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The Premiers of Canada have not agreed to stand united against the rather moderate census reform that is being brought forth by the federal government. It is interesting to look at which Premiers are on what side of the issue.
On one hand we have the Premiers who are crying out about the injustice of the reform and making worried noises about the collapse of civilization:
New Brunswick’ Shawn Graham (Liberal)
PEI’s Robert Ghiz (Liberal)
Ontario’s Dalton McGuinty (Liberal)
Quebec’s Jean Charest (Liberal)
Manitoba’s Greg Selinger (NDP)
On the face of it, this looks like a pretty partisan list. But in Canada there is little or no connection between parties on the provincial level and federal level. None of these people care what federal Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff will think about their position. So you should ignore the partisan labels and look at what these people have in common.
They are the Premiers that put the most faith in the ability of the government to run the economy.
Now let’s look at the Premiers that say that the issue is not important:
Alberta’s Ed Stelmach (PC)
BC’s Gordon Campbell (Liberal)
Saskatchewan’s Brad Wall (Saskatchewan Party)
These are the premiers that have shown the most faith in the free market. Yes none of their track records are perfect, but compared to the last group of politicians these three are stalwarts of the free market.
The ideological division is clear. Those that believe in big government are for the census, those that believe in at least somewhat freer markets do not think that it is an important issue.
This underlines the fact that you only really care about the census if you think that government has the ability to run society. And the truth is that government can’t run society, so why should we care about the census?
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6 comments:
The point I've taken from the census debate is that it is not just about what the government is trying to do with the information, it is what Canadians can do with the information... Namely, hold the government to account if they try to make claims based on something measured by the census. Conservative cartoonist JJ McCullough put it best:
http://www.filibustercartoons.com/index.php/2010/07/20/clement-vs-the-census/
"When the government makes claims about jobs, or immigration, or bilingualism, or families, or multiculturalism, or any one of dozens of other topics, it’s always nice to know that the Census website is only a click away to find out if the facts match the rhetoric.
In my more conspiratorial moments, I sometimes wonder if undermining the census is just a very convenient way for politicians to keep the citizenry in the dark about the realities of their own country."
FYI:
Darrell Dexter is NDP - Nova Scotia.
Shawn Graham is Liberal - New Brunswick.
Jean Charest is Liberal - Quebec.
McGuinty - Ontario - liberal.
CIAO E Mac.
oops, mixed up Graham and Dexter. Thanks for pointing that out.
It's pretty obvious that a person will see what they WANT to see, in any set of data.
For example, look at this graph, from Statistics Candada, of
Violent crime rate, Canada, 1962 to 2007.
Is the violent crime rate going up or down ? It all depends on whether you are looking at the whole graph or just the part from 1992 onwards.
So I don't buy this argument that we need accurate data in order to make good public policy. Politicians, special interest groups, etc will put their own favorable spin on data, graphs, you name it.
Suppose we were looking at a graph of donations to the LPC over the last 20 years, say. LPC president Alf Apps will focus on the last 3 quarters, point out the small rise, and say, things are moving in the right direction, steady as she goes, blah blah. Now if he TRULY believes his own spin, then his Party is more doomed than we realise.
The fact is the census is done only every five years. By the time the information is compiled etc. it is out of date. Anybody who thinks the census allows the government to develop policies is living in the twilight zone. They develop policies based on how the country is operating not on what some statistic has told them. There is enough information available to the government i.e. welfare roles, number of students in school etc. etc.
If all the pro census people need the information then get it and pay for it yourselves.
I got a chuckle out of watching Rosemary Barton yesterday, asking Gordon Campbell a question about the census changes, and their effect on Healh Care planning. Campbell replied: "I don't need a long form census to tell me the population is aging"
So just now, I'm checking the video of that interview. And, whaddayaknow, that little gem is edited out ! LOL
Looks like the CBC is up to their old tricks.
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