We’ve already changed the long-form census so that it is not mandatory and that is, frankly, the road we are going with the short-form census as well,” Dykstra said Wednesday. “I frankly don’t think this is the sort of thing a person should be penalized to do.” PMO spokesperson Dimitri Soudas was quick to distance the government from Dykstra’s statements Thursday morning, telling Reuters reporter David Ljunggren, “The short form census will remain as is.”