Liberals draft census bill

The opposition plans to take this summer’s most contentious political issue directly to Parliament

The Liberal party has drafted a bill that would re-instate the long-form census, eliminate the threat of jail times for failure to complete the form, and make it illegal for future governments to make census changes without the approval of parliament. Yesterday finance critic John McCallum announced his intention to table the bill in Parliament this September, but said he hopes the Conservative government backs down before then. The Tories’ plan to replace the long-form census with a voluntary survey has been met with widespread disapproval, with critics charging it will result in unreliable data.