Calgary Counselling Centre speaks against the proposed census changes
Calgary Counselling Centre submitted this OpEd to the Calgary Herald this July, for consideration in their guest editorial feature.
Canada's social service agencies DEPEND on counting the bedrooms of the nation.
On behalf of one of Canada’s leading counselling organizations, which depends on research to support the needs of 8,000 clients last year, I am adding our name to the growing outcry over proposed changes to the long-form data for the 2011 Census.
I hope the Government of Canada will hear the devastating impact removing the compulsory, long-form questionnaire from the Census will have on social service agencies that provide essential programs for communities across Canada. Not only the agencies – but the people who need our help.
The Government of Canada maintains that the questions asked on the compulsory long-form Census are too intrusive and answering them should not be mandatory. But the essential data collected in the Census far outweighs these concerns. Canadians should know the information collected has a direct impact on the quality of their lives and the well-being of their communities.
In our own community of Calgary and southern Alberta, we provide counsel, advice and evidence-based research to governments, other social service organizations, educators and funders about social programs.
My social service colleagues and I have invested years of study to interpret statistics so that we may provide leadership and make recommendations about the social needs of the communities and people we serve. Changes in populations and changes in poverty levels are two key areas we must have to make informed, evidence-based recommendations to government policy makers, funding bodies and justice systems.
The data collected by Statistics Canada on the compulsory long form is critical for us as we develop our strategic plans to proactively forecast program needs three, five and ten years into the future. Taking this valuable tool away from us will destroy our ability to prove there is a need for social service programs.
In Calgary and southern Alberta, it is through Statistics Canada data that we are able to identify demographic changes in Calgary’s housing conditions. It is essential for us to know how many bedrooms are in a house and how many people live in that house as we look for ways to help our citizens facing poverty, homelessness, addiction and family violence.
For example, the information tells how many people are unable to find an affordable place to live; where the pressure points are in our communities and help is most needed, and who is at greatest risk.
The Government says a voluntary survey achieves this. But how does the Government guarantee we will have reliable results for poorer neighbourhoods, new immigrants or Aboriginal communities? Who speaks for them? These are the populations social agencies serve.
Or, to be specific, how can a low-income single parent, trying to hold down two jobs, with limited resources for day care, find time to complete the Census on a voluntary basis? The 2006 Census revealed that twenty-six per cent of families with children are headed by a single parent and that of the 1.4 million single-parent families, about 20 per cent are headed by men.
Census data also tells us about and the financial struggles of single parent families. In 2005, the median household income for two-parent families in Canada was $67,600. For lone-parent families, it was $30,000, below the poverty line.
Knowing these changes also helps us plan programs. How can a person trying to find a job, who is just learning English, who is experiencing family violence, be helped if we don’t have the evidence to prove we need to offer programs in different languages, at different times of the day? The 2001 Census also provided information about the first languages of Calgarians reporting that 19.5 per cent of the population with a non-official language as mother tongue.
In order to preserve the quality of the programs we offer to Calgarians and the benefits of having comprehensive, reliable statistical data for all users, we encourage the Government to continue the mandatory, long-form questionnaire and also encourage the reinstatement of other vital Statistics Canada surveys that have been discontinued in recent years including: the Survey of Household Spending, the Workplace and Employee Survey, the Survey of Financial Security, and the Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants.
We urge Calgarians to contact their Member of Parliament and to get involved in this discussion. We believe, the more you learn how decisions and funding are made for social services in our communities, the more you will see how essential this data is for all of us who want to live in healthy and safe communities.
Robbie Babins-Wagner, CEO of the Calgary Counselling Centre
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