Lockheed Martin (Canada) is a subsidiary of the American company, same name, which is a major corporation in the American war machine. Since 2003 we have been telling the Government that we do not want any part of the 2006 Census out-sourced to Lockheed. I personally, as a citizen and payor of taxes, will not co-operate with the Government to enrich or be “an enabler” of Lockheed Martin.
My particular letter to the Government, the first one, pointed out that Statistics Canada has always been able to process the Census. What has happened now that we no longer have that capability? Are we getting dumber? … When any community (or country) farms its work out to another, it disempowers itself. It’s an opportunity cost. My muscles grow weak (atrophy) if I don’t use them. The last thing Canada needs is to disempower itself. And don’t give me the bull that Lockheed Martin is “really” a Canadian company, as they tried to tell me when I spoke directly with people in Statistics Canada.
When we worked on “Smart Regulations, the Government Directive on Regulating”, I used the example of the Census to say that the Government is creating a situation where citizens are learning non-compliance with regulations. That is not a good state-of-affairs.
What am I going to do when the census-taker arrives at my door? I have to make the decision now; I don’t want to be making it as I’m walking to the door.
I collected the information we have circulated about the census from 2003 to the present, to help clarify what is right for me. The emails are pasted below, in case they will be useful to you.
The second email is from Mel Hurtig; it provides resource material for making the decision. This is a very serious matter. (UPDATE: the resource material was on a webpage that no longer exists.)
/Sandra
NOTE: You will see the name “Don Rogers”. Our first introduction to Don was in a newspaper article “Angry retiree pays off Visa bill with pennies”. Since then Don has established “Count me Out” (of the census).
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NOTE: I removed the name of the party with whom Don Rogers was corresponding.
CCPA = Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives /S
——————
Fw: FYI: Excerpt from CCPA – Census and Lockheed
Date: Apr 17 2006 – 4:15pm
—– Original Message —–
From: “Don B. Rogers”
Cc: <administration@countmeout.ca>; <info@canadianactionparty.ca>
Sent: Monday, April 17, 2006 10:06 AM
Subject: Re: FYI: Excerpt from CCPA – Census and Lockheed
Hello,
Thanks for your message and the “heads up” about the CCPA Monitor item.
We are fully aware of it. (Insert: CCPA = Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives)
Below, I am reproducing the Letter to the Editor of the Monitor which has already been sent to them:
Dear Editor
The Monitor has painted itself into an embarrassing corner.
You defend your support of the upcoming Census, notwithstanding the contracting out of its software to Lockheed Martin (Canada), by stating you are satisfied that the privacy of Canadians’ personal census information is assured. Lockheed Martin will not have access to the census data.
That may or may not be true. It is a judgment call. But did the Monitor investigate the rumours that onsite Lockheed Martin employees were “fired” on a Friday and “hired” on the Monday as instant StatsCan employees?
But the privacy question is a sidebar. The Monitor has remained deafeningly silent on the moral contradiction of having Census taxpayers’ money going to the subsidiary of Lockheed Martin, one of the world’s biggest armaments manufacturers.
The same edition of the Monitor contains an article about the 10 Worst Corporations in the World. There is Lockheed Martin, rubbing shoulders with the worlds’s worst. What an irony!
Those who disagree with the Monitor may wish to visit the website”
www.CountMeOut.ca which offers suggestions on how Canadians can show their disapproval of the Lockheed Martin deal, by slowing down the Census. The minimum cooperation suggestions should make Statistics Canada think twice in the future about outsourcing part of the Census to the likes of Lockheed Martin.
Again, thanks for taking the time to contact us.
Best regards
Don Rogers
Kingston Ont
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Date: Apr 6 2006 – 10:17am
Excerpt from the April 2006 edition of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives monthly newsletter, The CCPA Monitor.
Re: The Census and Lockheed
Several readers have written, phoned or e-mailed to question the editorial in our March issue urging participation in Statistics Canada’s 2006 Census, to be conducted in May. They were under the impression that StatsCan had contracted out the census to Lockheed, or a subsidiary of that big U.S. “defence” corporation, and feared that their personal information would be passed on to Homeland Security, FBI, CIA, and other American “security” outfits.
The CCPA has investigated this matter, talked with Statistics Canada officials (including the Director-General of the 2006 Census), and we are satisfied with the explanation we have received.
The census requires highly specialized technology, and, after a bidding process, StatsCan contracted with three firms – Lockheed Canada, IBM Canada, and Transcontinental Printing Canada – for some hardware, software, and for the printing of the questionnaire. But that is all. The administration and collection of census data remains entirely in-house with Statistics Canada, as does all interaction with the data and the storage of the data.
No contractor will ever have access to or be in possession of the census responses of Canadians. All census databases, facilities, and networks containing confidential information are physically isolated from any networks outside Statistics Canada. It would therefore be impossible for any contractor or other external body to gain access to this data.
Given these assurances – which have been independently checked by CCPA research associates – we can assure our concerned readers that there is no truth to the rumours that Lockheed or any other private American or Canadian firm will be involved in any way with the collection, storage, or use of the census data.
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(deleted duplication of information from postings that pre-date this one)