Bring census back, says SUMA

The Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association (SUMA) is calling for the reinstatement of the mandatory long-form census, as part of its campaign to bring local issues to the federal fore in the upcoming election.

“We’re joining our voice to many, many other agencies across the country asking, ‘What are we doing in a modern society trying to do public policy development without proper data?’” said SUMA CEO Laurent Mougeot.

“To make good public policies, we need good data. It’s as simple as that,” he added.

“Good data” hasn’t been available to organizations like SUMA and its 450 members since 2010, Mougeot argued. That year, the Conservative government nixed the mandatory longform census, citing privacy concerns and protection of personal information. It was replaced with the voluntary National Household Survey. A mandatory short-form census remains.

Saskatchewan’s population has grown by 80,000 since then, and with increased internal migration and immigration numbers, the face of the province is changing.

Some cities, like Saskatoon, have a better sense of how their demographics are shifting than others, said Mougeot, pointing to its multi-language welcome packages at City Hall.

“(Mayor Don Atchison is) able to, because of the data that’s available to his community, cater and deliver services to appeal to those residents,” he said.

But SUMA has found that many communities in Saskatchewan found the data coming out of the last census “was just not statistically reliable,” said Mougeot. The 2011 census had a response rate of 68.6 per cent.

Mougeot said the voluntary nature of the census risks leaving out certain segments of the population, which skews the data.

He said census data plays an important role in guiding public policy and city planners, and helping civic leaders make informed decisions.

Commuting numbers might influence plans to alleviate gridlock; immigration numbers could lead to switching baseball diamonds for cricket pitches.

The loss of the mandatory long-form census has impacted SUMA’s ability to advocate on behalf of municipalities before the federal government, Mougeot said.

The Liberal Party and NDP have promised to reinstate the census if elected on Oct. 19, but the matter has not been a hot-button election issue to date.