The man who took over as head of Statistics Canada after the former chief quit in a cloud of controversy says a voluntary survey will not yield the information of a mandatory census – but neither will it be a waste of time.
The results of the voluntary National Household Survey, which will arrive in Canadian mailboxes in spring, “will, of course, never be comparable to census data,” Wayne Smith said in an internal Statscan publication obtained by The Globe and Mail.
“Nonetheless, the National Household Survey will produce usable and useful data that can meet the needs of many users,” he said.
Despite warnings from Statistics Canada that the results of the voluntary questionnaire would not measure up, the Conservatives decided to scrap the mandatory long-form census in the name of protecting privacy. For decades, one-fifth of households have been required to answer its more than 50 detailed questions about work, home life, ethnicity and religion.
Munir Sheikh, the former chief statistician, resigned last month repeated claims from Industry Minister Tony Clement that Statscan had assured him a voluntary survey could adequately replace the mandatory long form.
Mr. Sheikh’s departure thrust Mr. Smith, the assistant chief statistician for business and trade statistics, into the head office of a government department that was questioning its own credibility.
Mr. Smith has not spoken to reporters since taking over the agency hot seat. But, in the internal interview, he seeks to assure Statscan employees their work is important.
“I cannot say that I see a morale problem among the staff I am meeting day-to-day,” Mr. Smith said. “Employees I am meeting strike me as very motivated, very much focused, very much committed and very much getting on with their work,”
That said, Mr. Smith acknowledged there are matters that have worried Statscan employees. “Left unaddressed,” he said, “the issues that are concerning our staff do constitute a threat to the morale of the organization.”
Mr. Smith refused to answer questions about Mr. Sheikh’s resignation and instead referred employees to the explanation his predecessor offered during testimony before the Commons industry committee.
But, he added, “every day Mr. Sheikh served as Chief Statistician, every decision he took was made in the best interests of Statistics Canada. He was a dedicated leader to this organization.”
Although the events surrounding the elimination of the mandatory long-form census have sparked a lively public debate, Mr. Smith told his staff they must not abandon their professionalism.
“As citizens, we may have views on one side or other of the issue,” he said. “As public servants, as employees of Statistics Canada, we have a duty to implement the decision of the government to the very best of our ability and that is what we are doing.”
Mr. Smith reminded his workers that the so-called “arm’s length relationship” of Statistics Canada with the government “is a convention rather than fact.”
Unlike the independent officers of Parliament, the agency reports to the government through a cabinet minister – in this case Mr. Clement – and it is the government that sets the general parameters for the agency’s operations, he said.
Some employees had apparently expressed concern that the work they are doing would be scaled back – that surveys would be cancelled and analysis reduced.
Mr. Smith said there is no indication the agency will experience more budget cuts than any other department. Every year, some surveys are cut and others are added and that will continue to happen, he said.
Analysis will be scaled down to accommodate a freeze that is taking place throughout the federal government but “on balance, our survey programs remain very dynamic.”
