CP: Former StatsCan head slams census decision by Tories

[tuvor]

OTTAWA - The former chief statistician of Canada says he would have quit his job if the Conservative government had tried to axe the long census form, as they're doing now.

Ivan Fellegi, a veteran public servant who spent 51 years at Statistics Canada before retiring in 2008, says he's alarmed by the decision to replace the long census form with a voluntary survey next year.

He joins a chorus of groups, including the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, the Canadian Council on Social Development and others who rely on the detailed data to make major public policy decisions.

"It would have been a heck of a lot better if this long-form census was cancelled because at least we would have saved $100 million — that would have had a rationale," Fellegi said in an interview with The Canadian Press.

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http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/municipal-social-planners-caught-off-guard-by-census-slash-97514599.html