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EXTRACTS FROM HANSARD
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PROCEEDINGS OF CANADA'S HOUSE OF COMMONS

The following extracts have been taken from Hansard Records
of Canada's House of Commons for the 37th Parliament of Canada:

Debates of the House of Commons (Hansard)
1st Session, 37th Parliament,
NUMBER 062
Tuesday, May 15, 2001
The Honourable Peter Milliken, Speaker

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STATEMENTS BY MEMBERS

CENSUS DAY

Mr. David Chatters (Athabasca, Canadian Alliance): Mr. Speaker, have you mailed in your census form yet? I certainly hope so, because today is Census Day and according to the government everyone should be mailing in their forms today.

The problem as I see it is that there are large numbers of people who are very uncomfortable with the current census form and some of the questions that are asked.

I find it difficult to explain to my constituents why the government needs to know the answers to questions such as what religion they practice. It seems to me that we split church and state quite a few years ago. Other questions that have raised eyebrows include who pays the rent, how many bedrooms are in a person's home and are any repairs needed.

The government insists that our census information is absolutely private and will not be accessed by anyone other than census officials, except maybe for HRDC officials who in the past used census information to put together a list on every Canadian in the country.

By all means, Canadians should mail in their census. They just should not be too surprised if the tax collector happens to know whether a husband and wife sleep in the same bed.