Why the mandatory long form of the census is so vitally important

It's not going away; the latest Tory taunt is still all the rage for the bureaucrats of Bytown. And why not, the Census delivers vital information if you are a bureaucrat, and vital information if you are a Canadian that thinks the greater good of the country is best served by a well informed government at the helm. It makes perfect sense, not just for government, but for businesses that are too lazy or too cheap to do a proper analysis of their own market.
The Census is essential so government can implement new policies and programs, so it can best spend the taxes and tariffs it coerces collects from Canadians. With this information the politicians and portfolio mandarins in Ottawa are obviously best equipped to accommodate the needs of all Canadians. They will be behind the proverbial curtain, tweaking the dials and adjusting things just so, in order to make certain the economy hums along with no surprises, no bumps so clear will be their view. Trust in them, trust in StatsCanada and we will be a just and happy society. Sure.

All the statists were lining up in front of the Parliamentary committee "to study the long form" these past two days, all of it available for your viewing pleasure on CPAC. Rumours are flying that a compromise is in the works - so Canadian, it's sickening. I still don't understand why the conservatives decided to do this now, it really is not what you would call a "conservative" idea. But it's a diversion, more interesting than leaky oil wells and oppressive humidity. It is also a great opportunity to examine the role of government in our lives, the problem of course is that it shows just how comfortable we are with big government doing big things.
Neil Reynolds has some interesting comments on that very topic this week with reference to the Census. Interestingly he writes for the Globe and Mail which has been leading the statist charge to preserve the coercive mandatory long form of the census. I suspect whoever is pushing that agenda at the Globe might have political aspirations in the Liberal Party.     

Census Shmensus

Looks like the Harper Conservatives have created another issue where none existed before. Harper has a knack for this. While they have not yet backed down (yet) on returning the long form of the Census for 2011, the pressure among the statists must be getting unbearable (there is now a FaceBook page!). Seems that all of the things Harper proposes that I like, he reverses course on. Remember the $1.95 per voter party funding cut fiasco? I liked that, and it was gone.
I think people are thinking about the Census issue from the wrong perspective. Suppose there was no long form of the Census, suppose the government suddenly announces that there will be a series of personal intrusive questions about race, ethnicity, income, plumbing, education etc. in 2011. I'll bet some of the same people who are now up in arms about the long form being removed will argue the reverse. How about this guy?

Don't you think he would object to the intrusiveness of the long form? Sure he would and he would probably use many of the same words, he would wonder why the government needs to know all this information and he would cry out that this shows how ideological these Conservatives are - snooping where they don't need to be.

Nullification, American and Canadian style

Thomas E. Woods' latest book is about an old idea - nullification. The book called Nullification: How to resist Federal Tyranny in the 21st Century harkens back to a Jeffersonian idea that individual US State legislatures have the authority to ignore and declare void any federal law they deem unconstitutional. In Canada the analog is Section 33 of the Charter commonly known as the "notwithstanding clause" that allows provinces to opt out of Federal decisions. Neil Reynolds has a nice piece in today's Globe and Mail that provides a method that might restrain the growth of the welfare state in both Canada and the United States. Have a look.

Leading American Libertarians

I was directed to this video by a FaceBook friend and I can't resist posting it, enjoy.