| Anyone else get visited by the census police?
Posted: 6/13/2006 7:05:48 AM | Did anyone see the show on Stats Canada and how they handle your so call "confidential information" they may not give out your "confidential information" directly but they do give out information and companies/ individuals are able to identify individuals by using the information they recieve from Stats Canada and information they are able to get from other Government offices such as the registry of deeds. I can't remember all the details of the show right now but I do remember I was amazed at how much information they were able to get on individuals, much of it information I would not be willing to give out to many of the companies that are the most active in collecting it.
I had the long form on the last census and it was a real pain, had the census police come to the door, the dogs took care of her though 
I filled it out after a while but well lets just say I guessed at the answers | |
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| Anyone else get visited by the census police?
Posted: 6/13/2006 7:39:41 AM | hehehe, true Ph....lmfao!
I would have liked him to come over and help me with my form too...and he could park his boots at the foot of my bed(but he had to keep the hat on... ) | |
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| Anyone else get visited by the census police?
Posted: 9/24/2009 11:40:12 PM | I've heard of a few cases where the person refused to do the census & the census board personnel threatened legal action against the holdouts because "you have to fill it out, it's the law". When the person refusing told them to go for it, take me to court, the census board backed down.
On another note, a close friend received the large census form a couple census' back and when he got to the box where you put down your cultural heritage/background he entered "Canadian". He was contacted by the board & told that Canadian wasn't a proper cultural background. He explained he was born in Canada, his parent and all his grandparents were born in Canada & all his great grandparents were born in Canada. He was told that it still wasn't acceptable & he'd have to go farther back. The form was returned to him so he could "correct" it and as cultural heritage/background he entered "australopithecus". .... they didn't contact him after that.
I'm thinking next census I get I'm just going to enter the number of Canadian citizens living in the household & their ages and let them know anything else is irrelevant & none of their business ( or perhaps I'll refuse altogether ). | |
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| Anyone else get visited by the census police?
Posted: 9/25/2009 3:02:34 PM | I believe legally you only have to give them your name and the number of people in your household. All other information does not have to be entered. I have had the census police at my door several times over the years, but when they realize I am right they usually go away. It is the poor junior enumurators that have a two night course and are given a notepad with official forms that get you into the problems.
Don't expect the Privacy Act to help you. It is a worthless piece of paper that was only introduced for "feel good" legislation. Any law of the land, be it federal or local can override the entire act, and it says so right in the Privacy laws, making the Act essentially useless -- much like our constitution which stripped away private property ownership laws. Again another little factor about Canadian that very few people know.
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| Anyone else get visited by the census police?
Posted: 9/27/2009 6:49:33 AM |
I've heard of a few cases where the person refused to do the census & the census board personnel threatened legal action against the holdouts because "you have to fill it out, it's the law". When the person refusing told them to go for it, take me to court, the census board backed down....
...I'm thinking next census I get I'm just going to enter the number of Canadian citizens living in the household & their ages and let them know anything else is irrelevant & none of their business ( or perhaps I'll refuse altogether ).
Yeah you tell them.
It is not like the government uses this information for allocation of tax dollars or programs designed to help the tax payers.
Those 30 minutes of my life are far to important to spend helping my country.
/sarcasm | |
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| Anyone else get visited by the census police?
Posted: 9/27/2009 12:31:20 PM | My thoughts exactly JBT...not like we're putting on military garb and hopping on a plane, leaving our families/loved ones to go fight the war...what is 30 min or less out of out "free" lives to do something for our country!
God Speed to the men and women who do that for us!
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| Anyone else get visited by the census police?
Posted: 9/27/2009 4:20:00 PM | [quote="James BottomTooth III"]
Yeah you tell them.
It is not like the government uses this information for allocation of tax dollars or programs designed to help the tax payers.
Those 30 minutes of my life are far to important to spend helping my country.
I guess I'm a little paranoid. Some of these tele-marketers (read some, not all) seem to have more information about me than I'd like them to have. I also don't feel that the disclaimers on the gov't website are up to 'snuff. You know, it doesn't take a whole lot of legal jargon a'fore a fellow is wondering which way is up. Do you need to hire your own lawyer to help you decipher some of this stuff?
Looks to me like they can share the collective information with just about anyone who is willing to pay the price. Now the people hired to do actual interviews are sworn to secrecy (like my sister-in-law was) -- but how do we know there aren't scores of savvy markerters hiring people to volunteer for these jobs so they have LISTS and DETAILS of your every move and purchase?
Ya' know, living in Truro, so I browsed what seems to be the latest stats (2006) comparing Truro to the rest of the province:
http://www12.statcan.ca/census-recensement/2006/dp-pd/prof/92-591/details/page.cfm?Lang=E&Geo1=CSD&Code1=1210006&Geo2=PR&Code2=12&Data=Count&SearchText=Truro&SearchType=Begins&SearchPR=12&B1=All&Custom=
Yep, I know the info avaiable to the public at the above url is old -- 2006. But the information getting passed around about us isn't old.
I moved this Summer after I bought a house. Now... I'm receiving Sears catalogs, that I didn't get when I lived in an apartment. The address on them -- yep -- they are addressed to me.
A recent promotion from a local auto company -- my mother (who lives in an apartment) didn't get the offer but I did, and it was addressed to me. I expect 'cause homeowners are more likely to have better credit then renters.
Who told Sears and Ford that I moved and bought a house? How did they know that? I only moved two months ago...
If "helping your country" means coughing up any more information about me that they don't already have -- I'd prefer to opt-out.
It's almost like that TV commercial where they track you down and make you spit the gum out if you've been chewing it too long.... next thing you know there will be gov't sanctioned cameras installed in our homes to see if we're cooking Highlander fish sticks or McCain.
Yep... I'm finding it a bit much.
Regards,
Mac | |
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| Anyone else get visited by the census police?
Posted: 9/28/2009 9:27:11 AM |
I guess I'm a little paranoid. Some of these tele-marketers (read some, not all) seem to have more information about me than I'd like them to have. I also don't feel that the disclaimers on the gov't website are up to 'snuff. You know, it doesn't take a whole lot of legal jargon a'fore a fellow is wondering which way is up. Do you need to hire your own lawyer to help you decipher some of this stuff?
Looks to me like they can share the collective information with just about anyone who is willing to pay the price. Now the people hired to do actual interviews are sworn to secrecy (like my sister-in-law was) -- but how do we know there aren't scores of savvy markerters hiring people to volunteer for these jobs so they have LISTS and DETAILS of your every move and purchase?
The only people that have access to every move and purchase is your bank and check your user agreement with them and you will see they can and will share that information with 3rd party companies.
The census data is provided via a paper questionnaires that people fill out and mail in, not over the phone.
The only people that you talk to on the phone are Census Help Line folks.
I moved this Summer after I bought a house. Now... I'm receiving Sears catalogs, that I didn't get when I lived in an apartment. The address on them -- yep -- they are addressed to me.
A recent promotion from a local auto company -- my mother (who lives in an apartment) didn't get the offer but I did, and it was addressed to me. I expect 'cause homeowners are more likely to have better credit then renters.
Who told Sears and Ford that I moved and bought a house? How did they know that? I only moved two months ago...
There are 100 ways they could have gotten your information.
None of which are from Census of Canada, as that data has not been update since 2006. | |
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| Anyone else get visited by the census police?
Posted: 9/28/2009 10:41:53 AM | Yeah, I don't know how people got the idea the gov't is selling/giving census data to third parties.
Kind of asinine to think so! Unless you got proof, I wouldn't be accusing them of doing so.
As JB stated there are many, many other ways these companies get that info. | |
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| Anyone else get visited by the census police?
Posted: 9/28/2009 10:42:15 AM | Yeah you tell them.
It is not like the government uses this information for allocation of tax dollars or programs designed to help the tax payers.
Those 30 minutes of my life are far to important to spend helping my country.
What more information do they need other than how many Canadian citizens are living in the hoiome & what the ages of these citizens are? The sex of the citizens is immaterial because we're all equal under the law, the cultural background is irrelevant because the govt. doesn't need that information, neither do they need to know more than 3/4 of the questions they ask.
I have no problem providing themwith the basics ( age, whether the people there are citizens or not, etc). | |
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| Anyone else get visited by the census police?
Posted: 9/28/2009 10:48:51 AM | The sex of the citizens is immaterial because we're all equal under the law, the cultural background is irrelevant because the govt. doesn't need that information, neither do they need to know more than 3/4 of the questions they ask.
And you know this...how?
I think the sex is very important. It's good to know the breakdown of gender within the country. Also, the breakdown of cultural background can be important. If nothing else, it indicates changes/trends within the country.
Do you know what the gov't does with this info? If not, then how can you say those questions are irrelevant. They might be irrelevant to you, but that doesn't make it irrelevant for others. | |
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| Anyone else get visited by the census police?
Posted: 9/28/2009 10:51:21 AM |
What more information do they need other than how many Canadian citizens are living in the hoiome & what the ages of these citizens are? The sex of the citizens is immaterial because we're all equal under the law, the cultural background is irrelevant because the govt. doesn't need that information, neither do they need to know more than 3/4 of the questions they ask.
Because it takes a bit more information to properly run a country than just how many people are living where.
http://www.statcan.gc.ca/start-debut-eng.html
What we do
Statistics Canada, a member of the Industry Portfolio, produces statistics that help Canadians better understand their country—its population, resources, economy, society and culture.
In Canada, providing statistics is a federal responsibility. As Canada’s central statistical agency, Statistics Canada is legislated to serve this function for the whole of Canada and each of the provinces.
Objective statistical information is vital to an open and democratic society. It provides a solid foundation for informed decisions by elected representatives, businesses, unions and non-profit organizations, as well as individual Canadians.
Mandate, responsibilities and objectives
Under the Statistics Act, Statistics Canada is required to "collect, compile, analyse, abstract and publish statistical information relating to the commercial, industrial, financial, social, economic and general activities and conditions of the people of Canada." | |
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| Anyone else get visited by the census police?
Posted: 9/28/2009 1:35:30 PM |
I think the sex is very important. It's good to know the breakdown of gender within the country. Also, the breakdown of cultural background can be important. If nothing else, it indicates changes/trends within the country.
Why would the sex be important? Aren't we all equal citizens? If so then our sex is immaterial. As to cultural breakdown, it shouldn't matter either unless the govt. has plans to adjust programs & services to fit those cultures. That would be wrong because we're a bilingual English/French country. | |
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| Anyone else get visited by the census police?
Posted: 9/28/2009 1:45:38 PM |
Why would the sex be important? Aren't we all equal citizens? If so then our sex is immaterial. As to cultural breakdown, it shouldn't matter either unless the govt. has plans to adjust programs & services to fit those cultures. That would be wrong because we're a bilingual English/French country.
To be able to -
* analyze economic performance
* develop fiscal, monetary, and foreign exchange policies
* shape international tariffs and trade negotiations
* develop policies and programs to assist small businesses
* support policy development and evaluate government programs on economic and social well-being
* improve allocation of government program funding by determining their social and economic effects
* support the regulatory and legislative requirements of government;
* draw electoral boundaries
* determine equalization payments and other federal-provincial fiscal transfers
* adjust inflation-indexed contracts and entitlements
* develop programs to promote domestic and international competitiveness
* support immigration policies and programs
* support tourism strategies and programs
* assess the cost-effectiveness of health care and education programs
* monitor the justice system’s effectiveness and efficiency
* select sites for schools and public transportation
* develop programs such as day care and subsidized housing.
You need to have a complete break down of the population. | |
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| Anyone else get visited by the census police?
Posted: 9/28/2009 1:51:54 PM | susan_cd, I guess you didn't read this:
Statistics Canada, a member of the Industry Portfolio, produces statistics that help Canadians better understand their country—its population, resources, economy, society and culture.
Is the fact you're a crossdresser the reason you're hung up on the gender issue?
The sex of a person tells us if the gender population is shifting. Which would affect the market industry will try to target among other things.
Also, we are a multi-cultural country with 2 official languages. We don't have just English and French citizens. The census tells us that.  | |
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| Anyone else get visited by the census police?
Posted: 9/28/2009 2:12:04 PM | Well unfortunately this information does end up in the wrong hands. I have done the kind of work that has involved catching people who collect and misuse this data. This is one of many sources of information for identity thieves -- which is becoming a real problem across all lines of government data collection.
From a statistical point of view the Stats Canada database is severely flawed with at least 10-15% of known errors due to unreported deaths, people who move, people who work but do not live in that area properly, duplications, etc. While the government does not publicly acknowledge this it does go to show that much of their own statistics is generally flawed -- and they accept this when compiling it for usage such as financing transfers and other federal programs.
For another thing if the government only wanted this data for statistical information then they would not need the name of the person residing at that address, which often they demand. Until they come up with more secure and less mandatory methods to protect said data then they will get nothing from me except age and gender.
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| Anyone else get visited by the census police?
Posted: 9/28/2009 3:33:57 PM | Statistics Canada, a member of the Industry Portfolio, produces statistics that .
Is that what Stats Canada says they do? Possibly a statement from their website? Gee, no reason a govt. agency wouldn't be totally candid about what they actuallydo... I wonder if the people who are employed by Statistics Canada would have jobsif the census wasn't in place... who are these Canadians that they "help Canadians better understand their country—its population, resources, economy, society and culture" ? I've never used the department, who does use it? Businesses? If so then businesses can pay for surveys to get the info they want.
Is the fact you're a crossdresser the reason you're hung up on the gender issue?
No, my point is that a person's gender ( or race or culture) shouldn't make a difference about any govt. service available to aperson... if they'reCanadian citizen then the service should be available to them... gender/race/culture shouldn't matter.
The sex of a person tells us if the gender population is shifting. Which would affect the market industry will try to target among other things.
Then let those industries do surveys to gather the info they want, and pay the cost of gathering it. If they desire the information then those industries can send out a survey & pay the participamts to fill them out.
Maybe the answer is to hand out the surveys at federal polling stations, and let the citizens fill out anonomous forms as they vote. It'd be cheaper to piggyback on the election costs and the statistics would be anonymous. | |
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| Anyone else get visited by the census police?
Posted: 9/28/2009 3:47:25 PM |
Is that what Stats Canada says they do? Possibly a statement from their website? Gee, no reason a govt. agency wouldn't be totally candid about what they actuallydo... I wonder if the people who are employed by Statistics Canada would have jobsif the census wasn't in place... who are these Canadians that they "help Canadians better understand their country—its population, resources, economy, society and culture" ? I've never used the department, who does use it? Businesses? If so then businesses can pay for surveys to get the info they want.
Business's do pay the Canadian Government for some of the information, they do not get it for free.
Only the very basic raw data is free.
IMO
Until you have an understanding of what it is and what it is for, your opinion has no basis in fact and therefor is moot. | |
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| Anyone else get visited by the census police?
Posted: 9/28/2009 4:30:27 PM |
Only the very basic raw data is free.
IMO
Until you have an understanding of what it is and what it is for, your opinion has no basis in fact and therefor is moot.
And IMO the information is mine and they have no claim to it no matter what they want it for.
My opinion isn't the issue here, what is the issue is what right does the govt. have to pry & collect personal information other than basic data (such as the age & citizenship of the people in the houshold)?
For example, do they need to know or have a right to know the amount of money earned by the household ? No, that's why income tax files are (supposed to be) used only by Revenue Canada ( or whatever it is they call themselves now). | |
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| Anyone else get visited by the census police?
Posted: 9/28/2009 4:47:31 PM |
For example, do they need to know or have a right to know the amount of money earned by the household ? No, that's why income tax files are (supposed to be) used only by Revenue Canada ( or whatever it is they call themselves now).
Income
Question 51 provides the only source of detailed income statistics for all people in Canada, their families and households. Income tax records neither cover all people nor do they provide some important information on the characteristics of persons with income.
Governments use income statistics to develop income support programs and social services, such as Old Age Security Pension, provincial income supplements, social assistance, and welfare payments. They also use these statistics to ensure that programs supplementing family incomes do so efficiently and to identify specific geographic areas that need assistance.
Businesses, large and small, use these statistics to locate stores near consumers and to develop new products and services.
2001 Census - Reasons why the questions are asked
http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census01/Info/reasons.cfm | |
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| Anyone else get visited by the census police?
Posted: 9/28/2009 7:05:28 PM | No, my point is that a person's gender ( or race or culture) shouldn't make a difference about any govt. service available to aperson... if they'reCanadian citizen then the service should be available to them... gender/race/culture shouldn't matter.
How would we know who the minorities in the country were? 
The sex of a person tells us if the gender population is shifting. Which would affect the market industry will try to target among other things. Then let those industries do surveys to gather the info they want, and pay the cost of gathering it. If they desire the information then those industries can send out a survey & pay the participamts to fill them out.
I also said among other things. I do agree they should collect their own data.
Until you have an understanding of what it is and what it is for, your opinion has no basis in fact and therefor is moot.
I agree with JB on that. I thought he supplied a lot of the other things, not tunnel vision. | |
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| Anyone else get visited by the census police?
Posted: 9/28/2009 8:26:48 PM | How would we know who the minorities in the country were?
LOL... ( I assume your comment was kidding). And if you were serious, as we're all equal it doesn't matter if you're part of a minority or not.
Until you have an understanding of what it is and what it is for, your opinion has no basis in fact and therefor is moot.
Spoken like a good little drone, just do what the govt. says, we can trust them.
And if the govt. can't supply a reasonable explanation of what they want the data for ( because we want to know isn't a good enough reason) , then we should feel no obligation to give them more information than we wish. | |
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