Liars, Damn Liars and (Green Party)Statisticians
Enjoyed this letter in today’s Toronto Sun from trained professional John Northey (edited because some of it is just silly):
…I have yet to see a single person with a statistical background (via degree or profession) in favour of the voluntary census. All surveys on this issue, which would become biased if the census were made voluntary, show a split among average Canadians on the issue – even though the majority have no statistical training and thus little knowledge of how vital the census is…
In other words how dare you, John Northey’s underling, question the use of imprisonment as a threat for refusing the pimply minions of bureaucracy’s desire for information. And don’t give me this “never had a… single person go to jail.” Imprisonment is on the books, so it is under threat of imprisonment that you currently refuse the long form.
But really it’s all moot, since his argument is based on an unknown sample size of “person(s) with a statistical background,” who answered under no coercion. Therefore, we can conclude it is inaccurate and meaningless.
Interesting, as well, that Northey opens the letter with a shot at cartoonist Andy Donato’s presumed political affiliation:
Andy Donato’s July 30 political cartoon makes me wonder if he is now a Conservative staff member or shooting for one of those senate seats.
Yet he does not mention that he works for, or at least does work for the Green Party of Canada.
I keep hearing from the vested interests and the statists about how the statistics would become biased if the long form census was voluntary. How do these so-called experts know this? How do they know that the coercive census is not biased?
The MSM, as usual, is on the side of those who love governmental intrusions into people’s private lives and they trumpet this supposed bias as being correct. Prove it. Show me evidence that shows me that a voluntary census is anymore biased than one for which people are threatened by the power of the state. The media may think that if they parrot the same theme over and over it becomes fact. Not with this old boy it doesn’t.
Please tell me how there can be any credibility when the facts are not implicitly checked? How do the bureaucrats know that every question answeed is not a lie and simply answered to meet the threat of imprisonment? If the transgression is not filling out the form any answer may be given and the end data is useless, particularly if the respondent is angry at the government for this intrusion into privacy.
Personally I think it is a moot point what any poll shows. The data is the personal property of the person being asked to give it. Each individual will decide whether they wish to be truthful or not when filling out the forms. Making it optional is just an acknowledgement of that. If you force people to fill it out they will continue to lie.