urging governments to make data about canada and canadians free and accessible to citizens
You are currently browsing the archive for the canada category.
Congratulations Jonathan, Jean-Noé, Michael and Sébastien!
Montréal Ouvert is:
a citizen initiative that promotes open access to civic information for the region of Montreal.
that believes open access to civic information and data increases civic engagement, makes services more accessible, and creates opportunities for innovation.
Through this space Montréal Ouvert hopes to initiate and sustain a productive dialogue on open access between stakeholders for the benefit of all Montréalers.
Marilyn Waring contributed to the inspiration for the questions on Unpaid Work that were part of the Long Form Census (1996, 2001 and 2006). The National Film Board of Canada (NFB) has a copy of the film for free viewing: Who’s Counting: Marilyn Waring on Sex, Lies and Global Economics. It is well worth the time to watch and learn about how those questions came about and why they are so important. I saw the film at the Main Public Library a couple of times, usually shown just before Census Day.
I guess women will just have to invent new professions again: educator, household engineer, recreation manager, child coordinator, plant supervisor, home health care provider and so on! Watch the film for ideas.
These questions were scrapped by the “New” Government and for some odd reason, the National Statistics Council recommended that these questions be removed as part of their compromise offer to the Conservative Government. It is claimed that this was the series of questions that generated the most inquiries. Hmm! What was the nature of the complaints and who made them? I wonder if the anti childcare, stay at home & back to the kitchen, Tory lovin’ lobby called REAL Women had a posse working the phones! ( I will inquire!)
As Stockwell Day indicated today (ahum) on the topic of ah, crimes stats, how can we know if things are not counted, but that does not mean we do not build an entire infrastructure of prison, just because we don’t know (ahum ahum). Hey does that mean we get daycare? Social Housing? Income supports and removal of claw backs for sole support parents? etc. The argument used to be, show us the numbers. The real numbers are gone, so we just have to communicate with our imaginary friends and make stuff up – alarming rate of un-reported crime – go figure ay. Well, it seems that with this government, the numbers just don’t matter. Oye veigh!
Marilyn’s Book Counting for nothing: what men value and what women are worth was my first encounter with critical thinking and data. I was in New Zealand and the friends I was staying with gave me the book as a souvenir! It might be time to read it again!
The questions on unpaid work first appeared in the 1996 Long Form Census (see Q. 30 on 1996 Long Form Census and Q. 33 on 2001 Long Form Census). We have 15 years of data and these are R.I.P.’d for 2011. I guess unpaid work will cease to happen after that!
2006 Census Questions on Unpaid Work:
33. Last week, how many hours did this person spend doing the following activities:
(a) doing unpaid housework, yard work or home maintenance for members of this household, or others? Some examples include: preparing meals, washing the car, doing laundry, cutting the grass, shopping, household planning, etc.
- None
- Less than 5 hours
- 5 to 14 hours
- 15 to 29 hours
- 30 to 59 hours
- 60 hours or more
(b) looking after one or more of this person’s own children, or the children of others, without pay? Some examples include: bathing or playing with young children, driving children to sports activities or helping them with homework, talking with teens about their problems, etc.
- None
- Less than 5 hours
- 5 to 14 hours
- 15 to 29 hours
- 30 to 59 hours
- 60 hours or more
(c) providing unpaid care or assistance to one or more seniors? Some examples include: providing personal care to a senior family member, visiting seniors, talking with them on the telephone, helping them with shopping, banking or with taking medication, etc.
- None
- Less than 5 hours
- 5 to 9 hours
- 10 to 19 hours
- 20 hours or more
These were just after education and just before paid work. There is no long form Census for 2011 (so far anyway), there is this thing called a voluntary survey, and it does not include the questions on unpaid work.
Via: BI Professional
An introduction for my many international followers:
King: Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper
Page: Canadian Industry Minister Tony Clement
Statistician: Recently resigned head of Statistics Canada, Munir SheikhSpecial thanks to data quality expert Jim Harris whose Dr. Seuss-style data quality limmericks and songs served as a partial inspiration to this piece. His blog can be found on my Blogroll (Obsessive Compulsive Data Quality).
Enjoy!
Good King Censusless looked out
On the cottage season.
With the sunshine round about
Warm and crisp and even.
Everyone was drinking beer
Feeling great elation.
How could he disrupt the cheer
breaking cross the nation?“Mr Clement, come by strife,
If you know so, say it.
How can I make foul the life
Of the summer respite?”
“Sire, a man I once knew long
Loathed the census taking
If you could remove this wrong
You’d be nation-making.”“Make it so”, he said at once
With no consultation,
“Though I may be thought a dunce
Causing consternation.”
Statistician would not toast
His part in this madness.
He would rather quit his post
Causing him much sadness.Harper bellowed “What a fool!
Get that man to focus!
He should know that math’s not cool,
Stats are hocus pocus.”
Statistician stood his ground
In the public’s favour.
He said he was honour-bound;
People saw him braver.“Bring me hatchets, bring me fire,
We shall burn his cabin!
He’s earned my unholy ire!
He won’t know what happened!”
Page and Monarch, off they trode,
Off they trode together
Feeling stormy, yet instead
Of the sunny weather.Statistician’s cabin burned
To the ground next morning.
Page and Monarch never learned,
Though this be a warning:
Cabin dwellers all be sure
Be you all accounted,
Those who cannot count the poor
Can’t themselves be counted.
Remind me to not go away during a censusless time! Shesh catching is brutal. But alas, I think I may have captured most of the media clips in the last few days. There are quite a few, so get some tea and cookies!
Yesterday’s CPAC watching, and that thing called a job, means that I got a bit behind on my Census media round-ups. Mia culpa!
Also, you will have noted that I post the articles as I find them, meaning they are not in any kind of chronological order or in any order of importance. I may have missed one or two, and maybe a link is off. If that is the case, just let me know and I will add and fix. Also, I am finding it hard to keep up. I must say reading the #census twitter feeds every morning is making me cross eyed! Bref! Please send stuff to help me keep the list up to date!
enjoy this loooooooog list.
3 important resources:
Les manchettes / les clips:
I am really excited to get information about Canada’s National Statistical Council. Up and until recently all I knew about it was these 2 lines found in the deep lurkium about us section of the Statistics Canada Website.
Some time ago I called the StatCan general information line on numerous occasions, and asked officials about it. All to no avail. So I eventually submitted an ATIP request that StatCan has been working on for 2+ months. I still do not have the documents. For some reason, the work of this Council is secret, as is its membership, as is what they are about. I did however find some great papers that were submitted to it in the StatCan library. The Library is a wonderful source of information as are their knowledgeable librarians. Alas, they have come out of the closet as a result of this censuslessness.
If StatCan were more obvious with what it does and communicated its work more obviously, much of this whole censuslessness would have been much easier to counter. For instance, other government agencies publish the legislation that govern them and/or mandates what they do. StatCan does not have that information on their site.
In addition, all the justification about the questions they ask on the Census, how those questions came about, their public consultations are also available. However one has to know the Agency really well to know where to find these, such as the names of the reports, and which sections of that report and so on.
Eccetera
Here is information about the National Statistical Council of Canada:
Council Role — Overview
The National Statistics Council advises the Chief Statistician of Canada on the full range of Statistics Canada’s activities, particularly on overall priorities. The government appoints Council members and its approximately 40 volunteer members represent sophisticated and diverse data users, researchers and those whose experience enables them to advise on priorities for the country’s statistical system.
A longer description, taken from the United Nation’s description of the Canadian statistical system, is included as another attachment (National Statistics Background.doc and here).
For those who may want to discuss statistical advisory bodies like the Statistics Council and, more generally, the relation between statistical agencies and governments, this is the subject of current research by Prof. Cosmo Howard in the Political Science department of the University of Victoria. howardc at uvic dot ca and has agreed to serve as a media contact on that subject.
It should be noted that Professor Howard is not associated with the Council, nor does he speak for it. He is, however, an expert on bodies like the National Statistics Council.
Also, here is a document that speaks about the Council in more detail:
Establishment of the National Statistics Council
In the early 1980s Statistics Canada embarked on a conscious program of strengthening its active consultative mechanisms with key clients and broadly based representatives of the national interest. Among the major new initiatives were the establishment of a series of bilateral senior committees with key federal departments – both clients and sources of data derived from administrative records (this supplemented already existing strong consultative mechanisms with the provinces); and some 10-15 professional advisory committees were set up. The latter involved experts (typically from outside government) in such areas as demography, labour, national accounting, price measurement, service industries, etc.
In 1985, the government established, at the apex of the Agency’s consultative mechanisms, the National Statistics Council. Its formal mandate is very brief: it is to “advise the Chief Statistician in setting priorities and rationalizing Statistics Canada programs”. In line with other aspects of Canadian policy in relation to statistical activities, a careful balance was attempted between policy relevance and professional independence.
Appointment process and membership
Members of the Council are appointed for a period of three years but subject to renewal. There are about 40 members. While there are no rules for representation, the following practice has generally been adhered to:
1. All members serve in their individual capacities – there are no formal representational appointments;
2. Most members are interested and prestigious analysts of some aspect of Canadian life, but few are professional statisticians;
3. Some members from Statistics Canada’s various professional advisory committees serve on the Council. This ensures the availability of a wide range of subject matter knowledge within the Council, as well as linkage with the Agency’s other advisory bodies;
4. A senior member from the Statistical Society of Canada sometimes serves;
5. At least one senior journalist on social or economic affairs is a member;
6. Membership is selected in such a fashion as to ensure appropriate knowledge of the different provinces and territories of Canada ;
7. No federal official is a member of the Council. This enhances the de facto independence of Council to “speak up” should it be necessary;
8. The Chief Statistician is an ex officio member;
9. An Assistant Chief Statistician serves as secretary.A large proportion of the initial members, were appointed by the Minister from a list of persons recommended by the Chief Statistician. Subsequent appointments have been proposed to the Minister by the Chief Statistician following discussions with the Chairman of the Council.
As a result of these measures, the Council is a very knowledgeable, influential and broadly representative group. Indeed, its influence derives from the individual prestige of its members.
Agenda and Modus Operandi
The Council normally meets twice a year, each time for a day and a half. Regular agenda items are “Statements by Members” in which Council members may raise questions or concerns either for immediate response or subsequent discussion, and an in-depth report by the Chief Statistician on recent developments at Statistics Canada (including new substantive initiatives, forward planning, budgetary expectations). Other agenda items usually deal with major statistical or policy issues – such as: Census content, Environment statistics, Longitudinal data, Issues in social statistics, National accounts, Dissemination practices, Pricing policy, Privacy and record linkage, Contingency planning in the face of expected budget cuts, the Provincial component of the national statistical system, Significant statistical information gaps, etc.
Agenda items are selected from items raised by members and issues identified by Statistics Canada in discussions with the Chairman. From time to time a subgroup of the Council is formed to deal with particular issues (e.g. access to historical censuses) between Council meetings.
The Council generally provides feedback to the Chief Statistician through a discussion among its members. Consensus is usually (though not always) achieved.
Conclusion
There can be no doubt that members of the Council take their function seriously. The Chief Statistician regards their advice as being of very substantial benefit. In addition, through the prestige of its members and through precedent, Council has evolved into an additional and – should the need arise undoubtedly very influential – bulwark in the defence of the objectivity, integrity and long-term soundness of Canada’s national statistical system.
Hamilton Spectator: Local agencies support long-form census
The Chronicle Herald: Countering misinformation about the census
Le Devoir: Retrait du formulaire long du recensement – Les discussions se poursuivent: De l’autre côté de l’Atlantique, plusieurs pays ont aboli le recensement
New York Times: Lessons of the Census
Post Media: Statistics council suggests compromise to end census battle
Globe and Mail: MPs grill Tony Clement, top statisticians over census changes
BI Professional: Why Data Quality Matters
CBC news: Stop the census presses! This just in from the National Statistics Council…
The Hook: Seniors’ group attacks voluntary census with a voluntary poll
The Toronto Star: Government-appointed advisory group says Canadians need full census info: National Statistics Council joins census debate the day before former StatsCan boss to speak out on why he quit
Globe and Mail: Three cheers for a hidden agenda!
Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives: All the latest on the census long-form debacle
Globe and Mail: Race is on to find compromise on census
Industry Minister Tony Clement testifies at 9 a.m. (ET) on Tuesday before the House of Commons industry committee on the Conservatives’ decision to do away with the long-form census. With time running out, statistics council puts forth deal that aims to salvage mandatory survey and allay privacy concerns
Rabble.ca: Lies, damned lies, and the census
Samara: Philosophy lives! (the census edition)
The Toronto Star: Walkom: The census kerfuffle isn’t about the census; it’s about Stephen Harper
The Record: Census cynicism? Worries raised over response rates for 2011 census and survey
Canadian Press: Will Canadians fill out the census and the survey?
CBC: UPDATED – CensusWatch: The Statistical Society of Canada, the Fraser Institute and Don Drummond? Now it’s a party!
Globe and Mail: Why did top statistician take so long to resign over census?
David Eaves: It was never about privacy…
National Post: Stephen Taylor: The beginning of the end of the Canadian welfare state
Globe and Mail: Harper’s census push months in the making
Prime Minister Stephen Harper waves to the crowd at a Calgary Stampede breakfast in on July 10, 2010. Scrapping the mandatory long form stems from libertarian convictions, insiders say.
Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami: Media Advisory Inuit to Address House of Commons Committee on Census Long Form
Globe and Mail: Retirees wary of Tory census move
National Statistical Council of Canada: Press Release
Post Media News: Statistics council suggests compromise to end census battle
![What Men Value and What Women are Worth [Paperback]](https://www.datalibre.ca/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/CountingForNothing.jpg "CountingForNothing")
Comments on Posts