It has met with opposition from provinces, municipalities the former chief statistician of Canada, many universities, multicultural and faith groups, because valuable information for programs and planning will now be unavailable.
The Ukrainian Canadian Congress recently added its voice to the multitudes that have opposed such a move – and for good reason.
The elimination of statistical data for ethnic origin will hamper efforts to implement bilingual school programs, conduct fundraising, deliver programs and services that support the needs of our community. To accomplish these aims we need information that is fact based – not guesswork.
It is critical in a country like Canada to have fact-based decision making. The Census long form is a key basis upon which governments and community groups can design and build programs.
The short form remains mandatory and that includes the question as to mother tongue. But only 134,500 Canadians listed their mother tongue as Ukrainian in 2006, while 1,209,085 listed their ethnic origin as Ukrainian. That was a surprising increase of 12.9 percent over 2001 — well above the overall growth in Canada of 5.4 per cent. and — due largely to a broader definition of the term ancestor.
The fact that barely over 10 per cent of Canadians of Ukrainian origins list Ukrainian as their mother tongue should come as no surprise considering that the ancestors of most Canadians of Ukrainian origin came to this country over 100 years ago. But the fact that their descendants still note such origins, even thought they have the option of identifying their origin simply as Canadian, has great significance.
While use of the Ukrainian language may be in decline, the culture is very much alive and vibrant. This is especially noticeable that during the Spring and Summer months when Ukrainian festivals proliferate from Mission, BC to Montreal, Que. One can also note the immense popularity of Ukrainian dance which has evolved from an ethnic activity to a mainstream Canadian one with participants from various ethnic and racial origins taking part.
Thus, mother tongue and ethnic origin are two very distinct aspects of how people view themselves within Canada’s multicultural mosaic and clear factual information on these is a necessity – unless, of course, the objective is to eliminate multiculturalism as a policy altogether.
The government’s rationale for removing the census long form is that it is intrusive and invades upon people’s privacy. That’s why they intend to replace the mandatory long form with a voluntary one. Yet the office of the Privacy Commissioner points out that it received only three complaints about the census in the last three years.
What’s more, their office was not consulted on the government’s decision, nor did they recommend the government drop the long-form mandatory questionnaire or replace it with a voluntary one.
The problem with a voluntary long form, as has been pointed out by numerous critics, is that it will present a distorted picture, with lower participation from the poor, the very rich and aboriginals.
Some says that the government is making its decision simply on an ideological basis – not fact. Whatever the reason for this decision, it needs to be reversed. The statistical information that the long-form census provides must have a scientific accuracy to it and not be based on conjecture. As a community we have a lot at stake in the preservation of accurate data. Such data ensures our ability to maintain our cultural identity in a multicultural Canada. We must let our elected representatives know where we stand on this issue.
Marco Levytsky is the editor and publisher of Ukrainian News, a bi-weekly newspaper distributed across Canada.
