Statistics Act

The Liberals have set out legislation they will propose when Parliament returns next month that would be effectively enshrine a mandatory long-form census. The full text of the proposed bill is here. The Statistics Act would also be amended to eliminate the threat of prison for non-compliance.

On at least a couple of occasions over the last 15 years, the census has been a subject of debate in the House. In 1996, Deborah Grey moved a motion that sought to make “Canadian” a recognized ethnic origin—see here, here and here. In 2005, Bill S-18, which dealt with the release of census records, was debated and passed—see here and here. During debate on the latter, Conservative MP Scott Reid offered the following observation.

From the official government lines distributed over the weekend.