The next census is in 2016. There are renewed calls for a mandatory long-form census.
So frustrating! The articles and comments mention nothing about Lockheed Martin’s role.
I “commented” on two news articles (links follow), using basically this:
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TO: Auditor General Michael Ferguson
Dear Michael Ferguson,
Reported May 10, CTV:
“As a result of data not being released due to quality concerns, potential users of this data for approximately 25 per cent of geographic areas do not have reliable National Household Survey data available for their use,” said Michael Ferguson’s report.
I only wish to bring to your attention very important information about the data collected by StatsCan, seldom mentioned in the news coverage:
RE: “data missing because of the demise of the mandatory long-form census”
Thousands of citizens do not comply with StatsCan surveys and censuses because of the out-sourcing of work to Lockheed Martin Corp. Lockheed Martin is a very large player in the American war machine. ONE of their specialties is surveillance.
Because of the Patriot Act, data bases to which Lockheed Martin has access can be turned over to the NSA and other American “defence” agencies.
Surely, the leaks by Edward Snowden leave no doubt about the security and privacy of information on citizens at StatsCan. (And note that your record in the data base has your name on it; the records are not “anonymous”.)
If the Snowden leaks fail to convince you, check the news 2014-05-08 Chantal Bernier says Ottawa snooping on social media (Privacy Commissioner’s) report:
- the Government, without warrants, through the Telecoms, is accessing our telephone and email conversations.
If you still have doubts, try the Oct 2013 news 2013-10-09 Inside Canada’s top-secret billion-dollar spy palace, CBC News
Do you know of a single police state that does not, or did not, use detailed files on citizens? And to what use the data is put?
We have a Charter Right to Privacy of Personal Information for very solid and compelling reasons.
Anyone who espouses a mandatory long form census, especially given the above developments has to be out of their mind, as I see it (these developments are only the last items on a well-established trend line that goes back to 2003 when the first census contracts were awarded to Lockheed Martin Corporation)
Yours truly,
Sandra Finley
THE TWO NEWS REPORTS
1. Internal survey blasts feds for missing database: long-form census
Dean Beeby, The Canadian Press
Published Saturday, May 10, 2014
2. Despite bad reviews, Tories sticking with voluntary census for 2016
The Canadian Press
Published Tuesday, April 15, 2014