Commuters get off the subway at Toronto's Union Station in 2008.J.P. Moczulski
The Harper government's decision to abandon the mandatory long-form census has found a supporter in the laissez-faire champions at the Fraser Institute.
The think tank, an evangelist for free-market solutions, says it's wrong for the state to coerce Canadians into handing over personal information that should instead be obtained on a voluntary basis through market research or polling.
Senior economist Niels Veldhuis says the chorus of criticism that's opposing the census change are groups that have been benefiting from relatively cheaply-obtained data gleaned from the mandatory long-form questionnaire.
He said opponents of the change - from researchers to academics to economists - have been getting a free ride until now.
"These are all heavy users of the data. ... They're rightly a vested interest group but they're getting this data much more cheaply than they should be getting it because the government is using forced extraction," he said.
"Take for example the questions on how people get to work - do they take a taxi or walk - this data is easily obtainable through voluntary means."
While every household must answer basic questions when the census-takers come calling, about one-fifth of Canadians have traditionally been required, under threat of fines or jail time, to respond to a lengthy list of 50-plus enquiries about their home, work lives and ethnicity.
"It's obviously much cheaper to get the data if you're forcing people to answer these questionnaires than it would be if you had to voluntarily get them to respond," Mr. Veldhuis says.
"But that doesn't make the decision to force people to do it right."
The Conservatives are scrapping the mandatory long-form questionnaire, replacing it with a voluntary version that will be sent to one-third of households. But those who rely on the treasure trove of data generated - from social scientists to health researchers, businesses and charities - are warning this will severely undermine the quality and accuracy of census information.
Mr. Veldhuis said there's no reason why Canadians should be compelled to tell census takers much time they spend playing with their kids or who in the household pays the bills.
"A lot of the information is extremely private and the fact is that this sort of information is information that the government doesn't have any business forcing Canadians to divulge."
Researchers and businesses should be prepared to pay more for market-research firms to obtain this information
"If data is in demand and it's critically important data, then people will find a way to get this data."
Canada isn't the only country making changes to its census. The British government announced it plans to scrap it following the next national count.
Steven Chase