There is information that the government needs in order to provide services to Canadians and then there’s information that is none of the government’s business. Many of the questions that appear on the long-form census questionnaire fall squarely into the category of ‘none of our business.’
Questions such as, how many bedrooms do you have in your house? What time do you leave for work in the morning? Does the plumbing or wiring in your house need to be fixed? These simply don’t fall into the “need to know” category of citizen-government relations and, in fact, constitute a violation of Canadians’ privacy.
Our government believes it is inappropriate and an intrusive act of the state to force people, under threat of prosecution, to divulge unnecessary, private and personal information. That is why in the upcoming census year, the census long-form questionnaire will be made a voluntary, rather than a mandatory, form.
The outcry we’ve heard from the Opposition parties around our decision was only to be expected. Parties that so ardently advocate government intervention and nanny-state policies naturally feel entitled to Canadians’ personal information, in order to better mine them for the details they need to further empower the state to become ever more intrusive.
Asking Canadians more than 50 detailed questions about their home, work life and ethnicity is only par for the course for those who seem to believe the state does, literally, have a place in the nation’s bedrooms.
It is important to understand that the long-form questionnaire will still be sent to Canadians; the only real change is that it now just happens to be voluntary. Information government legitimately needs in order to plan policy and provide services will still be gathered as usual through the census, but questions outside of that zone will be left to Canadians’ discretion as to whether or not they want to answer.
Canadians who wish to reveal their personal details can still do so in the long-form questionnaire, but those who feel otherwise can decline to respond.
Those who choose not to divulge personal information about their private lives can rest assured that our Conservative government, unlike the Opposition parties, will not force Canadians to answer intrusive, unnecessary questions about their private lives under threat of jail, fine, or both.
