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Northerners lobby to keep long form census
Lack of information will affect future planning: Sheutiapik

Emily Ridlington
Northern News Services
Published Friday, August 6, 2010

OTTAWA - Inuit voiced their concerns to leaders on Parliament Hill in Ottawa as to why they think the federal government should keep the long-form census.

NNSL photo/graphic

Speaking on behalf of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami president Mary Simon, Iqaluit Mayor Elisapee Sheutiapik made the case for the long form census in Ottawa. - NNSL file photo.

Information gained from Past censuses

  • Population: There are approximately 55,000 Inuit in Canada living in two provinces and two territories
  • Language: Approximately 70 per cent of Inuit speak Inuktitut well enough to carry on a conversation
  • Education: In most areas, Inuit women have a higher education level than men and more women are working. Half of Inuit between the ages of 25 and 54 do not have a high school diploma
  • Employment: The unemployment rate among Inuit is more than three times higher than the national rate
  • Housing: Inuit are 10 times more likely to live in an overcrowded home compared to an "average Canadian"

Previously, for the census conducted every five years, four out of five Canadian households would receive a short form asking for basic information such as the number of people living in the residence and their age and sex. One in five households would be asked to fill out a long form questionnaire containing questions on a range of topics such as housing, income, occupation, language, ethnicity and education. Answering the census questions is mandatory.

Federal Minister of Industry Tony Clement announced at the end of July the Conservative government plans to cut the long form census in 2011 and replace it with a voluntary National Household Survey. Clement said in a press release the Conservatives feel some of the information asked on the long form is an invasion of privacy and that there is another way to collect the same data.

However, some Northerners say the long form census is an invaluable tool for gathering information and policy planning.

"For the North, it is the only source of information we have for small areas for getting cross-classified information," said Ron McMahon, territorial statistician with the Nunavut Bureau of Statistics based in Pangnirtung.

McMahon said if the government goes ahead with the change it will make it difficult for researchers and statisticians to compare data collected on previous censuses as the questions will be different.

Getting people to voluntarily fill out the survey, he said will also be challenging.

The government argues the elders and those who were unilingual were having difficulty filling out the forms. But McMahon said, while he acknowledges filling out the survey is an "onerous" task, that is why Statistics Canada hires enumerators to help residents fill out the forms.

"Nunavummiut are no different than most people when it comes to filling out surveys. They do co-operate," he said.

Speaking on behalf of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami president Mary Simon, Elisapee Sheutiapik said the information collected in the long form census questionnaire provides the government, non-governmental organizations and other groups in the Arctic with information on things such as housing, education and the number of women working, and helps them plan for the future.

She said it is through the information collected in the census that governments and organizations are able to prove there are Inuit living five to a room in Clyde River or Taloyoak.

"We hoping they reverse their decision," said Elisapee Sheutiapik to members of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology in Ottawa on July 27.

Yukon Liberal MP Larry Bagnell announced on July 30 he has tabled a private member's motion calling on the government to change their minds.

Sheutiapik said some Inuit believe those Inuit living in the south were missed in the 2006 census. She she that having a lack of information in the 2011 census on top of that would make the census less reliable again.

She and ITK suggested to the government they go ahead with the long census form next year and take until 2015 to figure out what to do. As far as Sheutiapik is concerned a "housing survey" will not measure up to its predecessor.

"It just doesn't have the same strength," she said.

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