Yellowknife (Jun 09/06) - Jail time and a $500 fine is in store for Yellowknifers who fail to fill in their 2006 census cards.

"Only about 50 per cent of people in Yellowknife have participated in the census," said Gerry Page, director of the Western Region and Northern Territories at Statistics Canada.

Though the number of respondents is low, Page said they are not discouraged and they are not giving up.

There are 15 volunteers working to ensure everyone is counted in. Although they are hoping for more people to make their job easier, they are determined to ensure the census is accurate.

"We're going to be knocking at your door and get you to fill out the questions on your voting card. They won't take long," said Page.

Not participating in the census is a federal offense. If convicted, sentences could range from a $500 fine, three months in jail, or both.

"The last thing we want to do is press charges, but we will," said Page.

This issue is made more serious by the fact that by not filling out your forms, the NWT could lose a lot of money.

"The Northwest Territories could stand to lose approximately $18,000 (per person) in federal funding in a year," Page said.

"And it could potentially lose about $90,000 over the next five years," he added.

Information gained in the census provides important information for the provision of programs, facilities and funding. Without this information, those services would be adversely affected.

Carline Skrypetz, field operations supervisor for census 2006, says they are being very careful with how they operate this year.

At the last Census, she said many people were missed, including Ingraham Trail residents who do not have addresses and people living in basement suites.

"We need to do a better job than we've done.

"We're not here to do anything but help Yellowknifers and the Northwest Territories get the correct information," Skrypetz said.

Census volunteers are willing to be here as long as possible to ensure that the maximum amount of people have participated, she said.

Seven volunteers are Yellowknife residents and to help with accuracy, each volunteer from down south is partnered with them so that they know where to go and whom to speak with.

The GNWT Bureau of Statistics is also involved in supplying StatsCan with a correct list of addresses for everyone who lives in the Northwest Territories.

"Census 2006 takes their own listing and matches it up with ours so that nobody is missed," said Vishni Peeris from the GNWT Bureau of Statistics.