The Long Form Census Debacle Starts to Show Its Impact
As predicted the dropping of the mandatory long form census last year is starting to be felt in the statistical results being collected. First problem: Language Data. New language data…
census
Saturday Morning Links
This and that to start your long weekend. – Antonia Zerbisias and Thomas Walkom both discuss the connection between organized labour and the very existence of a substantial middle class.…
Stephen Harper Finds Science on the Road the Damascus
Here’s Stephen Harper doing his best to stay out of the Enbridge pipeline debate – the biggest (non-soccer) controversy in Canada these days: Prime Minister Stephen Harper is defending the…
Destabilizing Statistics Canada
This news is really something, another head shaking moment. This comes from a government led by a trained Economist™: Nearly half of the roughly 5,000 people working at Statistics Canada…
The Conservative Party of Canada – A Study in Contradictions
I can’t help but notice that Conservatives have been all over the board with their policies and positions arguing on one side of an issue in one circumstance and the…
A friendly reminder
Some people who should know better are suggesting that universal media condemnation (as opposed to public involvement on social media) should be seen as the main factor in getting the…
Tell Vic Everything…but don’t worry, he doesn’t want to know about your guns
Update 2: Some more great examples of inconsistency, remember when the government used private information on Vets to smear their spokesperson? Update 1: A version of this post can also…
Tell Vic Everything…but don’t worry, he doesn’t want to know about your guns
Update 2: Some more great examples of inconsistency, remember when the government used private information on Vets to smear their spokesperson? Update 1: A version of this post can also…
Wanker of the day
Lorne Gunter, whose National Post column on the census is thoroughly dissected at Calgary Grit. Incidentally, should Tony Clement pop up to claim vindication since Statistics Canada has released the…
Mandatory Response
Lorne Gunter’s article on today’s release of short form Census data is so bad that it necessitates a response. Point-by-point: So the 2011 census results are being released today, or…
Long-form Census – Festive Edition
A random thought occurred to me today, as I take my first day off for Christmas vacation. The biblical-era Roman census, which required that Mary and Joseph return to his…
Don’t Confuse me with the Facts I’m Trying to Run a Country
What does the Conservative Party of Canada have against facts? What is so wrong with empirical data? Are questions I would love to ask our Prime Minister. It started last…
The new normal
It wasn't long ago that I considered it remarkable for a government to make any claim to concern about privacy which was so implausible as to demand refutation by the…
Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week.- Both Parliamentary Budget Officer Kevin Page and Interim Auditor General John Wiersema are rightly ripping the Cons for their complete unwillingness to be honest…
Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.- Munir Sheikh writes (PDF) about good data and intelligent government. I'll add the subtitle, "and other perceived threats to the Harper Conservatives".- Aside from…
What We Don’t Know Will Hurt Us
So, apparently the Conservative government’s deep cuts to Environment Canada are leading to the cancellation of an important monitoring project on the ozone layer over the Arctic. The British journal…
Sunday Afternoon Links
Miscellaneous material to end your weekend.- Nick Falvo discusses the unfortunate theory that any talk of improving standards of living for the neediest Canadians is either fruitless or extreme politically:In…
Sunday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading.- Erin alerts us to the possibility that one of the most appalling aspects of the TILMA might soon be law across Canada with virtually…
Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your midweek reading.- Stephen Gordon weighs in again on the Cons' census disaster:Many readers may have thought that the census issue was settled last summer; it wasn’t.…
Lies, Damned Lies, and Open Data
I have an article titles Lies, Damn Lies and Open Data in Slate Magazine as part of their Future Tense series. Here, for me, is the core point: On the…